Evans’ deep drawn and progressive die clad metal stampings
lad and coated metals often require extensive secondary operations, many of them done in-house at Evans.
At Evans Technology we stamp both clad and coated metals.
Coated metals may be electroplated, electropolished, powder coated, anodized or painted. Clad metals can be bimetals or trimetals. We also stamp metals bonded to non-metallic substrates, usually rubber or plastic.
Clad metals require extensive stamping expertise because of their often unique bonded properties. When the metals or alloys are joined by roll-bonding and thermal treatment, the bond is formed at the atomic level. Each metal contributes its own desirable properties — electrical, thermal, magnetic, corrosion-resistance, abrasion-resistance, appearance, etc. While this is a clad metal benefit, compensation for these combined properties must be made in the stamping process. This is true for both bimetal and trimetal stampings. both flat stampings and deep drawn stampings.
Common applications for clad metals include electrical contacts, assemblies and thermostats. A simple use might be a beverage container, where one metal, facing the inside, is corrosion-resistant, and the other metal, easily inked, faces the outside. Another might be a thermostat, in which the bimetal switch combines metals of different temperature sensitivity, causing the switch to bend when warmed or cooled.
Clads are frequently custom formed and may contain any of a number of metals, including aluminum, beryllium, bismuth, brass, bronze, cobalt, copper, gold, iron, magnesium, monel, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, silver, steel, stainless steel (maraging, austenitic, ferrite, etc.), tantalum, tin, titanium, uranium, vanadium, zinc and zirconium.
Depending on the combinations of metals and the quality of the bond, the resultant clad metal can be stamped and machined to tight tolerances in extremely small sizes. This is particularly important in electronics, RF shielding and medical instrumentation.
Working on a project using clad metals? If we can help, please click here.