The process of metal plastic forming is made by the plastic properties of metal materials to make it have the required shape. After forming, the structure and properties of metal materials are improved and improved. All members subjected to alternating load or bad stress conditions generally need to pass the plastic forming process to meet the requirements of use. Plastic forming is a chip free forming method, so it can make the workpiece get good streamline shape and reasonable material utilization. The plastic forming method can make the workpiece size reach high precision and has high production efficiency.

The plastic forming is divided into cold forming, temperature forming and hot forming. The influence of temperature on the properties of materials should be considered in thermoforming, and creep effect of materials should be considered in thermoforming. Metal plastic forming includes block forming, sheet metal forming and rolling (see plastic mechanics). All kinds of plastic forming are based on the plastic properties of metal materials, which need external force, and all have the influence of external friction, which follow the common laws of metalology and plasticity mechanics.

The method of studying the metal forming law by the principle of plastic mechanics is called the plastic analysis of metal forming. Its task is as follows: 1. To study various solutions of mechanics in the process of plastic forming, to analyze the distribution of stress and strain in the deformation body, and to determine the deformation force and deformation work, so as to reasonably select the equipment tonnage and die strength. ② The change rule of strain and size of the member during plastic forming is studied, and the appropriate blank and reasonable intermediate blank shape are selected to achieve the shape of the member optimally. ③ The effects of temperature and strain rate on the resistance of metal plastic processing and the measures to improve metal toughness and reduce resistance are studied to obtain the components with good performance. The plastic analysis methods of metal forming include main stress method, slip line method, upper limit method, finite element method, etc; The common experimental methods are visual plasticity method and dense grid moire method.