Electrohydraulic Forming of Dual Phase Steels; Numerical and Experimental Work

摘要

Electrohydraulic Forming (EHF) is a high velocity forming process, in which the strain-rate in the sheet metal can reach very high values depending on the prescribed input energy, the chamber geometry, the die geometry, instrumentation efficiency and the mechanical properties of the sheet material. In EHF, a high voltage discharge between electrodes that are submerged in a water-filled chamber generates a plasma channel that leads to propagation of a shockwave through the water that forms the sheet, with or without a die, in less than a millisecond. EHF generates a complex pressure pulse history that is extremely challenging to simulate. In this work, three-dimensional finite element simulations of DP590 sheet were completed in free-forming (EHFF) and die-forming (EHDF) conditions using ABAQUS/Explicit and a combination of Eulerian and Lagrangian elements. The Johnson-Cook constitutive plasticity model was selected and the parameters were calibrated based on uniaxial tensile test data at different strain-rates. A comprehensive numerical study was carried out with a view to understanding the differences between EHFF and EHDF in terms of the history of the deformation profile of the specimen, the strain-rate history, the loading path and through-thickness stresses. Higher strain-rates and more complex strain-paths were predicted in EHDF compared to EHFF due to dynamic sheet/die interaction. Good correlation between the experimental and numerical results demonstrated the ability of numerical models to accurately predict the history of the deformation profile in both EHDF and EHFF conditions.