Loose Coupled Simulation Method for FEA of Electromagnetic Forming of Muffler

Abstract

Over the past years, in electromagnetic forming (EMF) processes, a huge amount of research has been carried out. It includes sheet metal forming, expansion, and compression of tubes. It has been well documented in the literature that the various products of different shapes can be manufactured with EM forming processes. In this present work, a set of experiments has been carried out for near-net-shape manufacturing of automobile muffler. By EM expansion of the tube, where the tube is surrounded by the die of required dimensions, the muffler shape can be obtained. As EMF is a high-speed forming method, it involves large strain rates, large deformations, and high velocities. It is challenging to find out these process parameters experimentally, hence in this present work, to study these parameters numerically a loose coupled FEA model is developed. The combination of two different simulation softwares is used in this FEA model. It is observed that FEA results are in 94% agreement with experimental results. The required discharge energy in the electromagnetic forming process of the muffler for maximum gap filling has been experimentally found out, and it has been verified later with the numerical model.