The formability of annealed and pre-aged AA-2024 sheets in single-point incremental forming

The formability of AA-2024 sheets, an aerospace grade material, in the annealed and pre-aged conditions has been investigated in the single-point incremental forming (SPIF) process. The major operating parameters, namely step size, tool radius, and forming speed, of SPIF process were varied over wide ranges, and their effect on the formability was quantified through a response surface method called as central composite rotational design. It was found that the interaction of step size and tool radius is very significant on the formability. Moreover, a variation in the forming speed does not affect the formability of annealed AA-2024 sheet. However, the formability of pre-aged AA-2024 sheet decreases with the increase in the forming speed. Furthermore, the annealed sheet shows higher formability than the pre-aged sheet.     

Incremental forming of Mg alloy sheet at elevated temperatures

In the present study, incremental forming of Mg alloy sheet at elevated temperatures was attempted with local heating apparatus. The device is composed of several halogen lamps and designed to move with forming tool for local heating in deformation zone. In order to investigate the influences of process parameters to incremental formability of AZ31 alloy sheet, a series of incremental forming tests of AZ31 for cone and pyramid type of simple models were carried out under various process conditions. Experiments were performed under various temperatures, feeding depth per cycle and inclination angles and the results were analysed.     

Deformation mechanics in single-point and accumulative double-sided incremental forming

Single-point incremental forming (SPIF) uses one small hemispherically ended tool moving along a predefined toolpath to locally deform a completely peripherally clamped sheet of metal such that the sum total of the local deformations yields the final desired shape of the sheet. While SPIF is characterized by greater formability than conventional forming processes, it suffers from significant geometric inaccuracy. Accumulative double-sided incremental forming (ADSIF) is a substantial improvement over SPIF in which one hemispherically ended tool is used on each side of the sheet metal. The supporting tool moves synchronously with the forming tool, therefore acting as a local but mobile die. ADSIF results in considerably enhanced geometric accuracy and increased formability of the formed part as compared to SPIF. In light of the aforementioned advantages of ADSIF as compared with SPIF, an investigation of the mechanics associated with the ADSIF process, which has yet to be presented in the literature, is warranted. The present study sheds light on the differences in deformation mechanisms between SPIF and ADSIF. Finite element analyses are performed to simulate deformation in the two processes, and a detailed analysis of the deformation history is presented. It is shown that the presence of the supporting tool in ADSIF elicits substantial differences in the plastic strain, hydrostatic pressure, and shear strains as compared to SPIF. The implications of these trends on the prevalent modes of deformation in ADSIF along with possible explanations for increased formability observed in the process arediscussed.     

The performance of flat end and hemispherical end tools in single-point incremental forming

Single-point incremental forming is a novel sheet metal-forming process. It can provide an economical alternative of stamping process to produce small batches. In the current study, the effect of tool shape on the profile accuracy of U-shaped channel and sheet formability was studied. Two kinds of tools with flat end and hemispherical end were employed. It was found that the flat end tools can provide better profile accuracy and formability than the hemispherical end tools. In addition, flat end tools required relatively lower forming force compared to hemispherical end tools.     

On the improvement of material formability in SPIF operation through tool stirring action

Single-point incremental forming (SPIF) is a quite new sheet-forming process which offers the possibility to deform complex parts without dedicated dies using a single-point tool and a standard three-axis CNC machine. The process mechanics enables higher strains with respect to traditional sheet-forming processes, but particular attention must be given to the maximum forming angle. In this paper, a new approach is proposed to enhance the material formability through a localized sheet heating as a consequence of the friction work caused by elevated tool rotational speeds. AA1050-O, AA1050-H24, and AA6082-T6 were utilized, and the reached temperatures were recorded by thermocouples, fixed to the sheet using a metal structure. A significant increase in the material formability was observed for both materials, and new formability curves have been built at the varying of the utilized rotational speed.     

耦合温度和应变率的铝合金板成形极限预测方法

为了提高铝合金板成形能力,一些先进成形工艺已经被开发。温成形是实现铝合金高成形能力和高成形精度的一种有效方法。温度和成形速度是影响铝合金板温成形工艺的重要参数,对其成形性能影响十分显著。提出一种综合考虑温度和应变率影响的铝合金板成形极限预测方法。采用响应面法建立铝合金板应变硬化指数n、应变率敏感度指数m与成形温度、应变率条件之间的力学性能函数关系;基于M-K理论,并结合Logan-Hosford屈服函数,推导出耦合温度和应变率的铝合金板成形极限图计算模型。模型检验表明力学性能响应面方程具有较高精度。成形极限的计算结果与已有的试验值对比表明,二者吻合较好,这证实耦合温度和应变率的铝板成形极限预测方法是正确和可靠的。     

镁合金板成形工艺参数对其成形性能的影响

镁合金热成形时的工艺参数对其成形性能有很大的影响,探讨该影响规律具有重要研究意义。基于国内外镁合金板热拉深的研究现状,论述了成形温度、模具结构与尺寸、压边条件、拉深速度、摩擦和润滑条件等工艺参数对镁合金热成形性能(极限拉深比LDR)的影响规律,指出未来镁合金塑性成形技术的研究方向。     

Investigating the temperature from friction stir in the SPIF process via an infrared imager

Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is a highly flexible forming process for sheet metal. It has low production costs be-cause the process does not use a die. It is suitable for prototyping and made-to-order production. Currently, the SPIF process employs the concept of heat to increase formability. The idea is to generate heat from friction caused by sliding the tool against the workpiece, called “friction stir”. This research proposed to study the behavior of temperature that occurs when affected by the tool rotation speed and the feed rate, which are both variables affecting friction stir. This research adopted the method of detecting temperature with infrared cameras and online recording data. The camera sensor received data as 8-bit images containing data from 0 to 255. The value of each position represented the temperature level. In this research, the mini-mum-maximum temperature range was set at 80–300 degrees Celsius for forming the hot dipped zinc coat roll steel sheet at a thickness of 0.2 mm using the SPIF process. The variable parameters were the tool rotation speed and feed rate. The tool rotation speed was categorized as high and used no sliding friction with feed rates of 500, 1000, 1500 mm/min. Concerning the results analysis, this study used the relationships between tool rotational speed and feed rate, shown as relative sliding velocity. The results showed with significance that the increase of the maximum temperature in the process corresponded to an increase in relative sliding velocity using a tool rotational speed and feed rate with no relative sliding velocity. The process temperature was close to room temperature. Relative sliding velocity at approximately 6000 and 10000 mm/min caused a maximum temperature of approximately 160–180 and 200–250 degrees Celsius, respectively. Another issue found in the experiment was that not turning the tool reduced the formability of the process.

     

An approach to eliminate stepped features in multistage incremental sheet forming process: Experimental and FEA analysis

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a recently developed manufacturing technique. In ISF, forming is done by applying deformation force through the motion of Numerically controlled (NC) single point forming tool on the clamped sheet metal blank. Single Point Incremental sheet forming (SPISF) is also known as a die-less forming process because no die is required to fabricate any component by using this process. Now a day it is widely accepted for rapid manufacturing of sheet metal components. The formability of SPISF process improves by adding some intermediate stages into it, which is known as Multi-stage SPISF (MSPISF) process. However during forming in MSPISF process because of intermediate stages stepped features are generated. This paper investigates the generation of stepped features with simulation and experimental results. An effective MSPISF strategy is proposed to remove or eliminate this generated undesirable stepped features.     

DEFORMATION ANALYSIS OF SHEET METAL SINGLE-POINT INCREMENTAL FORMING BY FINITE ELEMENT METHOD SIMULATION

Single-point incremental forming （SPIF） is an innovational sheet metal forming method without dedicated dies, which belongs to rapid prototyping technology. In generalizing the SPIF of sheet metal, the deformation analysis on forming process becomes an important and useful method for the planning of shell products, the choice of material, the design of the forming process and the planning of the forming tool. Using solid brick elements, the finite element method（FEM） model of truncated pyramid was established. Based on the theory of anisotropy and assumed strain formulation, the SPIF processes with different parameters were simulated. The resulted comparison between the simulations and the experiments shows that the FEM model is feasible and effective. Then, according to the simulated forming process, the deformation pattern of SPIF can be summarized as the combination of plane-stretching deformation and bending deformation. And the study about the process parameters＇ impact on deformation shows that the process parameter of interlayer spacing is a dominant factor on the deformation. Decreasing interlayer spacing, the strain of one step decreases and the formability of blank will be improved. With bigger interlayer spacing, the plastic deformation zone increases and the forming force will be bigger.     

汽车零部件热成形极限裕度云图的构建与应用

在热冲压工艺中,热冲压钢板处于高温状态,不同位置温度分布有明显差异,传统方法难以评价冲压件的成形性,考虑温度的三维成形极限图能有效评价热冲压件的成形性能,但无法判断热冲压件的安全裕度。针对上述问题,在考虑温度的三维成形极限图的基础上,首先提出了成形裕度的计算方法;然后结合数值模拟和理论分析手段,构建了适用于评价高强钢板热冲压的安全裕度云图;最后对某汽车B柱热冲压不同工艺过程进行了仿真分析,并与试验进行了对比。结果表明,在不同工艺参数和板料尺寸下,构建的裕度云图均能有效预测高强钢板热冲压件的开裂部位和程度。     

Influences of material properties of components on formability of two-layer metallic sheets

Formability of two-layer metallic sheet is constrained by plastic instability and localized necking. Forming limit diagram (FLD) is an accepted measure of sheet metal formability. The formability of two-layer sheets depends on the material properties of their components such as strain hardening exponent, strain rate sensitivity coefficient, stiffness coefficient, and grain size. In this paper, the effects of the mentioned parameters on the FLD of two-layer sheets are investigated with a theoretical model which has been verified with an experimental approach. The results show that the forming limit of two-layer sheet lies between the forming limits of its components depends on their material properties.     

Improvement of formability for the incremental sheet metal forming process

In order to obtain competitiveness in the field of industrial manufacture, a reduction in the development period for the small batch manufacture of products is required. In order to meet these requirements, an incremental sheet metal forming process has been developed. In this process, a small local region of a sheet blank deforms incrementally by moving a hemispherical head tool over an arbitrary surface. In this work, an incremental sheet metal forming process controlled three dimensionally by a computer has been accomplished. It has been shown by the experiments that a sheet blank is mainly subject to shear-dominant deformation. Therefore, the final thickness strain can be predicted. The uniformity of thickness throughout the deformed region is one of the key factors to improve the formability in the sheet metal forming processes. Using the predicted thickness strain distribution, the intermediate geometry is decided in the manner that a shear deformation is restrained in the highly shear-deformed region and vice versa. This double-pass forming method is found to be very effective so that the thickness strain distribution of a final shape can be made more uniform.     

Process metallurgy design of aluminum alloy sheet rolling by using two-scale finite element analysis and optimization algorithm

Recently, the asymmetric rolling (ASR) process was applied to the aluminum alloy sheet generation to control the micro-crystal structure in order to improve the formability and the strength. Until now, many experimental and numerical studies of ASR process have been carried out, but these schemes have not enough capability to predict the texture evolution at the micro-scale and the sheet formability at the macro-scale. In this study, we develop a process metallurgy design code to analyze and optimize the sheet rolling process. At first, our dynamic-explicit crystallographic homogenized elasto/viscoplastic finite element (two-scale FE) code was applied to analyze ASR sheet deformation and optimized ASR process to generate a high formability sheet metal by employing the response surface method. A texture evolution of ASR sheet metal under an optimum process condition was compared with the experimental results, and the availability of our design code was confirmed. Next, an initial texture for the symmetrical warm rolling was optimized to generate a better formability sheet metal. Consequently, our two-scale FE code combined with the optimization algorithm was verified as a comprehensive tool in the process metallurgy design to predict plastic induced texture evolutions and optimize a rolling process and an initial texture for a high formability sheet generation.     

Effects of process parameters on force reduction and temperature variation during ultrasonic assisted incremental sheet forming process

The incremental sheet forming (ISF) is an innovative dieless forming process featured with high formability and short lead time which is suitable for rapid prototyping and small volume production. The integration of ultrasonic (US) vibration into the ISF process can significantly reduce the forming force and bring other benefits. In this work, the impacts of process parameters including the sheet material, US power, feeding speed, and tool diameter, on force reduction and temperature increment were studied. The force reduction contains two components—the stress superposition-induced force reduction and acoustic softening-induced force reduction. The stress superposition-induced force reduction was analyzed by finite element simulation while the total force reduction was detected by experiments since currently, the unknown mechanism of the acoustic softening cannot be modeled. The temperature increment was measured by a high-speed infrared camera. The results show that the force reduction can go up to 56.58% and the temperature increment can be as high as 24.55 °C. In general, the material with a higher yield stress results in a higher force reduction and a higher temperature increment. A higher US power or a lower feeding speed can significantly enhance the force reduction and the interface temperature increment. The tool with a smaller diameter has a comparable effect as a larger tool, but a larger vibration amplitude is required.     

Probabilistic model of limit strains in sheet metal

A mathematical model is presented in which the mean value and standard deviation of limit strains are obtained for forming a sample of sheet metal parts in a repeatable stretch forming process. It is assumed that tearing originates in defects in the material which can be characterized by an equivalent population of voids which have an exponential size distribution. The model predicts that for a given material the mean limit strains in forming many pieces will increase with material thickness, severity of overall strain gradient and with decreasing volume fraction of equivalent voids. Numerical results indicate that the relationship between formability and volume fraction is approximately of an inverse logarithmic nature. The behaviour of the model using arbitrary values of parameters describing the equivalent void population is in good agreement with many phenomena observed in sheet metal forming.     

A novel approach for temperature control in ISF supported by laser and resistance heating

Aeronautical applications often require small batches of large-scale sheet metal parts made from titanium and its alloys. Due to the low formability of titanium at room temperature, warm forming processes are necessary. Incremental sheet metal forming (ISF) is suitable for production of prototypes and small batches as well as large-scale parts. A short review of the experimental work done by international scientists in the field of warm ISF including stationary and moved temperature sensors will be presented mostly applied from the backside of the sheet metal. The present paper shows a new approach for a tool setup including a thermocouple inside of the tool. Hence, the sensor for temperature measurement was moved with the forming zone. Furthermore, a suitable closed loop control including a PID controller will be presented. The characteristics of the controller will be discussed. By means of two different warm ISF processes (ISF with resistance heating and laser-assisted ISF), the applicability of the developed setup will be analysed and evaluated. It will be shown that the experimental setup is capable to ensure minimal temperatures needed to ensure adequate formability of Ti grade 5.     

Formability analysis on the process of multi-point forming for titanium alloy retiary sheet

The multi-point forming (MPF) process of spherical surface parts of titanium alloy retiary sheet and titanium alloy sheet metal with different thickness and curvature radius was simulated by an explicit finite element software. Contradistinctive analysis between retiary sheet and sheet metal forming parts with different modes were done. The simulation results show that under the same forming conditions, titanium alloy retiary sheet is not easy to wrinkle and springback, whereas it is easy to form. The reason for differences in the formability of above-mentioned sheet metal is also analyzed. A non-wrinkling limited graph and a fracture critical graph for spherical surface parts of retiary metal sheet and metal sheet were obtained. Finally a forming test of titanium alloy cranial prosthesis was done in MPF press. Testing results indicate the customized 3D curved surface of prosthesis can be adequately shaped and the forming quality was guaranteed.     

Analytical modeling and numerical simulation for three-roll bending forming of sheet metal

The three-roll bending forming of sheet metal is an important and flexible manufacturing process due to simple configuration. It is suitable for forming large sheet parts with complex, curved faces. Most researches on roll bending forming of large workpiece are mainly based on experiments and explain the process through macroscopic metal deformation. An analytical model and ABAQUS finite element model (FEM) are proposed in this paper for investigating the three-roll bending forming process. A reasonably accurate relationship between the downward inner roller displacement and the desired springback radius (unloaded curvature radius) of the bent plate is yielded by both analytical and finite element approaches, which all agree well with experiments. Then, the three-roll bending forming process of a semi-circle-shaped workpiece with 3,105 mm (length)?×?714 mm (width)?×?545 mm (height) is simulated with FEM established by the optimum tool and process parameters. Manifested by the experiment for three-roll bending forming of this workpiece, the numerical simulation method proposed yields satisfactory performance in tool and process parameters optimization and workpiece forming. It can be taken as a valuable mathematical tool used for three-roll bending forming of large area sheet metal.     

面向设计的板料成形快速仿真系统FASTAMP

FASTAMP是基于改进的有限元逆算法和动力显式算法的板料成形快速仿真软件。改进的逆算法求解器采用了考虑弯曲效应的DKQ四边形单元及方程组快速求解算法,真实考虑了摩擦、压边力、背压力和曲压料面等实际工艺条件,在模拟精度和速度上均有较大的提高。系统结合了两种算法的优势,将产品设计、选材和工艺设计三个独立的过程紧密结合起来,可快速分析产品设计中的潜在缺陷,为工艺设计人员提供有效的工艺设计参考和强有力的设计辅助分析工具。