Kirkham University Superplastic Forming Coupe Rear Wheel Well
Guys,
We have sold so many cars (and attic parts ) lately we had to hire 3 new people. My wife is also coming down to help as well. I lured her in with the new gym
With the new help around her I have been freed up to do some things I have long been wanting to do. Glenn Reynolds of www.instapundit.com and author of Army of Davids inspired us to start Kirkham University to show the world how we make things. We hope our metal forming and machining knowledge may be of interest and use to others. Many people freely gave of their time to us over the years to help us continually make better products. Now, we want to return the many favors we have received from so many kind people.
Here we show you how we superplastic form the rear wheel well of our new Coupe project. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
Very informative and interesting to watch. What thickness range of aluminum sheet can be formed in your press?
Can large pieces like a hood or roof be formed with this process?
- Tim
Very large pieces can be made. This is really just a prototype press. The superplastic forming pricess can form various thickness of aluminum from thick to think.
Cobra Make, Engine: Kirkham KMP500 LeMans- Roush 451 Shelby block; KMP Flip-top with cammer: KMP 289 Bronze under construction.
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Hey David, you’re looking fit these days! I guess the gym is seeing some action. Thanks for taking the time making these videos. You and your team are a class act.... Darren
Awesome how old and new technology can come together.
Thanks for the kind words.
We have always tried to bring the best technologies together to make our cars. In the end it makes a better product for everyone. Superplastic forming really makes nice parts.
Hey David, you’re looking fit these days! I guess the gym is seeing some action. Thanks for taking the time making these videos. You and your team are a class act.... Darren
I am working hard in the gym. The best part is my wife has really gotten into the work outs as well. We usually work out twice a day together. She is pretty impressive with her determination to crossfit with us.
Yesterday we climbed the rope 4 times and then did bench, hand stand push ups, and 15 minutes of cardio (jump rope, bicycle, and treadmill). That's a long way from climbing 5 feet up the rope the first time Sandwich even joined us yesterday. It is contagious.
We start on your dream machine in the next couple of days. We will post video of that as well.
When I heard about this process for the first time about 7 years ago my initial idea was to use it for forming Cobra body parts
What aluminum alloys do you use? How do you heat up the sheets? Also how is the pressure tight seal achieved at 900°F?
Simon
There are many different alloys that can be used. 5083 is the best. There are some very fine grain structure alloys that work quite well, but they are most difficult (and expensive) to find.
We have also used 6061 (OK) and 5052 (pretty good). The sheets have such small thermal mass compared to the dies the sheet heats up very quickly. The dies in most presses are brought to temperature by heated platens. The seal is achieved by massive tonnage and very careful design of the sealing surfaces--and good machining practices.
Aluminum is a very cool material that exhibits "superplastic" forming characteristics at temperature. The superplastic temperature window is quite large. In the superplastic range aluminum stretches many times more than it will do while cold. Titanium also possesses superlastic forming characteristics. Many parts in the Aerospace industry (especially titanium parts) are made this way.
2004 is another aluminum superplastic alloy. It is used for high strength parts.
Very interesting David. The body panels will have excellent mechanical properties, also this will save quiet some work for the surface finish compared to hammered parts.
I did a little experimenting some years ago and I also found the aluminum alloys with a high magnesium content worked best. When you hit the right temperature the aluminum can be formed like clay (see attached picture).
Very interesting David. The body panels will have excellent mechanical properties, also this will save quiet some work for the surface finish compared to hammered parts.
I did a little experimenting some years ago and I also found the aluminum alloys with a high magnesium content worked best. When you hit the right temperature the aluminum can be formed like clay (see attached picture).
We have been doing research on superplastic forming for many years now. Yes, this will save quite a bit of time when it comes to assembling and polishing the cars. The panels will be much nicer too.
Kirkham University Superplastic Forming Coupe Rear Wheel Well
) lately we had to hire 3 new people. My wife is also coming down to help as well. I lured her in with the new gym 
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