A conventional air bending process, which is applied with a hydrostatic pressure in the bending zone, is presented. This was done by using an elastomer tool. The advantage of this method is that the flexibility of air bending is maintained by reducing the springback while the forming limits are extended. Experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of the elastomer tool. Furthermore, the geometry of the elastomer tool was analyzed by means of FEM simulations in order to investigate the influence on springback and bending force. The investigation leads to a reduction of the process forces by minimizing the springback and to an extension of the forming limits.
展开▼
