Simulation of Electromagnetic Forming Process and Optimization of Geometric Parameters of Perforated Al Sheet Using RSM

Abstract

Electromagnetic forming (EMF) is a kind of high-speed forming technology that can be useful for materials like aluminum. EMF helps to overcome the limitations of traditional forming. Due to this ability, the use of EMF in automotive applications has risen in recent years. The application of finite element software packages such as ANSYS 22 gives numerical modelling capabilities to simulate the EMF process and to design the forming process. Hence, the aim of this research work is to build and study the three-dimensional finite element model for the electromagnetic forming process and analyze the geometric parameters influencing the deformation of the perforated sheet with a design of experiments (DOE) approach. The finite element simulation is used in two stages. In the first stage, the electromagnetic force or Lorentz force striking the workpiece (i.e., Al sheet) is predicted using the ANSYS 22 Emag module. In the second stage, the predicted Lorentz force is then applied on an Al sheet to calculate the sheet deformation. The deformation of the sheet is predicted for different combinations of the geometric parameters of the sheet, such as open area percentage, ligament ratio (LR) and size of the hole, using ANSYS 22 Structural. In the DOE, response surface methodology (RSM) is used by considering the geometric parameters of perforated sheet such as open area percentage, ligament ratio (LR) and size of the hole. To minimize the number of experiments, an RSM model named central composite design (CCD) is employed. Further, the optimization study finds that the maximum deformation 0.0435 mm is calculated for the optimized combination of 25% open area, 0.14 LR and 4 mm hole size.