Services

Metal Forming Center of Excellence

The Metal Forming Excellence Center (MFEC) offers comprehensive testing, analysis, and production services for the R&D and manufacturing needs of industrial companies and academic institutions in the field of metal forming, with 3,600 m² of laboratory space, 10 specialized laboratories, and modern equipment infrastructure.

1. METAL FORMING

Extensive press fleet and forming equipment for sheet and bulk metal forming operations.

Hydraulic Press Forming

Deep drawing, spinning, and forming operations with a high-capacity hydraulic press.

Equipment: Schuler Hydraulic Press

Servo Press Precision Forming

Precision forming with programmable stroke and speed profiles. Springback control and complex part production.

Equipment: Komatsu Servo Press

Extrusion

Production of profiles and bar materials by extrusion.

Equipment: SMS Extrusion Press

Sheet Cutting and Bending

Sheet cutting with guillotine shear and precision bending with press brake.

Equipment: Baykal Guillotine Shear, Baykal Press Brake, Mawi Crank Press

2. MANUFACTURING AND SPECIMEN PREPARATION

Test specimen production, prototyping, and die manufacturing with CNC machines and electrical discharge machining.

CNC Machining

3-axis CNC milling and CNC turning for complex geometries, die/fixture production, and test specimen preparation.

Equipment: VTEC CNC Milling Machine, KITIGAWA CNC Lathe, GREAT Surface Grinder

Wire EDM

Precision cutting of conductive materials. Production of micro-tensile specimens and complex profiles.

Equipment: SODICK Wire EDM Machine

Sinker EDM

Machining of die cavities and complex internal geometries.

Equipment: AJAN Sinker EDM Machine

3. MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION LABORATORY

Determination of mechanical properties and formability characterization of materials.

Tensile and Compression Tests

Determination of tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and compression behavior of metallic materials. High-temperature tests available from 20°C to 1200°C.

Standard: TS EN ISO 6892-1 | Equipment: ZWICK/ROELL Universal Testing Machine

Forming Limit Diagram (FLD)

Critical test for determining the forming capacity of sheet metals. Full FLD curve obtained from specimens with 8 different geometries.

Standard: ISO 12004 | Equipment: ZWICK/ROELL Deep Drawing Machine

Strip Drawing Friction Test

Determination of friction coefficient at the sheet-die interface. Critical input parameter for forming simulations.

Cyclic Tensile Test

Determination of kinematic hardening behavior through loading-unloading cycles. Critical data for springback prediction.

Other Tests

  • Hydraulic bulge test (HBT)
  • Hole expansion
  • Shear
  • 3-point bending
  • Disk compression
  • Elastic/shear modulus determination via RFDA method

4. THERMOMECHANICAL SIMULATION LABORATORY

Characterization of material behavior at elevated temperatures and heat treatment simulations.

Thermomechanical Simulation (Gleeble)

Laboratory simulation of real production conditions with programmable heating, cooling, and deformation cycles. Weld HAZ simulation, heat treatment optimization, and TTT-CCT diagram generation.

Equipment: Gleeble 3800, Gleeble 3500

Dilatometry Tests

Determination of phase transformation temperatures, transformation kinetics, and thermal expansion coefficients.

Equipment: BAEHR Deformation Dilatometer, LUMET

Other Tests

  • Creep
  • Stress relaxation
  • Torsion
  • Plane strain deformation
  • Cyclic compression-tension

5. OPTICAL MEASUREMENT AND SURFACE METROLOGY LABORATORY

Precise dimensional, strain, and surface measurements using non-contact optical methods.

3D Optical Scanning

High-resolution 3D scanning for geometric measurement of parts, tolerance control, and FEA/CAD comparison.

Equipment: GOM Atos

Optical Strain Measurement (DIC)

Full-field strain analysis during or after forming processes using digital image correlation.

Equipment: GOM Argus

Surface Roughness and Topography Measurement

3D surface topography, profile/areal roughness parameters (Ra, Rz, Sa, Sz, etc.), and form measurements using focus variation technology.

Equipment: ALICONA InfiniteFocus

6. METALLOGRAPHY LABORATORY

Microstructural characterization and hardness measurements of materials.

Metallographic Specimen Preparation and Microstructure Examination

Specimen preparation through cutting, mounting, polishing, and etching; microstructure imaging with optical and stereo microscopes, grain size and phase ratio determination.

Equipment: STRUERS, NIKON Eclipse Optical Microscope, OLYMPUS Stereo Microscope

Hardness Measurements

Micro (Vickers) and macro hardness measurements. Hardness profiling, coating hardness, and heat treatment effectiveness evaluation.

Standard: ASTM E384 | Equipment: ZWICK/ROELL Micro Hardness, ZWICK/ROELL Macro Hardness

Quantitative Metallography

Inclusion rating, grain size determination, phase ratio measurement, and coating thickness measurement.

Standards: ASTM E45, ASTM E112, ASTM E562

7. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM) LABORATORY

High-resolution imaging and elemental analysis.

SEM Imaging

Ultra-high-resolution imaging of nanoscale structures and fracture surface analysis with FEG-SEM.

Equipment: ZEISS MERLIN FEG-SEM, ZEISS EVO LS15 SEM

EDS and EBSD Analyses

Elemental analysis/mapping with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and crystallographic orientation and texture analysis with Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD).

8. RESIDUAL STRESS MEASUREMENT LABORATORY

Precise measurement of residual stresses in materials after manufacturing processes.

XRD Residual Stress Measurement

Precise measurement of residual stresses and retained austenite content in surface and near-surface regions using X-ray diffraction.

Equipment: STRESSTECH G2R Portable XRD, STRESSTECH ROBOT XRD, GE-SEIFERT XRD

Hole Drilling and Ring Core Methods

Depth-resolved residual stress profile measurement. Combined measurement capability with layer removal method.

Standard: ASTM E837 | Equipment: STRESSTECH Hole Drilling, SINT RingCORE, SINT Automatic Hole Drilling

9. ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS LABORATORY

Determination of chemical composition and phase structure of materials.

Chemical Analysis (OES)

Rapid determination of elemental composition of metal alloys. Material certification and quality control.

Equipment: BRUKER Q4 Spectrometer

XRD Phase Analysis

Identification and quantification of crystalline phases. Phase transformations and heat treatment optimization.

Equipment: BRUKER D2 Phaser