Analysis of wrinkling limit of rotary-draw bending process for thin-walled rectangular tube

The rotary-draw bending process for thin-walled rectangular tube of aluminum alloy may produce a wrinkling phenomenon if processing parameters are inappropriate, especially for tubes with thin wall and small bending radius. To predict this wrinkling rule rapidly and accurately, here, a wrinkling wave function was proposed and a wrinkling prediction model was developed based on the deformation theory of plasticity combined with the energy method, and then the minimum bending radius without the occurrence of wrinkling in the process was obtained. Furthermore, the effects of geometrical parameters and the material properties of the tube on the minimum bending radius were analyzed. The results show that larger thickness-to-width ratio (t/b) and thickness-to-height ratio (t/h) are beneficial to improve the wrinkling limit of the tube. The minimum bending radius becomes smaller with an increase in strain-hardening exponent of the tube, whereas with the strength coefficient decreasing. And the Young's modulus has little effect on the wrinkling limit. These achievements are helpful to develop the bending technique and provide a guideline in rotary-draw bending process for thin-walled rectangular aluminum alloy tube.