Alexander Brosius

Integration of Electromagnetic Calibration into the Deep Drawing Process of an Industrial Demonstrator Part

In recent years a steadily growing interest in applying lightweight construction concepts could be observed. This development is accompanied by an increasing demand for innovative forming strategies suitable for extending the forming limits of the typical lightweight materials. Deep drawing combined with an integrated electromagnetic calibration step is an example of such a technology. The feasibility and potential of this process combination is analyzed on the basis of a demonstrator part from the automotive industry. Thereby, aspects related to the practicability of the electromagnetic forming process itself are regarded as well as points related to the deep drawn preform. The concept of a 3D-coil insert, integrated into a deep drawing punch in order to realize the calibration in the deep drawing process, is introduced and based on the experimental results, conclusions regarding the applicability of the process combination are drawn.

Process Characterization of Sheet Metal Spinning by Means of Finite Elements

Sheet Metal Spinning is a flexible manufacturing process for axially-symmetric hollow components. While the process itself is already known for centuries, process planning is still based on undocumented expertise, thus requiring specialized craftsmen for new process layouts. Current process descriptions indicate a vast scope of different dynamic influences while the underlying mechanical model uses a simple static approach. Thus, a 3D Finite Element Model of the process has been set up at IUL in order to analyze the process in detail, providing online as well as cross sectional data of the specimen formed. Within the scope of this article, the results of the above mentioned Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are presented and discussed with respect to the qualitative stress distributions introduced in the existing theoretical models. Main emphasis of this paper is set on a discussion of the qualitative stress distribution, which is, to the current state, only known in theory.

Process Analysis and Physical Simulation of Electromagnetic Joining of Thin-Walled parts

To avoid typical problems when connecting different metallic materials as aluminum and titanium as e.g. the formation of intermetallic phases, electromagnetic welding represents an alternative technology to conventional (i.e. usually thermal) joining processes. Although feasibility and potential of this technique are already proved, the fundamental correlations of partand process-parameters have not yet been investigated systematically. As an approach to examine these, the performance of model experiments and supplementary technological tests is suggested. The resulting connection quality is evaluated using metallographic methods.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Material Flow in Porthole Die Extrusion

The design of porthole dies for aluminum extrusion processes is very complex. For the accurate design, fundamental knowledge about material flow is of major importance. To gain these information, numerical methods are increasingly utilized. The accuracy of the simulation results depends mainly on the precision of the used boundary conditions in the model. Therefore, visioplastic analyses of the material flow inside a porthole die are presented in this paper. A special modular tool concept was developed to prepare and visualize the material flow inside the process. The results of the experimental analysis were used for the verification of numerical results which were calculated with the commercial software codes Deform3D and HyperXtrude.

Influence of Mandrel's Surface and Material on the Mechanical Properties of Joints Produced by Electromagnetic Compression

Electromagnetic compression of tubular profiles with high electrical conductivity is an innovative joining process for the manufacturing of lightweight structures. The mandrels material has an influence on the transferable loads which is affected by the Youngs modulus as well as the strength of the material. This was investigated, on the one hand, by changing the mandrels material and, on the other hand, by using the same mandrel material with differing strength. Furthermore, taking conventional interference fits into account, the contact areas influence on the joints quality seems to be of significance, as e.g. the contact area and the friction coefficient between the joining partners proportionally determine an allowed axial load or torsional momentum. Therefore, different contact area surfaces were prepared by shot peening and different machining operations and strategies. The mandrels surfaces were modified by shot peening with glass beads and Al2O3 particles. An alternative preparation was performed using simultaneous five-axis milling, because potential joining partners in lightweight frame structures within the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre SFB/TR10 would be manufactured similarly. After that, the manufactured surfaces were characterized by measuring the surface roughness and using confocal whitelight microscopy. Afterwards the modified mandrels were joined by electromagnetic compression. The influence of different mandrels surface conditions on the joints mechanical properties was analysed by tensile tests. Finally, conclusions and design rules for the manufacturing of joints by electromagnetic compression are given.

Joining by Compression and Expansion of (None-) Reinforced Profiles

One major objective of the Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR10 is the flexible and competitive production of frame structures which meet the requirements of lightweight design. The development of composite extrusion by embedding continuous reinforcing elements, like e.g. steel wires, in profiles during the extrusion process illustrates one approach to fulfill these conditions. To assemble such composite profiles, joining processes and strategies have to be developed taking into account the special composite material characteristics. In addition, the flexible production of lightweight frame structures in small quantities generates more requirements on the joining technology. The feasibility of joining by forming has been carried out investigating experimentally both conventionally extruded and reinforced profiles. Therefore, joining profiles to lightweight frame structures by both expansion and compression has been examined. The necessary forming pressure for the joining by forming processes was applied to tubular workpieces by a medium (hydroforming) and by a magnetic field (electromagnetic compression). Joints have been manufactured by these two processes to transmit axial loads either by force- or form-fit.

Springback Analysis of Sheet Metals Regarding Material Hardening

The phenomenon of springback of thin-walled sheet metal parts after forming is a well known problem of forming technology in general, but particularly since the finite element simulation offers the opportunity to predict geometrical and material properties after forming. Irrespective of the intensive efforts in the previous years, a reliable and accurate prediction of springback deviations by use of the finite element simulation is still not possible. This paper deals with the numerical and experimental analysis of the springback effect itself, which dependents on the final stress states of a part after the forming process. Experimental investigations have been carried out to analyze geometrical accuracy in loaded and unloaded conditions to isolate the springback effect. Additional finite element simulations have been conducted in order to compare the experimental and numerical results and to determine the geometrical differences and their reasons. Two experimental set-ups are being discussed: Air bending on the one hand, which offers good access to the specimen in the testing equipment, and draw bending on the other hand, which is characterized by a simple strain state, but also by strain reversal within the tests. Both experiments were carried out using DP600 and X5CrNi18.10 with three different sheet thicknesses and bend radii and were compared with according FE-models. An additional shear test experiment has been developed to characterize the material behavior of the tested sheet metals for strain reversal. Furthermore, the importance of the Bauschinger effect and usable hardening models were analyzed. This study intended to investigate reasons for insufficient form and dimensional accuracy between simulations and experiments after springback and to propose modeling methods to improve the accuracy.

Grain size evolution simulation in aluminium alloys AA 6082 and AA 7020 during hot forward extrusion process

Abstract The present paper investigates the grain size evolution in aluminium alloys AA 6082 and AA 7020 during hot forward extrusion process. The aim of the present work is the definition and implementation of a predictive algorithm that is able to compute the evolution of the grain shape during the process within the finite element method code Deform. Extrusion experiments were performed at two levels: at reduced scale for investigating and identifying the predictive equations and at industrial scale for validating the developed algorithm. At small scale extrusion, a complete factorial plan was performed for two alloys at three different temperatures, three extrusion ratios and two ram speeds: the discards and extrudates from the experiments were quenched immediately in order to avoid any potential recrystallisation, hence allowing measurements of transitional processing steps. At the industrial scale, instead, the 7020 alloy was extruded with two different die designs, thus producing a 20 mm diameter round bar under different extrusion ratios and strain paths. Finite element simulations were initially validated over visioplastic investigations in order to establish an accurate computation of the material flow, then experimental and numerical results were coupled, thus allowing the definition of the grain evolution model that was successfully integrated and validated on industrial scale trials.

Analysis of the Hydraulic Bulge Test with FEA Concerning the Accuracy of the Determined Flow Curves

This work covers the finite element analysis of geometric and process parameters in hydraulic bulge tests in terms of the accuracy of the evaluated flow curve. The important parameters are identified and varied to cover the whole range of possible uses. The effects of these parameters are analyzed for three representative materials: aluminium, mid-strength steel, and high-strength steel. The flow curves of the materials for each set of parameters are calculated by using the results of the simulations and the membrane theory. It is seen that even with simulation results, it is not always possible to obtain the input flow curve, especially towards the end of the test. The dimensions of the sheet and the tooling affect the plastic strain development and geometry of the bulge, leading to errors in computed flow curves. In order to observe the effect of the material flow from the flange on the determined yield stresses, the function and position of the drawbeads are also examined. These parameters, together with the method used to calculate the radius of the bulge, determine the accuracy of the calculated flow curve. Guidelines for an accurate flow curve determination regarding the test set-up and calculation methods are given.

Strategies for springback compensation regarding process robustness

In this article, strategies which compensate geometrical deviations caused by springback are discussed using finite element simulations and statistical modelling techniques. First of all the ability to predict springback using a finite element simulation model is analysed. For that purpose numerical predictions and experiments are compared with each other regarding the amount of springback. In a next step, different strategies for compensating springback such as a modification of stress condition, component stiffness and tool geometry are introduced. On the basis of finite element simulations these different compensation strategies are illustrated for a stretch bending process and experimentally checked for an example. Finally springback simulations are compared regarding their robustness against noise variables such as friction and material properties. Thereby a method based on statistical prediction models is introduced which allows for an accurate approximation of the springback distribution with less numerical effort in comparison to a classical Monte-Carlo method.