Enhanced forming height and accuracy of thin-walled aluminum alloy by impact pneumatic forming

Abstract

To enhance the plastic deformation capacity of hard-to-deform metal materials, the utilization of impact pneumatic forming technology is proposed for shaping complex thin-walled structures within milliseconds at room temperature. In this study, an efficient numerical simulation model is established and experiments were performed to investigate the forming height, limits, and accuracy of aluminum alloy components. The experimental results show a 21.4 % increase in the ultimate forming height when employing impact pneumatic forming as compared to quasi-static pneumatic forming. Moreover, as the initial gas pressure increases, part forming height experiences an increase but the gas compression rate experiences a decline. The simulation results reveal a maximum deformation velocity of 43.19 m/s and a limited strain rate exceeding 134 s−1, affirming the connection between increased forming height and high strain rate. Furthermore, the actual contours of parts under different gas pressures align with the simulation results, validating the reliability of the simulation. It is shown that a high gas pressure of more than 20 MPa applied for a long time can improve the forming accuracy of flat bottom and wave parts. Microstructural analysis shows that dislocations in the specimens subjected to IPF conditions are better distributed, and the dimples at the fracture sites are more pronounced. This further substantiates that the IPF process improves the plastic deformation capacity of hard-to-deform materials.