Numerical investigation of flexible clamp stretch forming

Abstract

Multi-clamp stretch forming technology has been used in sheet metal for years, however, the arrangement of clamps change with the shape of stretching die is rather new. The goal of this research is to optimize the processing parameters of flexible clamp stretch forming machine. First, the forming characters of flexible clamp stretch forming is introduced, the feasibility of this technology is proved, the experimental prototype is developed, and the existing problem is discovered by a lot of experiments. Then, the optimized scheme is proposed, and numerical simulations of optimized parameters for flexible clamp stretch forming machine have been performed. Finally, the contrast of forming force, stretching strain and thickness of spherical parts formed by FCBSF and FCBDSF are carried out by numerical simulation. The excellence of the optimized flexible clamp stretch forming machine is verified by forming experiments.