Precision Forming Technology for Crimping of Large Straight Welded Pipes

Abstract

Crimping plays a pivotal role in the production of large-diameter submerged-arc welded pipes. In the crimping forming process, predicting the springback while considering the real-time variation of material parameters is a major challenge faced by many researchers, which has a direct impact on the quality of the welded pipe. To address this problem, the precision forming technology of crimping was developed. The engineering theory of plastic bending was used to investigate the crimping forming process. Two methods, namely, the slope reverse method and the optimization method, were adopted to identify the material parameters. The results showed that the inverted material parameters can be evaluated in real time based on the analytical model of crimping. The maximum relative error of the identification value is less than 4%. Therefore, the springback and displacement during crimping can be predicted dynamically to control the crimping forming quality. Thus, this project provides an important opportunity to achieve precise forming through crimping.