Key Engineering Materials Vols. 340-341

Abstract: A successful THF process depends largely on the loading paths for controlling the relationship between the internal pressure, axial feeding and the counter punch. In this study, an adaptive algorithm combined with a finite element code LS-DYNA 3D is proposed to control the simulation of T-shape hydroforming with a counter punch. The effects of the friction coefficients at the interface between the tube and die on the loading path and thickness distribution of the formed product are discussed. Experiments of protrusion hydroforming are also conducted. The final shape and thickness distribution of the formed product are compared with the simulation results to verify the validity of this modeling.

Abstract: Blank holder force (BHF) plays an important role in sheet metal forming. Previous studies demonstrated that variable blank holder forces can improve the cold formability of steel blank, but the research on the application of variable blank holder force in warm forming of magnesium sheet forming has not been well investigated. In this study, the mechanical property of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet is measured through some uniaxial tensile tests. In order to obtain the variational rule of the BHF, a mathematical model of BHF is deduced based on the energy theory. The variational rule of the BHF over the punch stroke is analyzed. Finally, three profiles of the BHF curve are designed, and the numerical simulation of warm deep drawing process of magnesium alloy sheet is also performed. A suitable variable blank holder force scheme is obtained through comparison among three results of simulation. The simulation indicates that the limiting drawing ratio of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet can be improved from 3.0 to 3.5 with the suitable blank holder force varied by an inverted V curve.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the analysis of plastic deformation of bimetal co-extrusion process. Extrusion is related to large deformation of material and leads to non-homogeneous deformation within work-piece material. The mechanism of plastic deformation during the composite rod extrusion is much more complicated than that in single metal extrusion. Deformation patterns of co-extrusion of two different materials are characterized by several process parameters. In this paper, the analysis is focused to investigate the effect of contact conditions along the interface between two different materials. The rigid-plastic finite element method was applied to the analysis of co-extrusion process. The selected materials are AA 1100 aluminum alloy as hard material and CDA 110 as soft one. This type of material selection was to examine the effect of hard core and soft sleeve and vice versa in terms of deformation pattern. The initial composite billets were prepared by inserting the core material in tight (0.023mm) and weak (0.012mm) interference bonding, respectively. Four different cases of co-extrusion process in terms of material combination and interference bonding were simulated to investigate the effect of material arrangement between core and sleeve, and of bonding on the plastic zones. It is concluded from the simulation results that the plastic zones in this co-extrusion process are not influenced much by the selection of material arrangements or bonding condition between construction materials. However, it was seen from the simulation results that the extrusion ratio of each construction material, i.e. homogeneity of co-extrusion, depends much on the material arrangement and the bonding condition.

Abstract: Combined extrusion processes generally have advantages of forming in terms of the minimum deformation power since the material is pressed through two or more orifices simultaneously. This paper is concerned with the analysis of forming load characteristics of a forward-backward can extrusion process using thick-walled pipe as an initial billet. The combined tube extrusion process was analyzed by using a commercial finite element code. A thick-walled pipe was selected as an initial billet and the punch geometry has been chosen on the basis of ICFG recommendation. Several tool and process parameters were employed in this analysis and they are punch nose radius, backward tube thickness, punch face angle, and frictional conditions, respectively. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of process parameters on the force requirements in combined extrusion process. The possible extrusion process to form a forward-backward tube parts in different process sequences were also simulated to investigate the force requirements in sequential operations, i.e. separate operations. It was easily concluded from the simulation results that lower forming load was predicted for the combined extrusion, compared to those for separate sequential operations. It was also revealed that the punch nose radius and the punch face angle have little effect on the force requirements and the forming load increases significantly as the frictional condition along tool-workpiece interface becomes severe. The simulation results in this study suggest that the combined extrusion process has strong advantage in terms of force requirements as long as the simultaneous material flow into multiple orifices could be closely controlled.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the pressure distribution along the die-powder interface in long parts. The pressure exerted on the interface at various points on the moving and stationary punch, and also on the sidewall of container was investigated by the finite element method. A plasticity theory describing asymmetric behavior of powdered metals in tension and compression was briefly summarized. The yield criterion applied to the sintered powdered metals had been modified for describing this asymmetric behavior. The material properties of copper powders under compaction were also briefly described for the completeness of the paper. The copper powders were selected as a model material in the present study. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the pressure distribution along the interface of tooling quantitatively by the finite element method so that the results could be applied usefully to the design of tooling, especially container design for powdered metal compaction. Geometrical condition for analysis was confined to the Class II components which is very long parts without steps. It was concluded from the simulation results that the pressure exerted on the moving punch increases sharply near the outer circumference of punch and the pressure on the sidewall decreases at a distance from moving punch to fixed punch. It was also seen from the simulation that the pressure on the stationary punch is not significantly built up and decreases toward outer periphery. These trends were seen amplified with severe frictional conditions imposed on the tooling and powder interface.

Abstract: Numerical simulation technology has been used widely in plastic forming area. However, the simulation of increasingly complex forming process leads to the generation of vast quantities of data, which implies much useful knowledge. Consequently domain knowledge is very significant to product design and process development in metal plastic forming area. The paper presented a new robust optimization method based on knowledge discovery from numerical simulation. Firstly, the knowledge discovery model from numerical simulation is established. In this model, interval-based rule presentation is adopted to describe the uncertainty of design parameters quantitatively to enhance the design robustness. Secondly, the optimization process based on knowledge discovery and management is presented, and genetic arithmetic is used to obtain the robust optimization parameter. Finally, the application to robust optimization of extrusion-forging processing is analyzed to show the scheme to be effective. The proposed method can overcome the pathologies in simulation optimization and improve the efficiency & robustness in design optimization.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with hole flangeability of steel sheet, which is evaluated by experiment and finite element analysis with respect to the hole processing condition. The hole flangeability of a material as a forming limit needs to be verified to predict and prevent the undesirable fracture during a flanging process. Hole expanding tests are carried out to identify the effect of hole processing conditions on the hole expanding ratio (HER), which is an indicator of the hole flangeability. Specimens with two different hole conditions are prepared: one is produced with punching process; and the other is reamed after punching to get smoother hole surface. Experimental results show that the facture mechanism and the HER are quite different with respect to the hole conditions. Thorough investigation of those effects is carried out with tensile tests of a specimen with notches. From the experiments, the fracture strain is obtained with different hole conditions and is used to determine the material constants of a new proposed ductile fracture criterion which is applied to finite element analyses of the hole flanging process for prediction of the HER. The experimental results are confirmed and reevaluated by the finite element analysis with the ductile fracture criterion.

Abstract: It has long been found that the crystal orientations would induce macroscopic anisotropy during deformation process, and then affect the deformation properties of sheet metal. So it is very important to find the true relation between texture distribution and macroscopic anisotropy. In this paper, the anisotropy coefficients of the yield function are fitted by Taylor factor and crystal plastic model. Metal flow is assumed to occur by crystallographic slip on given slip systems within each crystal. Then this simulation results are compared with those of microscopic crystal plastic method.