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Effects of process parameters on electromagnetic sheet free forming of aluminium alloy

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Abstract

The electromagnetic forming (EMF) process is an attractive high-speed manufacturing technique that is appropriate for aluminium alloys. This paper outlines experimental work conducted to determine the influence of different process parameters, such as the discharge voltage, lubrication, blank holder force and two-step EMF process, on the dome height, diameter, maximum major/minor strains, strain distribution and thickness distribution of AA 5052 and AA 5754 sheets through the process of electromagnetic free forming. The results show that the dome height and the maximum strain of specimens exhibit linear positive correlations with the discharge voltage. Maximum major strains on the order of 35–45% emerge at the sidewall near the top of the domes, which is also the main area for the thickness reduction, indicating that the inertia effect plays a key role in the EMF process. Increasing lubrication levels or decreasing the blank holder force can augment the deformation height, reduce the major strains and promote material flow. When discharge occurs at the same location, the two-step EMF process does not increase the forming height but can obviously improve the flow of material compared to one-step forming. Furthermore, an appropriate follow-up discharge voltage can thicken the area of the specimen at which necking most easily emerges and reduce the major strains, thereby improving sheet formability.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51575206, 51435007 and 51705169), the EU Marie Curie Actions-MatProFuture Project (Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES-318968), the Innovation Funds for Aerospace Science and Technology from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (Grant No. CASC150704), the Open Funds from the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body (Grant No. 31615006), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central University (Grant No. 2016YXZD055) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2017M61047).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Huijuan Ma, Liang Huang, Jianjun Li & Xuecheng Duan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Liang Huang

  3. Festo (China) Production Ltd., Shanghai, 201201, China

    Xuecheng Duan

  4. Changzheng Machinery Factory, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Chengdu, 610100, China

    Fei Ma

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  1. Huijuan Ma
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  2. Liang Huang
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Correspondence to Liang Huang.

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Ma, H., Huang, L., Li, J. et al. Effects of process parameters on electromagnetic sheet free forming of aluminium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 96, 359–369 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-1589-6

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