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.     

Incremental forming path-generated method based on the intermediate models of bulging simulation

This paper discusses the strategy of incremental forming and presents a novel forming strategy for tool path generation. To equalize the strain distribution of sheet metal and improve the forming limit, multistage forming is made to reference a hydraulic bulging forming. Under the liquid pressure, a plate sheet gradually approaches the final shape. A hydraulic bulging numerical simulation is used to obtain a series of intermediate surfaces. Then, CNC codes can be generated in CAM software based on the surfaces. The codes are the tool spatial feed paths for single-point incremental sheet metal forming. The paper focuses on the feasibility investigation, and the experiment proved it. The behaviors of forming and the distribution of thickness are also discussed and concluded that the forming limit of the sheet can be improved by imitating the approach between intermediate surfaces.     

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.     

Optimization techniques applied to single point incremental forming process for biomedical application

Single point incremental forming (SPIF) process has the potential to replace conventional sheet forming process in industrial applications. For this, its major defects, especially poor geometrical accuracy, should be overcome. This process is influenced by many factors such as step size, tool diameter, and friction coefficient. The optimum selection of these process parameters plays a significant role to ensure the quality of the product. This paper presents the optimization aspects of SPIF parameters for titanium denture plate. The optimization strategy is determined by numerical simulation based on Box–Behnken design of experiments and response surface methodology. The Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm and the Global Optimum Determination by Linking and Interchanging Kindred Evaluators algorithm have been proposed for application to find the optimum solutions. Minimizing the sheet thickness, the final achieved depth and the maximum forming force were considered as objectives. For results evaluation, the denture plate was manufactured using SPIF with the optimum process parameters. The comparison of the final geometry with the target geometry was conducted using an optical measurement system. It is shown that the applied method provides a robust way for the selection of optimum parameters in SPIF.     

Failure in single point incremental forming

This paper revisits the formability limits of single point incremental forming (SPIF) in the light of fundamental concepts of plasticity and ductile fracture mechanics. The paper has a twofold objective of investigating the limiting strain pairs at fracture in parts showing and not showing signs of necking before cracking and of demonstrating that failure by fracture occurs by tension in crack opening mode I. The overall methodology is based on the combination of circle grid analysis, measurement of the ‘gauge length’ strains at fracture and determination of fracture toughness from experimental tests performed with truncated conical SPIF parts and double edge notched test specimens loaded in tension. The work is performed in aluminium AA1050-H111 and is a step towards comprehension of the circumstances under which failure will occur in SPIF. It is shown that fracture strain pairs of truncated conical parts, fracture forming limit lines (FFLs) determined from conventional sheet formability tests and fracture toughness in crack opening mode I can be merged to create a new understanding of plastic flow and failure by fracture above the onset of necking.     

Improving profile accuracy in SPIF process through statistical optimization of forming parameters

In single-point incremental forming (SPIF) process, a number of parameters are involved and need to be adjusted before the commencement of the forming operation. The inappropriate selection of these parameters could be detrimental to process accuracy. In this paper, the effect of five parameters, namely, sheet thickness, tool radius, step size, wall angle, and pre-straining level of sheet, on the profile accuracy of the produced part of AA1060 with SPIF is experimentally investigated. A response surface method is employed for the experimental design and regression analysis. The experimental results are presented in the form of graphical three-dimensional response surfaces. The results of ANOVA show that the sheet thickness, wall angle, step size, and the interaction between the sheet thickness and wall angle are extremely significant in terms of their effect on profile accuracy. Furthermore, an empirical model is proposed to achieve improved profile accuracy in terms of the optimized parameters.     

Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of multistage incremental sheet forming

Multistage forming is usually adopted to form those parts which have steep angles or even vertical walls during incremental sheet forming (ISF) process. In order to study the multistage incremental forming further, based on a finite element method model which was experimentally verified, different forming strategies were adopted to form a frustum of cone with a wall angle of 30° to research the influence of the number of forming stages (n) and the incremental wall angle between the two adjacent stages (?α) on the formability of ISF. The simulation results including the thickness distribution, the equivalent plastic strain, and the magnitude of springback were analyzed in detail. It was found that with the growth of n, the minimum thickness increases largely, and more uniform thickness distribution is achieved, but the quantity of springback becomes larger in contrast with a single-pass process because of the accumulation of springback during each forming stage. Furthermore, an expression to figure out the appropriate value of n was given. In addition, the maximum thickness reduction decreases initially and then increases as the value of ?α grows. Meanwhile, it indicates that there is no relation between ?α and the quantity of springback.     

走刀轨迹对双面渐进成形几何精度的影响

在单点渐进成形(single point incremental forming,简称SPIF)加工过程中,成形刀具与夹具间的板料因得不到有效支承而发生翘曲,卸载后板料易回弹,影响制件的成形几何精度;因此,提出了2种新型双面渐进成形(double sided incremental forming,简称DSIF)走刀轨迹,分析了2种轨迹下板料单元的应力和应变状态,并借助有限元分析软件模拟了板料的成形过程,进一步比较了不同走刀轨迹下制件的成形几何精度。仿真数据表明,与单点渐进成形相比,这2种双面渐进成形走刀轨迹能有效改善制件的成形几何精度。     

Prediction and control of pillow defect in single point incremental forming using numerical simulations

Pillows formed at the center of sheets in Single point incremental forming (SPIF) are fabrication defects which adversely affect the geometrical accuracy and formability of manufactured parts. This study is focused on using FEA as a tool to predict and control pillowing in SPIF by varying tool size and shape. 3D Finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments are carried out using annealed Aluminum 1050. From FEA, it is found out that the stress/strain state in the immediate vicinity of the forming tool in the transverse direction plays a determinant role on sheet pillowing. Furthermore, pillow height increases as compression in the sheet-plane increases. The nature of in-plane stresses in the transverse direction varies from compressive to tensile as the tool-end geometry is changed from spherical to flat. Additionally, the magnitude of corresponding in-plane stresses decreases as the tool radius increases. According to measurements from the FEA model, flat end tools and large radii both retard pillow formation. However, the influence of changing tool end shape from hemispherical to flat is observed to be more important than the effect of varying tool radius, because the deformation zone remains in tension in the transverse direction while forming with flat end tools. These findings are verified by conducting a set of experiments. A fair agreement between the FEM and empirical results show that FEM can be employed as a tool to predict and control the pillow defect in SPIF.

     

汽车后延臂液压胀形的数值模拟

在基于刚塑性模型的HydroFORM-3D有限元平台上,对汽车后延臂的液压胀形工艺进行数值模拟分析和研究,分别考察了汽车后延臂液压胀形的主要工艺参数,如管内压力、轴向进给量及摩擦条件对成形过程的影响。并与实际试验结果进行验证和比较,结果表明,数值模拟具有较好的计算精度,可以准确地预测出几何变形和厚度变薄量。     

直壁筒形件多道次增量成形工艺研究

通过对筒形件数控增量成形工艺的分析和研究，提出了以壁厚均匀化、提高成形极限为目的的直壁件多道次成形路径规划方案。设计了加工轨迹，通过实验研究，对成形路径，尤其是第一道次进行了优化，在此基础上加工获得了高径比为0．5的直壁筒形工件。     

Generation and suppression of local severe plastic deformation in sectional multi-point forming

Sectional multi-point forming (SMPF) technology provides a new solution for forming large-size sheet metal. With this technique, large-size parts of sheet metal can be manufactured on a smaller multi-point forming press. But the force status and deformation of the workpiece are complicated in SMPF; the local severe plastic deformation will be produced easily in the transition region, and strain-hardening will be commonly produced subsequently. The hardening is difficult to eliminate in subsequent processes, which will largely affect the final deformation quality. In this paper, the generation of local severe plastic deformation was discussed; NURBS-based modeling method was used to construct the shape of the assortative region to suppress the defect. Experiments proved that the method is fairly effective. Finally, a plan was suggested to raise further the forming limit of materials and enhance the work efficiency by combining multi-point press forming with assortative region method.     

激光深熔焊熔池形成过程的数值模拟

建立了用于激光深熔焊数值模拟的新型移动热源模型——圆锥体热源模型,用圆锥体热源模型模拟激光深熔焊时熔池的形成过程。结果显示圆锥体热源模型能够很好地描述能量在试件厚度和试件表面上的传导情况,准确地模拟了熔池的形成过程,得到了与实际焊接很相符的温度场分布。     

基于响应面法的单点增量成形过程变形能优化

单点增量成形过程中的变形能对加工成本控制及工具头与材料之间的热效应和摩擦效应有直接影响。以典型圆锥形制件为研究对象,采用BBD实验方法,设计四因素三水平实验方案,利用响应面法研究工具头直径d、层间距Z、板厚t和成形角α对变形能的影响,并得到变形能的多元二次预测模型,最后以变形能最小为目标对该模型进行优化。实验结果表明：板厚对变形能的线性影响最显著,随着板厚的增大变形能增大,工具头直径越大所需变形能越大,成形角增大时所需的变形能增大;变形能最小的工艺参数组合是工具头直径4.0mm、层间距0.95mm、板厚0.57mm、成形角45°。     

新型大柔度锥面高速刀柄的设计

设计了一种新型结构高速刀柄,刀柄的结构特征为实心短锥双面定位,并在锥面上开环形沟槽形成分锥体。由分锥体组合而成的大柔度锥面允许刀柄与主轴锥孔以较大过盈量配合联接,同时刀柄分锥体高速旋转时能够产生较大的离心膨胀与主轴锥孔膨胀相匹配,提高了刀柄与主轴接口的极限转速和联接刚度。对刀柄结构进行了设计,利用有限元分析对刀柄的主要几何参数、过盈量以及极限转速进行了确定。研究结果证明,与常用的HSK刀柄相比,所设计的新型高速刀柄能够显著提高刀柄的极限转速。     

盒形件固体颗粒介质板材成形工艺研究

固体颗粒介质板材成形工艺是采用固体颗粒微珠代替刚性凸(凹)模(或弹性体、液体)的作用对板材拉深成形的新工艺。选用非金属固体颗粒介质——GM颗粒作为研究对象,以固体颗粒介质在高应力水平下的体积压缩试验和摩擦强度试验为基础,应用散体力学理论中扩展的Drucker-Prager线性模型构建固体颗粒介质有限元材料模型。以具有非轴对称性的方盒形件为代表,进行固体颗粒介质成形工艺的有限元模拟,研究成形过程中板材的流动特征和壁厚分布规律。工艺试验成功得到方盒形零件,将加载曲线、成形过程变形特征和壁厚分布曲线与数值模拟结果比对较为吻合。分析表明,采用以散体力学为基础建立的固体颗粒介质材料模型进行工艺模拟,能够得到与试验较为接近的变形特征和力能参数,可以应用于制定工艺方案的依据,为该技术在板材成形中的应用起到指导和借鉴作用。     

Multi-response optimization on single-point incremental forming of hyperbolic shape Al-1050/Cu bimetal using response surface methodology

In present work, experimental and numerical investigations were carried out on single-point incremental forming of explosive bonded clad sheets. The sheets were produced by explosion welding from 1050 aluminum alloy and C10100 copper alloy sheets. A generatrix of hyperbolic curve was utilized as profile of final shapes formed by SPIF process. During some investigations, the interaction and main effect of the process parameters viz. tool diameter, step down, rotational speed, and sheet arrangement were evaluated on the fracture depth and wall thickness at fracture using ANOVA method. For experimentation, a customized design table was built with three quantify and one qualify factors in two levels. The design table totally provides four input factors and two responses in 12 runs. The responses are fracture depth and wall thickness. A multi-response optimization was conducted to find optimum values for input parameters using response surface methodology (RSM) and the confirmatory experiment revealed the reliability of RSM in this regard. Moreover, predictive models were presented in confidence interval of 95% to formulate the relationship between the responses and the input factors using RSM approach. Additionally, a finite element analysis was carried out on the SPIF based on optimal input parameters to depict reaction force changing, thickness variation, and stress distribution.     

Nosing of thin-walled PVC tubes into hollow spheres using a die

In a recent work, the authors presented a new single-stage nosing process for manufacturing metallic hollow spheres from thin-walled tubes that is capable of extending the formability limits of conventional nosing (Alves and Martins in J Strain Anal Eng Des 43:205–216, 2008). The fundamentals of the process were investigated by means of standard finite element analysis and its technological viability was evaluated by means of experimentation on industrial AA6060 aluminium alloy tubes. This paper is aimed on extending the scope of single-stage nosing so as to include the production of polymer hollow spheres. The investigation draws from the development of an innovative extension of the flow formulation that is capable of modeling cold plastic deformation of pressure-sensitive yield surfaces under a nonassociated flow rule to the identification and analysis of the major process parameters that influence formability and quality of the polymer hollow spheres. The overall performance of the process is assessed by means of a combined theoretical and experimental investigation made with industrial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes. Results show that the innovative extension of the finite element flow formulation is capable of successfully modeling cold forming of polymers and that single-stage cold nosing of thin-walled PVC tubes can be successfully utilized for manufacturing sound hollow spheres.     

A technology to improve formability for rectangular cross section component hydroforming

In order to overcome difficulties in non-uniform thickness distribution and cracking failure during rectangular tube quasi-static hydroforming, a new forming technology, named as electromagnetically assisted hydroforming, is put forward. Both experiment and finite element method were conducted to investigate corner deformability and deformation pattern and its effect mechanisms. Results indicate that both corner deformability and thickness distribution are improved greatly under electromagnetic-assisted hydroforming. The reason is that deformation behavior changed after electromagnetic force application. As electromagnetic force is applied, tine petal cross sections are periodically produced and flattened. Thus, petal-like preform continues to generate and play a useful role in corner filling. Such deformation pattern overcomes friction holding back defect and results in stress state going over from tensile stress to compressive stress, which helps to avoid cracking failure and greatly improve thickness uniformity. At the same time, it also contributes to improve surface quality and decrease forming pressure simultaneously.     

一种用于汽车碰撞模拟的网格变量映射算法及其验证

在汽车碰撞模拟中,需要考虑零件冲压后的板料厚度变化、材料硬化以及残余应力对仿真结果的影响。由于冲压仿真后的零件仿真模型中网格变形大,单元尺寸小,并且总的单元数量多,冲压后的网格模型并不适合碰撞仿真。在有限元仿真结果分析基础上,提出一种把冲压仿真模型网格变量(如应力、应变和厚度分布)映射到碰撞仿真模型网格上的变量映射算法,并开发计算程序。通过比较采用不同网格的汽车B柱冲击仿真模型的计算结果,验证上面的算法。该算法解决了网格重划后其变量的映射问题,可以减少网格重划工作,为在汽车碰撞仿真中考虑冲压效应提供一种有效的方法。