Experiments on electrohydraulic forming and electromagnetic forming of aluminum tube

Abstract

Electromagnetic forming (EMF) and electrohydraulic forming (EHF) are typical high speed forming technologies characterized with improved formability of sheet metal, single-sided die, and high precision deformation of parts. In this work, the bulging experiments of aluminum alloy tubes by EMF and EHF were performed to investigate the attaching-die capability, wall thickness, working hardness, and residual plasticity of deformed tubes. The results showed that the bulged tube by EMF is of low attaching-die capability, remarkable rebound, serious thinning of wall thickness, and prone to rupture in the outer corner. However, the parts by EHF process are of high attaching-die capability, almost no rebound, relatively uniform thickness, and remarkable fillet filling in the inner corner. The load mechanism contributes to the different deformation results of both processes. With the almost equivalent deformation, the tensile deformation ability of EHF part is better than that of EMF one, and the discharge energy efficiency of the former is higher than that of the latter.