Material Flow Control in High Pressure Sheet Metal Forming of Large Area Parts with Complex Geometry Details

Working media based forming processes show advantages compared to the conventional deep drawing in the range of sheet metal parts with complex geometry details. By High Pressure Sheet Metal Forming (HBU), complex parts can be formed with reduced tool costs, fewer process steps, and improved part properties, particularly by the use of high strength steels. In order to use these advantages to full capacity, the material flow into the area of the geometry details needs to be optimised. The key element for the material flow control is a multi‐point blank holder. In combination with flange draw‐in sensors, a closed loop flange draw‐in control can be built up which guarantees a reproducible material flow and, consequently, defined part properties. Furthermore, a favourable pre‐distribution of sheet metal material can be reached which leads to a widening of the process limits. Considering a large area sheet metal part with a complex door handle element as example, strategies for the material flow control will be discussed in this paper. The conclusions are based on FE‐simulations as well as experimental findings.     

Analysis of an improved width-flow concept for the production of ribbed strips by cold rolling

In today's increasingly competitive business environment, companies must look for innovative solutions to survive the competition. In the metal forming industry the engineers are turning to new technologies in order to achieve the goals. One new innovative process is the macroscopic structuration of strips by cold rolling for use in light-weight constructions. Components with a macro-structured surface demonstrate - on the condition of equal weight - a higher area moment of inertia and consequently a higher stiffness than non-structured workpieces. The subjects presented in this paper refer to ribbed sheets produced in a cold-rolling process. Particularly the material flow into the rib pocket is studied in a simplified model as a function of different set-up parameters like tool geometry, deformation, and friction. The theoretical investigations are carried out by the upper-bound theory. The results are compared with an FEM-analysis.     

Effects of Anisotropy in Drawing and Extrusion Processes of Bulk Metal Forming

The effects of anisotropy of axisymmetric materials (round bars, tubes) on metal forming processes are discussed. These effects are strongest for thin‐walled hollow materials in metal forming processes when the wall thickness is not predetermined by the die (tube drawing without mandrel, free extrusion of hollow components). Similarly to the normal anisotropy of sheet metal, a high radial anisotropy increases the resistance against a variation of wall thickness in tube drawing. There are also effects in forming solid materials such as forward extrusion of bars whereby the buckling of cross sections is influenced through the variation of radial anisotropy with the distance from the axis. The favourable anisotropy properties depend on the actual priorities. If, for example, for a metal forming process the material anisotropy results in high compressive stresses this may be favourable for increasing the ductility of the material whereas the increase of the load acting on the tool reduces tool life.     

Improved relationship between Vickers hardness and yield stress for cold formed materials

Cold‐formed metal products are increasingly serving as high duty machine parts. Designers and users need to know their properties as accurately as possible. One such product property is the new yield strength, which can be approximated by the final flow stress of the workpiece material during forming. Vickers hardness measurements provide an easy and inexpensive method of evaluating the new local yield stress in cold‐formed workpieces. The well‐known available models given in literature to convert the measured hardness number into the corresponding yield stress have an error of up to 25 %. This is basically due to the facts that cold formed material experiences large plastic strains in the main forming stage, the hardening behaviour is anisotropic and, moreover, the material properties are inhomogeneous especially at the workpiece surface. The purpose of this study is to improve the accuracy of the well‐known available correlation models between Vickers hardness measurements and yield stress. This is achieved by utilizing finite element simulations of the indentation process. The models currently incorporate only the isotropic strain‐hardening behaviour of the work material. The new suggested model decreases the theoretical conversion error to less than 10 %. The improved model has been verified by experiments. The difficulty in verifying the models is realizing an experiment with a precisely known high plastic strain. In this study, the forward extrusion process was utilized for this purpose. In the forward extrusion process there is one location in the workpiece where the plastic equivalent strain and hence the yield stress is exactly known: the axis of the extrudate. By this method it is possible to obtain strain‐hardening states up to an equivalent plastic strain of 1.6 (!). Hence, making hardness measurements at the axis of extruded workpieces, it was possible to verify the improved relationship up to realistic strain values. The results have shown that the new relationship supplies conversions with a drastically reduced error as compared to the classical relations.     

Innovative Flexible Metal Forming Processes based on Hybrid Thermo‐Mechanical Interaction

A new approach towards functional gradation of structural parts is presented. This approach is based on the utilization of locally varying thermo‐mechanically coupled effects applied to different initial workpiece geometries. The possible degree of freedom for the gradation of material properties and geometrical shape for sheet metal forming applications as well as for parts produced by bulk metal forming is characterized by the results of metallographic investigations, by mechanical testing and by an indication of the remaining residual stress state. On the basis of experimental results and process simulations, it could be revealed that the ability to exactly control the dynamic microstructural evolution by thermal and mechanical process parameters combined with predefined material design parameters constitutes a key towards the adjustment of flexible material property profiles even for parts with complex three‐dimensional geometry. Beyond that, the integrative aspect of thermal and mechanical treatment already implies the high level of obtainable efficiency resulting from shortening of process chains. However, it is not only the ability to integrate shape generation and property gradation, but also the automatically included positive effect of tailoring process behaviour by a gradation of formability finally allowing to improve process efficiency e.g. by a reduction of forming steps or reduction of (local) tool load.     

Material Flow Control and Optimization in High‐Pressure Sheet Metal Forming by Active‐Elastic Tools

High‐pressure forming of metal sheets is an innovative forming technology for the production of complex components and offers high potentials to improve the properties and qualities of sheet metal parts. This report describes investigations of a newly developed active‐elastic tool system referred to as ACTEC system. Unlike the use of a comparable semi‐rigid tool system, the ACTEC system shows improvements with respect to the material flow in the flange area and reduced sheet thinning in critical corner regions of the workpiece. In addition, the clamping forces respectively sealing forces necessary to avoid leakage in the tool system during the forming process can be reduced. Moreover, the specific design of the ACTEC‐system as well as current experimental examinations are presented and discussed.     

Process Design and Tooling Configuration for Precision Forging of High Performance Components

Precision forging is a production process which uses forming technology for manufacturing near‐net shaped, highly loaded components. In comparison to conventional forming and machining production processes, an improvement in material savings and a significant shortening of the process chain can be obtained. Subsequent to the forming and the integrated heat‐treatment process, often only a final hard‐finishing of specific functional surfaces with minimum cutting volumes is necessary. The increased demands on dimensional and geometric accuracy from precision forgings result in increased requirements from the applied forging tools, the forming machines as well as from the specific design and control of the process. Therefore the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is an appropriate simulation tool. Aims of the current research are the development of strategies for comprehensive process design and shrinking correction as well as the enhancement of the machines and tooling technologies for precision forging. Precise tool design requires a detailed knowledge about material specific heat balance resulting in a process and tool related heat transfer.     

Optimization of microstructure development during hot working using control theory

A new approach for controlling microstructure development during hot working processes is proposed. This approach is based on optimal control theory and involves state-space type models for describing the material behavior and the mechanics of the process. The effect of process control parameters such as strain, strain rate, and temperature on important microstructural features can be systematically formulated and then solved as an optimal control problem. This method has been applied to the optimization of grain size and process parameters such as die geometry and ram velocity during the extrusion of plain carbon steel. Experimental results of this investigation show good agreement with those predicted in the design stage.     

喷射成形工艺参数及热挤压制度对8009耐热铝合金的组织及性能的影响

采用喷射成形方法制备了A1-8．5Fe-1．4v-1．7Si(8009)耐热铝合金，研究了喷射成形工艺参数及沉积坯件的热挤压工艺对材料的微观组织及性能的影响。结果表明：喷射成形工艺能够有效地抑制8009合金中粗大的富铁相的析出，获得均匀细小的组织；当喷射成形工艺参数选择适当时，沉积坯件具有良好的成形性与致密度，在随后的热挤压过程中，通过较低的挤压比即可使材料达到全致密。合金经过热挤压后，在室温及高温下均具有良好的力学性能。     

ITO靶材成形工艺的研究新进展

ITO靶材是高端液晶显示器、太阳能电池、导电玻璃等领域的主要材料之一,而ITO靶材的成形技术是关键环节。综述了冷等静压成形、冲压成形、模压成形、爆炸成形、挤压成形、凝胶注模成形等技术特点及研究状况,并重点介绍注浆成形的技术特点和研究进展。     

某高铁质深度氧化铅锌矿选矿试验研究

基于对某高铁质深度氧化铅锌矿矿石性质特点的了解,先依次浮选硫化铅、硫化锌,然后在不脱泥的情况下,采用两性捕收剂HN13,应用硫化-两性捕收剂浮选法浮选氧化锌,取得了较好的试验结果,实现了氧化锌的浮选回收。     

铝型材挤压成型过程有限元模拟及模具优化设计

应用UGNX建立了平面分流组合模的几何模型,利用有限元软件DEFORM-3D对挤压过程进行有限元模拟,研究了挤压铝合金空心型材时金属的流动情况。模拟结果表明,即便是对称性较好的铝合金窗用光企型材（有一个对称轴）模具,按照常规的设计方法也很难避免金属的流速不均问题,影响型材的成型度。对于绝大多数空心型材来说,其断面往往都是不对称的,仅依靠设计者的经验和判断设计模具是很难避免金属流速不均问题的。而采用有限元模拟的方法,则可以及时发现设计中存在的不足,并通过修改设计方案,达到满意的效果,为设计模具提供科学的依据。     

Modelling floorplate pattern generation

Abstract

The rolling of floorplate is considered as a combined process of reduction and extrusion. The reduction from the incoming plate thickness to the outgoing plate thickness is combined with extrusion of material into grooves cut into the rolls to produce a raised pattern on one side of the base plate. The average rolling pressure is predicted and used to determine an extrusion ratio and hence a pattern height. The theoretical model is based upon mass flow conservation, a simplified form of rolling pressure calculation, and a linear fit to known relationships between extrusion ratios and pressures. Comparisons with results obtained from dimension measurements of rolled floorplate are presented.     

三通件的多向挤压成形数值模拟研究

传统工艺生产复杂带空腔零件大多采用铸造、焊接或机械加工等方法,材料浪费严重,且其力学性能不高.因此,我们提出了采用多向挤压方法来成形三通件等多孔零件.本文采用刚塑性模型对多向挤压成形过程进行了二维数值模拟研究,经过分析确定了可行的成形工艺方案,并详细论述了成形时金属的流动规律,最后讨论了成形三通件时变形工艺参数(温度、摩擦系数)对其挤压成形力的影响,指出挤压时在合理的温度范围内应尽量选择较高的挤压温度和良好的润滑条件.     

25 MN双动反向挤压机工具套制造工艺的改进

指出反向挤压机工具套传统加工工艺流程存在的问题，提出新的加工工艺。生产实践表明，采用新工艺加工工具套，精度高，质量好，节约钢材，提高了生产效率，减轻了劳动强度。     

Microstructure Strain Localization during Sheet Metal Hydroforming Processes

This investigation deals with the interdependence between microstructure constituents and local material flow under stress in regard to deep drawing of cold rolled steel sheets. The studies of the local flow and phase deformation of DP, TRIP and ULC steels included hydraulic bulge testing, stretch‐forming with a semicircular punch and tensile testing. Changes in the microstructure distribution and orientation of the constituents were determined metallographically by optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM), by in situ tensile tests as well as by determining texture by electron back‐scattered diffraction (EBSD) and X‐ray diffraction methods. A quantitative microstructure examination of phase deformation was carried out and used for the analysis of strain localization under uniaxial and biaxial tension. In the examined forming processes the different microstructure constituents showed different local deformations; this phenomenon can be described by the coefficient of heterogeneity deformation (CHD). As expected, there is a correlation between the CHD, texture and the disappearance of the material's plastic reserve during deformation. Variations in the material flow are due to changes in microstructure constituents during the forming processes. These variations and changes can be expressed by the coefficient of macro heterogeneity. For the examined cold deformation processes three characteristic ranges of inhomogeneity development were found in each case, which are based on the corresponding changes in microstructure. The CHD‐formation can be used in combination with a forming limit diagram to evaluate the suitability of a material to a forming process.     

基于圆环压缩和挤压–模拟法的Zr-4合金塑性成形摩擦因子测定

采用圆环压缩法和挤压–模拟法测定Zr-4合金有润滑条件下的摩擦因子,讨论了2种方法所测定摩擦因子存在差异的原因。研究结果表明,在模具（砧面）粗糙度Ra = 0.6 μm、实验温度700～800 ℃的条件下,采用圆环压缩法获得的Zr-4合金与模具的摩擦因子为0.18～0.27,摩擦因子随实验温度的升高而增大。挤压温度为750 ℃时,采用挤压–模拟法获得的热挤压平均摩擦因子为0.35。测试结果存在较大差异的原因,是由于挤压过程润滑剂的剪切速率较圆环压缩实验大得多,且挤压过程中润滑剂所受压应力约为圆环压缩实验中的两倍,从而导致润滑剂黏度的增大,表现为摩擦因子较高。圆环压缩法获得的摩擦因子更适合于Zr-4合金的锻造等热加工工况。      

Investigation on a Deep Drawing and In‐Process Electromagnetic Calibration

Extending forming limits is one of the most important aims of research work in production engineering. One possibility to improve material formability is the application of high strain rates, which can be realized e.g. by means of electromagnetic forming (EMF). A further extension of the forming limits can be achieved by a beneficial combination of EMF and quasistatic forming operations, which allow exploiting the complementary advantages of the different technologies involved. This approach will be described on the basis of a deep drawing and inprocess electromagnetic sheet metal forming calibration in this paper. Thereby, the design as well as the subsequent analysis of the components as well as the combined process plays a distinctive role. Furthermore, the stages of development regarding the integrated tool coil will be presented and the resulting examples discussed. Finally, the setup of the integrated process as well as the feasibility will be shown on an exemplary semi‐industrial workpiece.     

Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Heat Transfer Coefficient in Press Hardening

When producing thin ultra high strength steel components with the press hardening process, it is essential that the final component achieves desirable material properties. This applies in particular to passive automotive safety components where it is of great importance to accurately predict the final component properties early in the product development process. The transfer of heat is a key process that affects the evolution of the mechanical properties in the product and it is essential that the thermal contact conditions between the blank and tool are properly described in the forming simulations. In this study an experimental setup is developed combined with an elementary inverse simulation approach to predict the interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) when the hot blank and cold tool are in mechanical contact. Different process conditions such as contact pressure and blank material (22MnB5 and Usibor 1500P) are investigated. In the inverse simulation, a thermo‐mechanical coupled simulation model is used with a thermo‐elastic‐plastic constitutive model including effects from changes in the microstructure during quenching. The results from simulations give the variations of the heat transfer coefficient in time for best match to experimental results. It is found that the pressure dependence for the two materials is different and the heat transfer coefficient is varying during quenching. This information together with further testing will be used as a base in a future model of the heat transfer coefficient influence at different conditions in press hardening process.