S.K. Lee

Determination of welding pressure in the non-steady-state porthole die extrusion of improved Al7003 hollow section tubes

Abstract Porthole die extrusion has a great advantage in the forming of hollow section tubes that are difficult to produce by conventional extrusion with a mandrel on the stem. Because of the complicated structure of the die assembly, the extrusion of hollow section tubes has been investigated experimentally. Analytic approaches that are useful in profitable die design and in the improvement of productivity are inevitably demanded. In porthole die extrusion the welding strength promises the possibility of producing sound hollow section tubes. Welding strength is affected by many parameters, such as extrusion ratio, extrusion speed, die shape, porthole number, bearing length, billet temperature and mandrel shape. In this paper, parameters such as billet temperature, bearing length and product thickness, are examined. The welding pressures are examined through 3D simulation of the non-steady state and compared with experimental results. The objective of this study is to analyze the metal flow and to predict the welding pressure of product by FE simulations and experiments. These results will be applied to porthole die design in the future.

Prediction of welding pressure in the non-steady state porthole die extrusion of Al7003 tubes

In this study, a visual sensor system for weld seam tracking the I-butt weld joints in GMA welding was constructed. The sensor system consists of a CCD camera, a diode laser with a cylindrical lens and a band-pass-filter to overcome the degrading of image due to spatters and arc light. In order to obtain the enhanced image, quantitative relationship between laser intensity and iris number was investigated. Throughout the repeated experiments, the shutter speed was set at 1-milisecond for minimizing the effect of spatters on the image, and therefore most of the spatter trace in the image have been found to be reduced. Region of interest was defined from the entire image and gray level of searched laser line was compared to that of weld line. The differences between these gray levels lead to spot the position of weld joint using central difference method. The results showed that, as long as weld line was within 15from the longitudinal straight fine, the system constructed in this study could track the weld line successful1y. Since the processing time reduced to 0.05 sec, it is expected that the developed method could be adopted to high speed welding such as laser welding.

Effect of Shape Parameters of Tool on Improvement of Joining Strength in Clinching

Clinching is a method of joining sheet metals together. This process can be substituted for the resistance spot welding on the joining of aluminum alloys. However, the joining strength of the clinching is lower than that of welding and riveting. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of shape parameters of tools on the joining strength of the clinching and to optimize clinching tools. Twelve parameters have been selected as shape parameters on the clinching tools such as punch and die. The design of experiments (DOE) method is employed to investigate the effect of the shape parameters of tools on the joining strength of the clinching. The neck thickness and undercut of the clinched sheet metal after the clinching, and the separation load at detaching are estimated from the result of FEA using DEFORM. Optimal combination of shape parameters to maximize the joining strength of clinching is determined on the basis of the result of DOE and FEA. In order to validate the result of DOE and FEA, the experiment of clinching is performed for the optimal combination of shape parameters. It is shown from the result of the experiment that optimization of shape parameters improves the joining strength of clinching.

Design of the Cross Sectional Shape of Intermediate Die for Shaped Drawing of Spline

The cross sectional shape of intermediate die is one of important parameters to improve dimensional accuracy of final product in shaped drawing process. Until now, it has been designed by the experience or trial and error of the expert. In this study, the cross sectional shape of intermediate die for spline shape is determined by the electric fields analysis and scale factor method. The result of the electric fields analysis and scale factor method have been compared with that of the expert method. The effects of cross sectional shape on the dimensional accuracy were investigated by using FE-simulation. And then the multi-stage shaped drawing experiments were performed to verify the results of FE-simulation. As a result, the cross sectional shape from the electric fields analysis and scale factor method had the good dimensional accuracy. These two methods can be used for the method to obtain the cross sectional shape of intermediate die in shaped drawing process.

Process Design of Multi-pass Shape Drawing Considering the Drawing Stress

In this study, a process design method for the multi-pass shape drawing is proposed with consideration of the drawing stress. First, the shape drawing load was calculated to evaluate the shape drawing stress, and the intermediate die shape was determined by using an electric field analysis and the average reduction ratio. In order to evaluate whether material yielding occurs at the die exit, the drawing stress was determined by using the calculated shape drawing load. Finally, FE-analysis and shape drawing experiments were conducted to validate the design of the multi-pass shape drawing process. From the results of the FE-analysis and shape drawing experiments, it was possible to produce a sound shape drawn product with the designed process. The dimensional tolerances of the product were within the allowable tolerances.

A Study on the Forming of Automotive Front Side Member Part with Ultra High Strength Steel of DP980

This paper is concerned with forming technology of an automotive front side member part with ultra high strength steel sheet of DP980. The forming technology considered in this paper is the draw & form type, which installs the upper pad and lower pad to produce the complicated shape of ultra high strength steel sheet. In order to produce sound product, comparison between form type and draw & form type and between draw type and draw & form type are investigated by FE-analysis. FE-analysis is carried out with commercial sheet metal forming analysis S/W, DYNAFORM. It was shown from FE-analysis that the draw & form type satisfied the required specifications such as the dimensional accuracy and soundness of automotive front side member part. The effectiveness of the analytical result was verified by the experiment. From this investigation, the draw & form type is proved to be able to supply useful forming technology in forming ultra high strength steel.

Synthesis and Properties of Thermosensitive Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide)/Waterborne Polyurethane Graded Concentration Hybrid Films

Temperature-sensitive hybrid films were synthesized with a concentration gradient by casting and UV curing of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) monomers (0%–70%) on the free surface of waterborne polyurethane (WPU) films on a Teflon substrate. The surface hardness and contact angle of the free surface with a water drop increased asymptotically with the addition of NIPAAm, whereas those on the substrate side were virtually unchanged. The diffusion coefficient (D), rates of swelling at 20°C (below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)) and deswelling at 50°C (above the LCST) increased with increasing NIPAM content, showing favorable thermosensitivity. In addition, the glassy state modulus and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the film increased with increasing NIPAM content, whereas the rubbery modulus decreased due to the increased molecular weight between the crosslinks. In addition, as the NIPAM content increased, the film showed a positive yield with an increased yield and fracture stress and decreased ductility. Above 50% NIPAM, the film became brittle, showing a linear stress–strain relationship.

Prediction of Drawing Load in the Shape Drawing Process

The prediction of drawing load is very important in the drawing process. However, it is not easy to calculate the drawing load for the shape drawing process through a theoretical model because of a complex arbitrary final cross section shape. The purpose of this study is to predict drawing load in shape drawing process. The cross section of product is divided with small angle as much as similar with fan-shape. The drawing load of each section was calculated by theoretical model of round to round drawing process. And the shape drawing load was determined by summation of drawing load of each section. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified through the FE analysis and shape drawing experiment. It had a good agreement between proposed method, FE analysis and experiment within about 3% errors.

A Study on the Pass Schedule of Multi-Pas Shape Drawing Process for Cross Roller Guide

In the multi-pass shape drawing process, the pass schedule that includes the determination of reduction ratio and intermediate die shape is very important. This study used the equal reduction, equal load, and electric field analysis method for pass schedule of the multi-pass shape drawing. The reduction ratio was calculated by the equal reduction and equal load method. And the intermediate die shape was determined by the result of the electric field analysis and the calculated reduction ratio. The proposed pass schedule method was applied to a shape drawing for producing cross roller guide. Finally, FE-analysis and shape drawing experiment were performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Die design in the complex shape drawing of cross roller guide to improve the dimensional accuracy

A drawing process allows for a smooth and clean surface, metal savings, low cost tooling, and closely controlled dimensions to be obtained in long products that have constant cross-sections. Recently, rods having irregular sections more complex than a rectangle or ellipse are necessary to produce mechanical parts. A cross roller guide is one of the parts produced by complex cold-shaped drawing. A cross roller guide has a linear bearing system that rolls along a guide way. A cross roller guide is one of the most important components in terms of equipment because the quality of the linear rail influences the precision linear motion. Therefore, the final dimensional accuracy of the linear rail in cold-shaped drawing is very important. The aim of this study is the optimization of the optimal die angles to improve the dimensional accuracy and straightness of the final product using design of experiment, FE-simulation, and the Taguchi method. Based on the analytical results, experiments for real industrial products have also been implemented to verify the results. From the experimental results, it was possible to improve the dimensional accuracy and straightness of final product.