Experimental Study and Finite Element Simulation for Determining the Forming Window of 6063-O Aluminum Tube in Warm Hydroforming Process

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Mazandaran University of Science and Technology

2 Faculty of Materials and Industrial Engineering , Babol Noshirvani University of Technology

3 Babol Noshirvani University of Technolog

Abstract

In recent years, aluminum and magnesium alloys have attracted attention due to higher strength to weight ratio, compared with steels. The main limitation of these alloys is the low formability at room temperature. However, researchers have shown that the formability of aluminum alloys increases at high temperatures. In this study, the formability of 6063 annealed aluminum tube has been investigated in warm tube hydroforming process. The effects of pressure and axial feed on the thickness distribution, bursting pressure and the respecting bulge height at different temperatures have been studied experimentally and numerically. In order to numerically predict the onset of fracture, three criteria, namely equivalent plastic strain acceleration (second derivative), major strain acceleration, and thickness strain acceleration were used. Moreover, a geometrical method was adopted in the simulation to determine the wrinkling. By comparing the results, there was an acceptable accordance between experimental and simulation results. It has been shown that as the temperature rises, the bursting pressure decreases and the bulge height increases. In addition, increasing axial feed, enhanced the bulge height. Finally, by using experimental tests and finite element simulation, the process windows of the aluminum alloy tube were obtained at the temperature of 25 °C and 250 °C.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 52, Issue 3
June 2020
Pages 571-586

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