Title: End forming of thin-walled tubes using a die

Authors: Barbara P.P.A. Gouveia, Maria L. Alves, Pedro A.R. Rosa, Jorge M.C. Rodrigues, Paulo A.F. Martins

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Politecnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract: This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation of the expansion, reduction and nosing of thin-walled tubes using a die with the purpose of examining the process mechanics and obtaining a better understanding of the modes of deformation and of the formability limits of each end tube-forming process. The theoretical investigation is accomplished by using virtual prototyping modelling techniques based on the finite element method and the experimental work is performed on Aluminium AA6060 industrial tubes.

Keywords: end forming; thin-walled tubes; finite element method; FEM; experimentation; deformation; formability limits; virtual prototyping; modelling; dies; aluminium tubes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2008.020504

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2008 Vol.1 No.2/3, pp.183 - 194

Published online: 28 Sep 2008 *

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