Method of simulation modeling and computing analysis for tube bending

Abstract

Simulation of thin-walled tube bending process not only results in a large amount of calculation due to its high nonlinearity, but also leads to its non-uniqueness in simulation modeling because of the particularity and diversity of the mandrel structure. The paper proposes a method for the simulation analysis of molding process of tube bends, which combines coordinate translation with mass scaling and is called the equivalent method, and gives out super-elastic mandrel model describing working state of mandrel more reasonable. It deduces the basic formula of the equivalent method which takes transformation of time coordinate, meanwhile keeps spatial coordinates not transform, and controls the calculation amount by controlling the time of banding molding and time step of recursive solving. It validates correctness and validity of the equivalent method and the mandrel model, which shows that the super-elastic mandrel models could avoid blindness, and the equivalent method greatly raises the simulation efficiency, and has enough analysis precision.