A numerical study of the effects of roller paths on dimensional precision in die-less spinning of sheet metal

Abstract

Die-less spinning eliminates the dependence upon the mandrel of traditional spinning, but bringing about comparatively poor dimensional accuracy which needs to be improved. In this paper, roller paths in the first pass of die-less spinning, including concave, convex, linear and combined ones are parameterized according to the degree of bending and their effects on dimensional precision (thickness variation and shape deviation) have been studied by using experiments of finite element (FE) analysis. The effects of roller paths on thickness variation, shape deviation, tool forces, and stress and strain variations have been analyzed numerically. The results showed that for concave roller paths, the thickness variation is not very sensitive to the degree of bending, while a low degree of bending of the roller path can result in a low shape deviation. For convex roller paths, a low degree of bending leads to both low thickness reduction and low shape deviation. Further research shows that a combined roller path with convex-concave curve could contribute a low shape deviation, while an inverse combined roller path gives better thickness precision.