Finite element analysis and adaptive control of seal ring hydroforming

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (Riunet)

[EN] Hydroforming is used in numerous industries, especially the automotive industry and aeronautical has implemented the process due to its ability to decrease weight and improve stiffness. In general, hydroforming processes are developed using experience and general rules determining the process parameters. The parameters are used in a feed forward strategy for the tube hydroforming process, which makes the process vulnerable towards disturbances such as material imperfections, changes in lubrication, etc. To handle the disturbances, conservative tool designs are used. The conservative tool design results in products which are not optimal with respect to weight and/or stiffness. This non-optimal product may reduce the manufacturers competitiveness, why a new solution is sought applied. The solution should improve the hydroforming process, in such a way that failure may be prevented when using non-conservative tool design. In this research work the main forming load is hydrostatic pressure applied to the internal surface of the sheet, together with an in-plane compressive load applied simultaneously. The blank is placed in a pre-shaped die block and due to the action of simultaneous internal pressure and axial load; it is formed into a complex desired shape. If the internal pressure is too high during the process without sufficient axial load it may cause the sheet to burst, on the other hand too large axial load without applying sufficient internal pressure may cause wrinkling of the sheet. For these reasons, a number of simulations of the hydroforming process have been carried out for different axial load and internal pressure combinations and optimum conditions have been established for the particular process. This simulated hydroforming of composite material and the formed product has been analyzed on the basis of forming conditions and the simulated forming conditions have been verified by experiment. The simulations of hydroforming process for the seal ring have been carried by using the commercial finite element package ANSYS.