Research on transition region in sectional multi-point forming of saddle-shaped parts

Abstract

The design of the transition region is significant for effective sectional multi-point forming (SMPF) of sheet metal. In this work, the characteristics of the SMPF and design of the transition region in SMPF were systematically studied, and the reasonable design scheme of transition region is summarized. Numerical simulations of a saddle-shaped workpiece formed with different transition region design schemes were performed with finite element analysis software and compared with the design without the transition region. The results show that the reasonable design of the transition region can effectively inhibit indentation and wrinkle defects in the sheet metal during the SMPF process. The values of stress and strain were found to be smaller with uniform distribution compared to the design without the transition region. The flow of sheet metal was also more uniform and the distribution of thickness more reasonable. Finally, a series of experiments on 2024 aluminum alloy sheet metal were tested on the multi-point forming press (MPF) to verify the accuracy of simulation results. The results conclusively prove that the reasonable transition region design can greatly improve the forming effect of sectional forming.