Study of Hydraulic Compound Forming of Rectangular Tubes

摘要

Various cross-sectional tubes have been widely used in automotive and bicycle industries for lightweight considerations.The objective of this study is to propose a compound forming process for hydroforming of a rectangular cross-sectional tube of aluminum alloys AA6061.The compound forming process is divided into crushing, hydroforming, and calibration.A finite element simulation software DEFORM is used to analyze the plastic deformation pattern of the tube during the compound forming processes and determine feasible loading paths that can generate a uniform thickness distribution, a smaller internal pressure and a smaller clamping force.A self-designed hydroforming test machine with a capacity of internal pressure of 30 MPa and axial feeding force of 40 tons is used to conduct hydroforming experiments.The experimental results of the product thickness distributions and dimensions are compared with simulation results and the validity of the FE modelling is validated.