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Loading path design of thin-walled aluminum alloy T-shaped tube hydroforming process based on the control of limit pressure

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Abstract

Due to the influence of pressure control precision, the actual pressure in hydroforming process for the tube is usually greater than the design pressure, which causes the fracture of tube. The loading path of T-shaped tube hydroforming process was designed based on the control of limit pressure. First, the limit pressure of tube Pmax was obtained by improving the internal pressure until the tube cracked in the T-shaped tube hydroforming process without the feeding and a theoretical model for predicting instantaneous pressure is developed. Second, the tube bulge height Hmax and the maximum feeding Dmax were explored through manual operation of feeding and pressure in hydroforming machine, in which the overflow pressure is set to Pmax by using an overflow valve; finally, the loading path of internal pressure and feeding was designed using the ladder growth and linear growth in T-shaped tube hydroforming experiment in which the maximum pressure, the maximum feeding, and the overflow pressure (equal to internal pressure) were set to Pmax, Dmax, and Pmax, respectively. The results show that the obtained limit pressure Pmax can avoid the overpressure of the tube and restrain the fracture of the tube through the action of the overflow valve. Meanwhile, the accuracy of the prediction model to figure up Pmax was verified through experiments: the theoretical prediction value of the established model was consistent with the experimental true value. Compared with the T-shaped tube formed by linear loading path, the wall thickness of the formed T-shaped tube by ladder loading path is more evenly distributed without wrinkles and fractures and the height of the formed branch tube close to Hmax. At the same time, it is found that under the differential lubrication tube blank, the time of obtaining a suitable loading path is significantly reduced, and the collocation of ladder mode is simpler and more efficient.

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Funding

The authors thank the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China with Grant No. 51975267 and the Key R&D Project in Jiangxi Province of China with Grant No. 20182ABC28001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aviation Manufacturing Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, 330063, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Wang, Xuefeng Xu, Yubin Fan & Liming Wei

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  1. Lei Wang
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  2. Xuefeng Xu
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  4. Liming Wei
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Correspondence to Xuefeng Xu.

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Wang, L., Xu, X., Fan, Y. et al. Loading path design of thin-walled aluminum alloy T-shaped tube hydroforming process based on the control of limit pressure. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 108, 3119–3131 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05526-0

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