A New Bionic Elastic Mandrel for Application in the Spatial Consecutive RDB with no Straight Line

Abstract

Thin-walled spatial bending tube can not only provide engineering design with higher flexibility and lighter structure, but also enhance the construction of space saving and aerodynamics improvement. Based on rotary draw bending technique, a new method for spatial consecutive bending with no straight line for thin-walled tube was put forward. Firstly, a new bionic elastic mandrel was developed by analyzing the structural characteristics of the squilla. It mainly consisted of bowl-shaped mandrel balls, an elastomer and a mandrel shank. The bowl-shaped mandrel balls, nested matching one another, generated a non-smooth surface which can provide continuous support for internal surface of the tube wall. It could also achieve small bending radius. The elastomer featured of certain bending stiffness and enough tensile strength. Secondly, a curved clamping die was advanced to clamp the spatial consecutive bending tube with no straight line effectively. Based on the shape of the bending tube after the former bending forming process, the curved clamping dies which can match the shape of the former bending tube were designed for the later bending. Lastly, bending experiments was performed. A thin-walled tube made of Q235 with two passes, one bending angle 90° and the other 180° was taken for example and the spatial consecutive bending tube with no straight line was successfully obtained. It is of significant importance in enriching the spatial bending tube technique and achieving the small bending radius.