Produce A Large Sheet Metal Part Using Electromagnetic-incremental Forming Method: Finite Element Simulation And Experimental Research

Electromagnetic forming process is mainly used in forming small size, simple shapeparts, seldom used in forming large size, complex shape and deep drawing parts. This isbecause of the limitation of the strength of working coil and the capacity of capacitorbank. In this paper, based on the previous research, a novel technology has been proposed,named electromagnetic-incremental forming, which integrates the incremental formingtechnology into the traditional electromagnetic forming. In this technology, a smaller coilhas been used to process a large part by moving multiple forming method. Thistechnology can greatly reduce the requirements of the forming equipment energy,decrease the production cost of the coil, and prolong the service life of the coil.In this paper, the principle of the electromagnetic-incremental forming has beenresearched, the ANSYS software was used to build the full coupled analysis model of theelectromagnetic-incremental forming process,“Life and Death element” method wasused to realize the movement of the coil. The simulation values are in better agreementwith the experimental ones. This work demonstrates that the new technology offers anability to form large and complex components with a small working coil and smalldischarging energy of the electromagnetic machine.The tube electromagnetic-incremental forming experimental platform has been builtin order to verify the correctness of the simulation method. The simulation method wasused to study the influence of the discharge voltage, the coil position overlap rate and theforming order in tube electromagnetic-incremental forming process. The conditions oftube uniform forming has also been researched, and through the analysis and comparison,the optimal technological parameters have been found. The blank electromagnetic-incremental forming experimental platform has beenbuilt. The simulation method and experiment method were both used to study theinfluence of the vent holes, the discharge voltage and the forming times in blankelectromagnetic-incremental forming process, and the optimal technological parametershave been found. The special equipment for blank electromagnetic-incremental forminghas been developed.