Numerical and experimental investigation into cold incremental rolling of doubly curved plates for process design of a new LARS (line array roll set) rolling process

The line array roll set (LARS) rolling process is a new incremental sheet metal rolling process for effective manufacture of doubly curved metal plates. In this study, design equations were developed to predict the curvatures of formed plate shapes with complex curvatures using the experimental data. A series of experiments with various curvatures have been performed. The comparison of the finite element computation results with the design equations has shown that the design equations can be effectively used for process design of forming processes in forming of doubly curved plates over a wide range of input curvatures.     

Geometrical approach for flame forming of single curved ship hull plate

Ship hull plate forming by flame torch plays an important role in shipbuilding process. In shipyards, the line heating method is one of the major processes carried out by workers to form the plates into desired shapes. Since this process depends on the skilled workers’ experiences and knowhow, there is a lot of variation in the products. There also could be some difficulties in communicating with each other. Hence, it is necessary to develop an automation system to increase not only the plate forming productivity, but also product quality. For automated plate forming, it is required to know where and how much to heat on the plate. Thus, the inverse problem should be solved to obtain process parameters such as torch travel speed and the heating positions. In this study, the deformed curve shape by flame heat was geometrically considered so that the appropriate geometrical parameters can be obtained. Then, the relationship between the bending angle and the radius of the curvature of the deformed curve shape were established. In addition, the process parameters were obtained by using the relationship between geometrical parameters and process parameters. Lastly, experiments of the two-dimensional plate forming considering deformed curve shape with the curvature were performed. The results of the formed shape were similar to the target shape.     

双曲率飞机整体壁板压弯成形有限元建模(英文)

为了建立压弯成形工艺的有限元模型,提出一种特殊的模拟过程和一种基于压弯线坐标的上下模边界条件计算方法。实现了双曲率飞机整体壁板七道次压弯成形工艺的模拟并且可以较好地模拟真实的生产过程,本建模方法可用于此复杂成形工艺的研究。分析了应力和应变分布,揭示了成形工艺的变形机理。通过进行定量的比较,得知七道次压弯成形的成形精度和表面质量较好。     

FEM modelling for press bend forming of doubly curved integrally stiffened aircraft panel

In order to establish an FEM model for aircraft integral panel press bend forming process, a special simulation procedure and a calculation method for the punch and die boundary condition based on the bending line coordinates were proposed. The simulation of a seven-step press bend forming process of doubly curved integrally stiffened aircraft panels was realized, and it could well simulate the real fabrication process, so that it could assist in studying this complicated forming process. Stress and strain distributions were analyzed, which reveals the deformation mechanics of this process. With quantitative comparisons, it can be concluded that forming quality of the seven step press bend forming is quite good, considering both the forming precision and the surface quality.     

Development of a Highly Flexible Incremental Roll Forming Process for the Manufacture of a Doubly Curved Sheet Metal

A flexible incremental roll forming process has been developed by adopting the advantages of the incremental forming process and the roll forming process: i.e., inherent flexibility of the incremental forming process and continuous bending deformation of the roll forming process. It has an adjustable roll set as a forming tool composed of one upper center roll and two pairs of lower support rolls, which plays a key role. Through the experiments, it is shown that the improved forming method of the proposed process is effective in the manufacture of various doubly curved sheet metals, and the proposed relationship of the experimental parameters and the radius of curvature of the formed sheet boundary is useful to control the final shape     

单曲率板材激光弯曲成形过程的有限元模拟

利用有限元软件MSC.Marc建立了单曲率板激光弯曲成形过程的热力耦合有限元模型。计算并分析了激光弯曲成形过程中板材内部的温度场、应力场和位移场。此外,还研究了扫描线的长度和单曲率板的初始形状对激光弯曲成形的影响。结果表明:随着扫描线长度的增加,板材的弯曲变形量增大;随着单曲率板曲率的增加,板材的弯曲变形量减小。实验结果验证了模型的可靠性。     

Three-dimensional sheet metal continuous forming process based on flexible roll bending: Principle and experiments

To effectively manufacture three-dimensional sheet metal parts with various curvatures produced in small batch quantities, continuous sheet metal forming, a new flexible forming technology is being developed. This process employs an upper flexible roll and two lower flexible rolls as a forming tool, and the shape of a flexible roll can be changed in vertical direction. With the rotation of flexible rolls, the sheet metal is bent in longitudinal and transverse directions simultaneously and is formed continuously. In the present study, the three-dimensional surface of formed part is described by sweep surface based on the characteristic of the forming process and the arc-length parametric equation for describing continuous forming part is developed. The three-roll bending deformation of sheet metal in longitudinal direction is analyzed and the longitudinal curvature equation of the formed part is derived. The shape of flexible roll axis controlled at a number of points is represented by the cubic spline curve and the transverse curvature of the formed part after springback is then calculated piecewise. Typically experiments for forming concave shape surface and saddle-type surface have been performed, the experiment results are measured and analyzed by a binocular stereo vision measurement system, it is demonstrated that the formed surfaces are in good agreement with the desired shapes and the presented equations are useful for the continuous forming process design.     

Two-step method of forming complex shapes from sheet metal

A two-step method of forming a part and a method of designing a preform shape are being discussed. The part may be formed from lightweight material to an extent that would normally exceed the forming limits of the material if the part were attempted to be formed in one-step conventional stamping die. Critical areas including deep pockets and sharp radius areas of the final part are formed from a preform or intermediate shape part. The first forming step can be conducted by variety of sheet metal forming methods; the preformed blank is further formed in a fluid pressure forming process to a final part shape wherein broad radius areas and pockets of accumulated metal of the preform are formed into deep pockets and sharp corners of the final shape. Electrohydraulic forming technology is employed for the second forming step.     

Determination of optimal motion of tools in metal forming processes by controlled FEM simulation

A method for determining optimal motion of tools in metal forming processes from the finite element simulation is proposed. In this method, the calculated results such as the deforming shape and the stress and strain distributions are monitored in each deformation step of the finite element simulation, and the forming motion of tools is iteratively optimized on the basis of a feedback control referring to the monitored results. The present method is applied to determination of the motion of rolls for forming plates into desired curvatures in plane-strain three-roll bending. Fuzzy reasoning is used to obtain the movement of the top roll in each deformation step, and the effects of the plate thickness and the difference between the desired and the calculated curvatures are taken into consideration. To avoid the delay of the control, the effect of the curvature distribution during bending is included in the fuzzy reasoning. It is shown that decrease in the curvature near both ends of the bent plate in three-roll bending is prevented by the use of the present method.     

A process sequence design on the forming process of disk-brake piston

A design methodology is applied to manufacturing a disk-brake piston component. A rigid plastic finite element method is applied to simulate the conventional four-stage manufacturing process and the one-step process from a selected stock to the final product shape for information on metal flows. Two-stage forming operations with different punch corner and nose radii are also simulated to identify the best possible solutions. The best manufacturing process is selected, which uses a hemispherical punch in the drawing process. Experiments are conducted for comparison with the numerical results. The good agreement between the experimental and numerical results validates the design methodology using the finite element method.     

FEA technique of hot plate forming process using cell-typed die with cooling device

Hot plate forming using a cell-typed die is a process for forming a large thick plate with a spherical shape for the manufacture of a large spherical LNG tank.Cell-typed upper and lower dies made of a framework of steel plates fitted to make a grid pattern are used in this process,and an air-cooling device is separately installed inside the lower die.A finite element analysis (FEA) technique was developed,which included hot forming,air flow,cooling and thermal deformation analysis for the hot plate forming process using the cell-typed die.Further,the convective and interface heat transfer coefficients were used to reproduce analytically the effects of the cooling device in the hot plate forming analysis.A small-scale model test of the process was conducted to verify the FEA technique.The analysis results show that the curvature of the final plate agrees well with that of the designed experiment within a maximum relative error of 0.03% at the corner of the plate.     

State-of-the-art of plate forging in Japan

The state-of-the-art of plate forging processes for forming complicated parts without cutting and finishing in Japan was reviewed. For cups having comparative large thickness and plates having complicated cross-sectional shapes, plate forging is more useful than conventional billet forging due to due to comparatively small change in shape. In plate forging, forging processes such as upsetting, extrusion and ironing are included in the sequence of conventional stamping composed of shearing, bending and deep drawing in order to control metal flow in plates. Plate forging has the advantages of higher performance, larger productivity, lower cost, etc. Plate forging processes are classified into desired functions of products, local thickening, local thinning, formability improvement and forming of gears and plates.     

板料增量成形的研究进展

板料增量成形是采用简单模具对板料进行逐次塑性加工的一种工艺,不需要专用的模具就可以成形较为复杂的零件,同时还具有成形力小、柔性高的特点,特别适合多品种小批量零件的生产方式,因此得到国内外学者的重视。本文重点从板料的增量压弯成形、增量拉深胀形、增量微成形3个方面对板料增量成形的发展进行综述,还对板料增量成形工艺的发展前景进行了展望,指出进行理论创新、开发新的模拟软件、探索新的成形方案、开发增量成形新设备是发展趋势。     

Study on the continuous roll forming process of swept surface sheet metal part

Continuous roll forming (CRF) is an effective process to manufacture swept surface parts of sheet metal. The forming tool in CRF is a pair of small-diameter bendable forming rolls, a swept surface is formed continuously after the rotating rolls sweep out the whole sheet metal blank. The two bent rolls and the non-uniformly distributed roll gap along the rolls’ length make the sheet metal bent in longitudinal and transverse directions simultaneously, the cross-section curve of the formed swept surface is controlled by the curved profile of the forming rolls and the spine curve is controlled by the differential elongations of sheet metal generated by roll gap. In this paper, a necessary condition for the formation of a swept surface is proposed and analyzed, the parametric equations of the formed surface in CRF are derived and the method to determine the roll gap for forming a given swept surface is presented. The numerical simulations and analyses on the CRF processes demonstrate the validity of the presented theoretical models. The experimental and measured results show that the formed surfaces are in good agreement with the desired surfaces, and swept surface parts with good forming precision can be obtained by CRF process.     

The non-hydrostatic response of polymer melts as a pressure medium in sheet metal forming

The polymer injection forming process is a recent invention for producing plastic?Cmetal hybrids. It is a combination of injection molding and sheet metal hydroforming process in which polymer melt serves as a pressure medium. This paper presents the experimental investigations on the non-Newtonian nature of thermoplastic melt as pressure medium. The objective of this work is to identify the presence of non-hydrostatic pressure distribution within the cavity and its influence on the final shape of the formed sheet metal component. Experiments are conducted with center-gated injection mold under varying processing conditions. The development of localized cavity pressure during the process is recorded and evaluated against the final shape of formed sheet metal. It has been observed that higher injection rate, higher injection temperature, and higher melt flow index of the processed polymer is necessary for the uniform pressure distribution and subsequently uniform forming of the sheet metal.     

Springback in stringer sheet stretch forming

Stringer sheets are sheet metal structures stiffened by bifurcations in the cross-section. In order to create spatially curved light-weight structures they may serve as preforms for sheet metal hydroforming. The stiffness of sheets altered by stringers is expected to affect the hydroforming results. In particular influences of the geometric inhomogeneity on the extent and orientation of springback are of interest. They are investigated by means of mathematical analysis and forming experiments. A modal analysis of formed stringer sheets is conducted in order to understand the different impacts of stringers on the elastic behaviour of parts and springback after forming.     

带筋铝合金壁板蠕变时效成形回弹行为试验

以可时效强化型7075铝合金带筋壁板为研究对象,开展蠕变时效成形试验,利用ATOS三维光学扫描仪对成形试件进行测量,计算出该铝合金带筋壁板的回弹量。同时,采用相同材料的铝合金平板件,在相同的试验条件下开展蠕变时效成形试验,计算平板件的回弹量,并与铝合金带筋壁板的回弹量进行对比分析。研究结果表明,相同工艺条件下,带筋壁板蠕变时效成形后的回弹量为11.2%,远小于平板件的回弹量(平板件的回弹量为53.9%)。这是由于相同曲率条件下,带筋壁板弯曲时尽管蒙皮部分处于弹性变形,但筋条处发生了明显的塑性变形,从而限制了蒙皮的回弹。因此,已有的基于平板件回弹行为的研究不能简单的应用于带筋壁板构件,需要进一步研究筋条塑性变形对构件回弹行为的影响规律,该文对于开展带筋壁板构件时效成形回弹行为研究提供了参考。     

地铁用高强度不锈钢弧形板冷弯成形过程的模拟及实验

针对不锈钢弧形板尺寸精度要求高导致成形工艺难度大的问题,以符拉索夫开口薄壁梁理论为基础,推导出符合高强度不锈钢弧形板成形过程中横向变形、纵向变形的能量计算式及弯曲角度的表达式,并编制出成形工艺。以理论计算为基础建立数学模型,模拟弧形板成形过程,根据在成形过程中出现的褶皱、翻边等问题对模型进行修正,增加侧辊,最终获得理想的板形。以成形过程中的轧制力大小及不锈钢弧形板成形后的回弹量;判定理论道次变形量分配的合理性。对合作企业的冷弯成形机组进行改造,依据最优仿真结果进行实验,反复修正后的工艺模型能顺利辊弯出高强度不锈钢弧形板产品,而且机组的轧制力能稳定,成形后的回弹量较小,产品质量满足用户精度要求。该研究对形成最优成形工艺,提高辊弯质量和精度具有重要指导作用。     

Analysis of the levelling process based upon an analytic forming model

Roller levelling is a complex forming process to minimize flatness imperfections and residual stresses by repeated forming of a sheet.At the Institute for Metal Forming and Metal Forming Machine Tools at the University of Hanover an analytic forming model is being developed which analyses the levelling process with sufficient precision in a shorter time than is possible with the finite element method (FEM).With this analytic forming model, the states of multiple forming under bending conditions during the levelling process can be investigated. The residual stresses and the residual bend of the sheet metal are calculated. Additionally, the forces acting on the rollers during levelling are determined. The controlling system assures setting of rollers automatically.     

马鞍形板件冲压成形新工艺

曲面板件在冲压成形时常常发生起皱现象。从曲面板件的几种冲压成形方法出发,讨论了各自的特点,提出了一种新型的曲面板件冲压成形技术,其为多点压板成形冲压工艺与杆系柔性成形模具。杆系柔性成形模具由可重构的杆系组成,若干个可更换的冲压头构成模具冲压型面;冲压过程中模具对板料实施压边、压板与成形,板面压板力提升了板料的抗失稳能力,保证复杂曲面板件的顺利成形。