Title: A numerical-experimental approach for the simulation of tube bending processes

Authors: Fabrizio Quadrini, Erica Anna Squeo

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy

Abstract: A finite element (FE) numerical-experimental procedure was defined to take into account the real material properties of a tube under bending, as nominal data or data extracted by other specimens could be erroneous. Axial and transverse compression tests were performed on portions of an aluminium alloy tube and a reverse procedure was used to extract the correct values of the material plastic properties. Subsequently, these properties were implemented in an FE model for the simulation of a ram bending process and the numerical results were experimentally validated. The proposed numerical-experimental procedure provides a fast tool to increase accuracy in the numerical simulation of tube bending. As a result, the effect of the clearance between the bended tube and the ram was easily identified and investigated.

Keywords: tube bending; FEM; finite element method; aluminium alloys; ram bending; numerical modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCMSSE.2010.033153

International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering, 2010 Vol.3 No.2/3, pp.188 - 198

Published online: 10 May 2010 *

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