As it refers to sheet metal, drawing is a process of forming flat sheet metal into hollow shapes by means of a punch that causes the metal to flow into a die cavity. If the depth of the formed part (die cavity) is one or more times the sheet thickness, the process is called deep drawing.

Examples of deep drawing are found in shell case forming, the forming of deep pans, and some automobile body panels and other parts. Alloys used for this purpose are required to have high ductility. The stock must be fine-grained, since a coarse-grained material will exhibit a very rough surface after forming, due to localized yielding, and the ductility of such material is generally too low to permit such extensive drawing without cracking.

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