The aluminum alloy EN AW 7075-T6 have found application in the automotive sector due to their advantageous strength-to-weight ratio. However, the limited cold formability of this material is currently resolved using cost-, energy- and time-intensive temperature-assisted processes. For limiting the expense to areas critical for forming, state of the art shows promising results for the increase of blank temperature in the range of warm forming. The design of new processes in an industrial context requires corresponding numerical simulation with inherent complexity due to temperature dependent effects.

In this study, the potential of a newly developed tool setup and process chain with local contact heating of the blank is investigated by means of a curved hat profile. The heating is integrated into the die during the closing stroke. The influence of heating temperature and heating time is analyzed and a corresponding process window is derived. The aim is to experimentally quantify the extension of the forming limits and validate by a numerical simulation.