Equipment Development And Numerical Simulation Of Sheet Metal Based On Hydroforming

Sheet metal hydroforming is an advanced forming technology, which is rising in recent years. This technology uses fluid(hydraulic oil or water) to pressure on the sheet metal parts, replacing the punch or die, make the plate bulging and stick the mold. It has many advantages compared with other traditional metal forming technology, including faster mold development, higher forming quality, lower production cost, higher forming limit, light weight and thickness homogeneous distribution. Based on the above advantages, hydroforming technology has been more and more used in industrial production, high-end automotive and aerospace industries in abroad used this technology widely, this technology is used for cars and planes covering parts、tank and so on. In the domestic, because the lack of experiment and simulation, hydroforming has not been widely used in actual production, so the research and development of sheet hydroforming has important significance.In order to study the sheet metal hydroforming rule, this paper provide a method combining the theory, experiment and simulation. Firstly, we summarized and deduced the sheet metal hydroforming related formula by cite some relevant literatures. The formula includes sheet metal hydroforming stress equilibrium equations, strain equilibrium equation and blank-holder force equation. All these produce a theoretical foundation for the data processing of the experiment and simulation. Through the related theory, we designed and built the experiment system of sheet metal hydroforming and test analysis.Based on the non-linear finite element software ABAQUS, we make the simulation analysis on the sheet metal hydroforming process. By calculating and analyzing the experimental data, we get the main parameters, like minimum curvature radius and the thickness. By compared with the simulation results to verify the validity of the simulation.The free bulging of panel is simulated, proving the validity by comparing the simulation results with the theory. At the same time, we analyzed the size and load path of blank-holder force and frictional parameter by simulation, providing data support for the next experiments.The research shows that using the method of simulation can predict the thickness and the height of sheet hydroforming. BHF and load path are the key factors of hydroforming,have a great effect on the quality. Friction value is another important influence factor on forming technology, the quality is better with the smaller friction.The research not only can play a guiding role for sheet hydroforming but also provide reference for experiments and practical application.