Electric current effects onsheet metal formability: towards sustainable manufacturing

Sheet metal forming processes are widely employed across several industrial sectors, including automotive, aerospace, and electronics, where thin-walled components such as aircraft fuselage panels, automotive hoods, doors, and floor structures are commonly produced. Despite their extensive industrial relevance, conventional sheet metal forming technologies are often associated with high energy consumption. In the current industrial and environmental context, the development of more sustainable manufacturing solutions has therefore become increasingly important, driving the need to improve or rethink traditional forming processes in order to reduce their environmental impact.

In recent years, significant attention has been devoted to the influence of electric current on the plastic deformation behavior of metallic materials. Previous studies have investigated this phenomenon through matching-temperature experiments designed to separate the thermal contribution from purely electrical effects. These investigations have shown that, under specific conditions, the application of electric current can lead to a reduction in yield strength greater than that observed when the material is heated to the same temperature reached during electro-assisted tests.The electroplastic effect has been reported in several metallic materials widely used in advanced engineering applications, including steels, nickel-based alloys, titanium alloys, and emerging refractory metals such as niobium. Although this phenomenon has been extensively observed, the underlying mechanisms are still debated, with proposed explanations including electron–dislocation interactions, localized Joule heating at the microstructural level, and current-induced changes in dislocation mobility.

Within this framework, the present work investigates the influence of electric current on the deformation behavior of different metallic sheet alloys, with particular focus on steels, nickel-based alloys, and titanium alloys. The resulting improvements in formability and the reduction in forming loads are analyzed and discussed. Finally, the potential advantages of electro-assisted forming in terms of mechanical performance, energy efficiency, and manufacturing sustainability are highlighted, together with possible future research directions and technological perspectives.