Title: Multi-step incremental air-bending forming simulation for U-shaped workpiece with super length and large opening of sheet metal

Authors: Zemin Fu; Dachao Hu; Guangming Liu; Ergeng Zhang

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China

Abstract: The sheet metal multiple-step air-bending forming is a common and effective manufacturing process. It is suitable for forming large workpiece without requiring time-consuming setup operations. Most researches on incremental air-bending forming are mainly based on experiments, and on trial and error basis, the forming processes are described through macroscopic metal deformation. ABAQUS finite element model based on Hill's anisotropic yield criterion under plane strain conditions is proposed in this paper for studying multi-step incremental air-bending forming process. The numerical simulation for workpiece forming of sheet metal is performed by ABAQUS/Explicit and Standard solvers. ABAQUS/Explicit module is used to simulate the sheet metal forming process, and ABAQUS/Standard module is utilised to simulate the springback process. The researches show that the results predicted with simulation are very close to the experimental data. It can be taken as a valuable tool for process design of multi-step incremental air-bending forming of sheet metal.

Keywords: multi-step air bending; incremental forming; sheet metal forming; springback; finite element method; FEM; modelling; simulation; process design; plane strain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2011.045466

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2011 Vol.42 No.3/4, pp.247 - 262

Received: 25 Jan 2011
Accepted: 30 Nov 2011

Published online: 07 Mar 2015 *

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