Deformation Analysis Based on Residual Stresses in Aluminum Plate

摘要

A quenching process during the manufacturing of aluminum plate enhances precipitation hardening so as to reach a satisfactory strength, but rapid-cooling inevitably induces excessive residual stresses in the material. If the stress is not properly relieved, deformations due to material removal processes such as machining degrade the precision and dimensional accuracy. This paper proposes a method for predicting such deformations according to the measured residual stress and the simulation of the machining process. By applying the residual stress profiles on the 3D model, the machining process can be simulated using the Finite Element Analysis software. It was found that the distortion calculated by the method is consistent with the real world case. To enhance the stress relieving effect, a stretch leveling model was developed to identify the elongation of the plate with satisfactory accuracy. Finally, the residual stress was decreased by 65% with the new stretch settings.