An investigation of the effect of temperature variability of the tools on FEA of the warm hydromechanical deep drawing process

Abstract

Warm hydromechanical deep drawing process is an innovative manufacturing technology that offers considerable increase in the formability of the materials. However, the weakness of the process lies in its complexity. For a successful process, the optimum temperature distribution of the material must be achieved. In addition, optimum loading profiles (pressure of fluid and force of blank holder) should be applied according to the punch position. These conditions can most easily be determined with the proven finite element analysis (FEA). In this study, the effect of the temperature variability of the tools on the results of the FEA was investigated. Namely, the study aims at investigating whether the temperature variability of the tools needs to be modeled or not in FE analysis. For a simple and fast analysis, it is generally accepted that the tools have a homogeneous temperature distribution and the temperature is constant throughout the process. However, in the experiments in this study, the temperatures of the tools changed considerably. The temperature variability of the tools was first measured in the experiments and then modeled in the FEA. In the analysis performed for the AA 5754 aluminum alloy, the thickness distribution of the deep drawn part was compared with the results of an FEA performed at a constant and same temperature condition. Results in both conditions were very close to each other and indicated that there is no need to obtain and model the temperature distribution or temperature variability of the tools throughout the process. It was possible to perform the FEA with acceptable accuracy by assuming a constant and homogeneous temperature distribution in the tools throughout the process.