Chris Valentin Nielsen

Three-dimensional simulations of resistance spot welding

This paper draws from the fundamentals of electro-thermo-mechanical coupling to the main aspects of finite element implementation and three-dimensional modelling of resistance welding. A new simulation environment is proposed in order to perform three-dimensional simulations and optimization of resistance welding together with the simulations of conventional and special-purpose quasi-static mechanical tests. Three-dimensional simulations of resistance welding consider the electrical, thermal, mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of the material as well as the operating conditions of the welding machines. Simulations of the mechanical tests take into account material softening due to the accumulation of ductile damage and cover conventional tests, such as tensile–shear tests, cross-tension test and peel tests, as well as the possibility of special-purpose tests designed by the users. The overall presentation is supported by numerical simulations of electrode misalignment caused by the flexibility of the welding machine arms and electrical shunting due to consecutive welds in the resistance spot welding of two sheets.

All-hexahedral meshing and remeshing for multi-object manufacturing applications

All-hexahedral meshing and remeshing algorithms giving support to finite element modeling of manufacturing processes require continuous development for improving its overall robustness and applicability. This paper draws from a previous all-hexahedral algorithm presented by the authors and proposes new developments related to the construction of adaptive core meshes and processing of multi-objects that are typical of manufacturing applications. Along with the aforementioned improvements there are other developments that will also be presented due to their effectiveness in increasing the robustness of all-hexahedral algorithms. These include identification and simplification of boundary features, reconstruction of vertices and edges with minimum element distortion, smoothing of nodal points along edges and topology based mesh repair procedures to ensure completeness of edge representation. The presentation is enriched with examples taken from pure geometry and metal forming applications, and a resistance projection welding industrial test case consisting of four different objects is included to show the capabilities of selective remeshing of objects while maintaining contact conditions and local geometrical details that are critical for electro-thermo-mechanical numerical simulations.

A Study on DLC Tool Coating for Deep Drawing and Ironing of Stainless Steel

The trend in metal forming tribology is to develop new tribo-systems including new lubricants, tool materials and tool coatings in order to substitute environmentally hazardous lubricants by environmentally friendly tribo-systems. In preliminary testing the limits of lubrication of new tribo-systems for sheet forming production, it is advantageous to use dedicated simulative tribo-tests. This paper studies the influence of tool coatings on deep drawing operations using the Bending Under Tension (BUT) test and also under more severe tribological conditions by adopting the Strip Reduction Test (SRT) to replicate industrial ironing of deep drawn, stainless steel parts. Non-hazardous tribo-systems in form of a double layer Diamond-like coated tool applied under dry condition or with an environmentally friendly lubricant were investigated via emulating industrial process conditions in laboratory tests. Experiments revealed that the double layer coating worked successfully, i.e. with no sign of galling, when it was used with environmentally friendly lubricants, whereas the results were more prone to galling under dry condition.

Pressure-assisted forming of non-concentric tubular cross sections with solid medium

Pressure-assisted forming of tubes allows producing a wide variety of tubular components that are difficult or impossible to fabricate by means of conventional tube forming. In contrast to previous investigations in the field that were almost exclusively focused on the utilization of fluids (tube hydroforming) or elastomers (tube rubber forming) as pressuring medium, the subject matter of this article is centred in the utilization of low melting point, recyclable, metallic alloys as solid pressurizing medium. The aims and scope of the article are centred on the feasibility of forming straight carbon steel tubes into complex gooseneck geometries with non-concentric cross sections using lead as a solid pressuring medium and employing a double-action cam-driven tool system. The presentation is focused on the tool system, on its adequacy to produce customized tubular components, on the required forming forces and on the typical modes of deformation that result from the different movements provided by the vertical and horizontal actuators of the double-action tool system. Results and observations confirm that the utilization of a double-action tool system with a solid pressurizing medium to assist plastic deformation and prevent collapse can be successfully and effectively employed to fabricate non-concentric tubular cross sections for prototypes and small batches of lightweight components.

On the Performance of Thin-Walled Crash Boxes Joined by Forming

A new joining by forming process that combines lancing and shearing with sheet-bulk compression is utilized to assemble thin-walled crash boxes utilized as energy absorbers. Process design and fabrication of the new crash boxes are analyzed by finite elements and experimentation. Axial crush tests were performed to compare the overall crashworthiness performance of the new crash boxes against that of conventional crash boxes assembled by resistance spot-welding. Results show that the joining process is a good alternative to resistance spot-welding because the new crash boxes can absorb the same crushing energy, and because the new process helps to overcome typical manufacturing problems of welding.

Lubricant Influence on the Ejection and Roughness of In-Die Electro Sinter Forged Ti-Discs

Electro Sinter Forging (ESF) is a new sintering process based on Joule heating by high electrical current flowing through compacted metal powder under mechanical pressure. The whole process takes about three seconds and is based on a closed-die setup, where the sample is sintered inside a die. A near-net shape component is therefore manufactured. One of the challenges associated with this process is the ejection of the sample after sintering. Due to powder compaction and axial loading during sintering, a radial pressure is generated at the die/sample interface. Consequently, the ejection can be difficult, and the final quality of the sintered component in terms of roughness and surface defects may be affected. In the present work, four different lubricants and non-lubricated conditions were tested to investigate the effects on the final part quality. The sintered sample is a disc made of commercially pure titanium powder. The force was measured while ejecting the samples by using a speed-controlled press. The surface roughness parameter Sa was measured by using a laser confocal microscope.

Revisiting liquid lubrication methods by means of a fully coupled approach combining plastic deformation and liquid lubrication

This paper presents a new approach based on a fully coupled procedure in which the lubricant flow and the plastic deformation of the metallic material in metal forming are solved simultaneously. The proposed method is an alternative to conventional modelling techniques which allow studying the effect of a broad range of parameters directly on the friction conditions. The approach is applied to strip reduction of a sheet with mesoscopic surface pockets in order to investigate the escape of lubricant from the pocket by means of Micro Plasto HydroDynamic Lubrication and Micro Plasto HydroStatic Lubrication. For the investigation on Micro Plasto HydroStatic Lubrication, the friction along the tool–workpiece contact interface and the back tension are taken as parameters, and the backward escape Micro Plasto HydroDynamic Lubrication is investigated by variations in lubricant viscosity by means of a combined numerical and analytical model, and by variations in drawing speed. Good agreement is found with the experimental observations.