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2020 Guo - Finite Element Modelling and Experimental Investigation of The Impact of Filling Different Materials in Copper Tubes During 3D Free Bending Process
2020 Guo - Finite Element Modelling and Experimental Investigation of The Impact of Filling Different Materials in Copper Tubes During 3D Free Bending Process
a College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211100, China
b Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Nuclear Energy Equipment Materials Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Nanjing 211100, China
c Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
d School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
e Department of Precision Manufacturing Engineering, Suzhou Vocational Institute of Industrial Technology, Suzhou 215104, China
KEYWORDS Abstract 3D free bending process, an advanced metal forming technology, has attracted much attention
3D free bending; due to its unique geometrical flexibility and efficiency. Filling tubes with materials may effectively
Ellipticity; reduce the distortion in the cross-section area and restrain wrinkling and collapse of tube wall. In the
Filling bending; present study, the impacts of filling different materials on the copper tubes during 3D free bending
Finite element modelling; process were investigated. We have found that copper tubes filled with low melting point alloys could
Force model; Thickness induce the most uniform stress distribution, which result in better formability and moderate thickness
changing rates when compared to SS304 steel balls and PU rubbers. The lowest ellipticity reached to
1.467%.
2019 Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Chinese Society of Aeronautics and
Astronautics. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction
* Corresponding author at: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Recently, tube bending technology has become one of the key
E-mail address: yxu@imr.ac.cn (Y. XU).
manufacturing technologies for lightweight product forming
Peer review under responsibility of Editorial Committee of CJA. because tubular geometries are employed in many high-end
industries,1 such as automobile, aerospace and aviation, where
lightweight and high-strength product from both materials and
Production and hosting by Elsevier structural aspects are increasingly used.2,3 As a new technology,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cja.2019.02.016
1000-9361 2019 Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
722 X. GUO et al.
3D free bending technology has the great potential 4 to be suit-able deformation by introducing disconnect-type rigid mandrel and
for the most tubes and profiles because of its geometrical two PVC elastic mandrels with different shapes. Since finite
flexibility and efficiency. Hence, it can be used to produce com- element simulation is an effective tool to study the bend-ing
plex hollow tubes with asymmetric cross-sections and continu- process, Li, et al.25 established an analytical mandrel model to
ous varying radii.5 Also, the bending of different R values and select the mandrel parameters. Thereafter, they investigated the
angles can be achieved without changing the die, which greatly influence of mandrel on the stress distribution during the bending
extends the flexibility of the bending machine. On the other hand, process. Liu, et al.26 established models filled with rigid and PVC
during the tube bending process, wall thickness and cross section mandrels for E-typed and H-typed rotary draw bending of H96
changes are unavoidable. 6 However, due to the axial force, wall brass double-ridged rectangular tubes. They concluded that PVC
thickness and cross section changes are restrained during 3D free mandrel had better effects.
bending technology. From the aforementioned literature, it is crucial to fill the
Murata, et al.7 proposed free bending technology for the first materials like solid filling and flexible filling during 3D free
time to precisely bend complex hollow tubes and profiles with bending process to determine their effects. However, the study on
different radius without die change or re-clamping. They filling materials in reported studies is so far not systematic. In
presented calculations regarding the bending moment (M). particular, no comparison of formability and influence under
Beulich, et al.8 developed a finite element simulation model for different filling materials are so far presented. Most of recent
the free-bending process with 6 degrees of freedom and critical studies mainly focused on the influence of the solid fill-ing (e.g.,
parameters for the result of the bending process are therefore mandrel, steel balls, low melting point alloy) on formability.
evaluated and optimized. Based on the research results, Guo, et However, the influence of flexible fillings (e.g., PU rubber) on
al.9 proved the reliability of U–R relationship which is obtained formability of materials is still rarely investi-gated. Furthermore,
no related mechanical models are estab-lished to further study the
from FE modelling. Gantner, et al.10 devel-oped finite element
mechanisms affecting formability.
analysis (FEA) models to simulate the above bending technology
and the results were verified by bending experimental tests. In this study, different filling materials were used in copper
Furthermore, a theoretical model based on both kinematic and tubes during 3D free bending process in order to investigate the
mathematical simulation was introduced to determine the bend influences of filling materials on formability. To this end,
simulation and experiments were conducted to analyze the
die’s control data.11 Zhou, et al.12 utilized 3D free bending
process. A mechanical model was established to study the
technology to analyze features like bending trend, springback,
mechanism of the different filling materials on the final induced
side bending, and twisting of L-shaped aluminum under different
formability. Using the mechanical model, the effects of solid
bending conditions using simulations and experiments.
filling and flexible filling were investigated. Finally, finite
3D free bending is a dieless forming technology, making it element simulations combined with experiments were employed
hard to keep stable and restricted springback during the bend-ing to verify the theory.
process.13 However, several materials could be used inside the
tubes for supporting roles. These materials are not only used for 2. Theoretical analysis
restraining thickness changes and springback of the tubes, 14 but
also to further improve formability. Over the last few years, many As depicted in Fig. 1, during 3D free bending process, the internal
experimental and numerical methods have been used to side of the tube was subjected to compressive stress while the
investigate the effects of filling materials on form-ing limit and outside was influenced by tensile stress. This led to thickening of
formability during tube bending process.15 Com-bined with the internal side of the tube and reduction of its outside.
experiment and simulation, numerical study on bending behavior Meanwhile, the tube was subjected to feeding force, 27 so the
under different clearance between tube and various dies and neutral layer offset outwards to restrain reduc-tion of the wall
different bending radii is conducted in terms of wrinkling, wall thickness and reduce the deformation of the cross section of the
thinning and cross section deformation.16–18 Yang and Lin19 bent tube.
proposed a wrinkling wave function and established a simplified In Fig. 1, qa and qb are bending radius of inside and outside
wrinkling prediction model to predict the minimum bending wall of tube, respectively, t is the thickness of tube at any point
radius. Sedighi and Kahnamouei20 filled the tubes with low- and t0 is the initial thickness of tube, N is the interaction between
filling materials and tube, and P is the feeding force.
temperature melting metals and different types of rubbers to
compare the restricting defects, such as wrinkling and cross- In order to improve the accuracy of the theoretical model,
section distortion during bending of thin-walled tubes. Mandrel is some assumptions are necessary to be made and the relative
derivation processes are shown as following: The principal stress
widely used as filling material. For instance, Al-Qureshi 21
space in the deformation area is assumed to Cartesian coordinates
presented a novel technique for bending thin-walled tubes using
system of axial h, radial q and circumferential u axes, and it
flexible mandrel of elastomeric rod. They found that elastomer is
also suitable for use in the tube bending in other traditional meets the Hencky’s stress–strain relationships:
bending technologies. Rezaei, et al. 22 studied the effects of rq rh rh ru ru rq 1
polyurethane foam-filler on the axial splitting process of circular
composite tubes under the axial quasi-static loading, and found
that foam-filled circular tubes under the axial compression in the eq eh ¼ eh eu ¼ eu eq ðÞ
splitting process worked as good energy dissipater. Shen, et al. 23 Due to the existence of the feeding force, the deformation of
found that the position and the size of the mandrel greatly the cross-section is restrained, and the circumferential strain (eu)
influenced ovalization of the cross-section. Zhang, et al. 24 studied in plane is about equal to 0:
the effects of three different mandrels on the cross-sectional
eu ¼ 0 ð2Þ
Finite element modelling and experimental investigation of filling different materials in copper tubes 723
dq q
Z ð9-2Þ
qb
The tube is defined as incompressible material, and it corre- r r
qb qa ¼ ðrh rqÞdq=q
sponds with the law of volume invariance:
qa
eq þ eh þ eu ¼ 0 ð3Þ
Based on Eqs. (2) and (3), the equivalent strain can be given
as:
2
þ
e ¼ p eq 3 ð4Þ
ffiffiffi
where superscript + refers to absolute value of eq.
The radial strain eq can be approximately determined by the
dimensions of tube thickness:
t Dt
D
eq ¼ ln 1 þ t0 t0 ð5Þ
Considering Eq. (5), Eq. (4) can be rewritten as:
2 Dt þ
e ¼p 3 t0
ð6Þ
ffiffiffi
2
rh rq ¼ sgnðdÞ p3 kf 8
ffiffi
d ¼ rh rq ðÞ
where sgnð Þ denotes as a sign function.
The equilibrium equations can be expressed as Eqs. (9-1)
and (9-2) in the radial direction:
Þ
drq þ rq rh ¼ 0 ð 9-1
Considering Eq. (8), Eq. (9-2) can be rewritten as:
2 qb
r r p
qb qa ¼ 3Z sgnðdÞ kfdq=q ð10Þ
q
ffiffiffi a
N¼p 3
Z sgnðdÞ p 3
Y
t
0 dq=q ð13Þ
ffiffiffi
qa ffiffiffi
3. Numerical simulation
3.3.3. Bending with different filling materials 4.1. Free bending experiments
The simulation results under condition (2) are gathered in Fig. 7.
The stress distribution of the copper tubes after bending with 3D free bending experiments were carried out on the indepen-
filled SS304 steel balls increased. Also, the stress distribu-tion dently developed three-axis free-bending system under opti-mized
appeared more inhomogeneous, because SS304 steel balls were process parameters obtained from simulations. To prevent the
movable during bending and the contact between SS304 steel leakage of steel balls and PU rubber, the ends of copper tube were
balls and tube wall was the point contact, a kind of dis-continuous sealed by low melting point alloys. The machine is basically
contact way. composed of three servo motors. In form-ing process, two servo
The simulation data of bending using fillers with low melt-ing motors drive the bend die shifting in the X and Y directions, and
point alloys are depicted in Fig. 8. The low melting point alloy the rotation around the center is done by the spherical connection
established a complete contact with tube wall after solid-ification, of the bend die to the guider. The other servo motor which works
and the stress distribution was uniform during bend-ing process. in the Z direction to feed the tube into the bend die is thereby
Fig. 8 revealed ideal forming results. synchronized with the X
726 X. GUO et al.
and Y axes of the bend die. Lubricating oil was continuously is in accordance with each other. The maximum relative error
filled to the forming part to reduce the friction resistance dur-ing between the experimental and simulation results is less than
the forming process. The experimental process and results under 18.4%, indicating the reliability of FE model used in this study.
different conditions are shown in Fig. 10. The imprecise measurement of friction coefficient plays a vital
role in free bending process which cause the error between
4.2. Effect of filling materials on wall thickness variation experimental and simulation results. As shown in Fig. 11, the
trends of inner thickness distribution of copper tubes were similar
while filled with different materials. Using low melting point
The reliability between experimental the results and simulation
results for free bending is shown in Fig. 11, it can be seen that the alloys under condition (3) as typical solid filling materials, the
wall thickness obtained by FE modelling and experimental inner thickness change was minimal and
Finite element modelling and experimental investigation of filling different materials in copper tubes 727
Table 4 Maximum and minimum diameter and ellipticity under different conditions.
Condition Maximum diameter (mm) Minimum diameter (mm) Initial diameter (mm) Ellipticity (%)
Experimental Simulation Experimental Simulation Experimental Simulation
1 15.43 16.45 14.67 14.25 15 5.067 13.667
2 15.21 15.83 14.81 14.64 15 2.667 7.933
3 15.15 15.68 14.93 14.85 15 1.467 5.533
4 15.28 16.19 14.75 14.48 15 3.533 11.4
0.954 mm as well as the outer thickness maximum changing rate 4.4. Variation of mean stress distribution
was reached to 4.6% at bending angle of 90L. However,
compared to condition (1), instead of decrease in outer thick-ness Fig. 14 shows the numerical simulation results of mean stress
changing rate, tubes filled with steel balls showed increased outer
distribution of copper tubes under different conditions, respec-
thickness changing rates.
tively. As depicted in this figure, the mean stress located in the
When the servo motor drives the bend die shifting in the initial and the terminal of the tube is almost larger than other
positive direction of Y axis, N enlarges the total radial stress. positions, the first peak appeared at 20L cross-section and the
Thus, the materials on the outside of the tube flow along the second peak occurred at 90L cross-section. Meanwhile, the mean
tangent direction. This is why the wall thickness is thinning on the stress distributed in the middle part of bending tube is relatively
outside of tube. Similarity, when the servo motor drives the bend homogeneous. It indicates a transition into the stable deformation
die shifting in the negative direction of Y axis, N has the same stage. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, it is notewor-thy that the peak
effects on wall thickness thickening. Therefore, differ-ent N has values of wall thickness thinning and thick-ening both appear at
different effect on wall thickness variation. the same position of the tube. From Fig. 14, it can be found that
the mean stress distribution is more uniform when copper tube
4.3. Effect of filling materials on cross-section distortion filled with low melting point alloys, at the same time, the inner
and outer thickness distribu-tion is much more uniform than other
As shown in Fig. 13, the filling materials greatly influenced the filling materials. Com-bined with the mean stress and thickness
ovalization of the cross-section. The following equation was used distribution, it can approve that the greater formability and
to investigate the specific functions of different filling materials. moderate thickness changing rates can be obtained when mean
stress distribution is more uniform, which is consistent with
d d theoretical analysis.
max min 100% 14
g¼ d0 ð Þ
where g is the ellipticity of the tube cross-section, d max and dmin
are respectively the maximum and the minimum diameter, and d 0
is the initial diameter.
Table 4 presents the maximum and minimum diameter of the
tubes and the ellipticity under the different conditions. It can be
observed that the simulation results are larger than the experiment
results with same variation trend, the maxi-mum diameter (16.45,
15.43 mm respectively) and the mini-mum diameter (14.25, 14.67
mm respectively) are occurred synchronously in simulation and
the experiment when filled with nothing, meanwhile, the
ellipticity is decreased regardless of the filling materials. In
particular, the lowest ellipticity reached to 1.467% for filling
materials with low melting point alloys (condition (3)).
Fig. 14 Mean stress distribution under different conditions.
Finite element modelling and experimental investigation of filling different materials in copper tubes 729
On the other hand, steel balls were able to move or deform in 7. Murata M, Ohashi N, Suzuki H. New flexible penetration bending of
the tubes, hence couldn’t provide continuous supporting forces a tube: 1st report, a study of MOS bending method. Trans Japan Soc Mech
affecting ovalization of cross-section and wall thickness Eng C 1989;55:2488–92.
uniformity.
8. Beulich N, Craighero P, Volk W. FEA simulation of free-bending - a
Due to the good elasticity of PU rubber, the PU rubber preforming step in the hydroforming process chain. J Phys Conf Ser
mandrel could not provide sufficient internal pressure during 2017;896(1):12–20.
bending process, therefore, the formability has not been
improved. An additional problem was that it was difficult to 9. Guo XZ, Ma YN, Chen WL, et al. Simulation and experimental
research of the free bending process of a spatial tube. J Mater Process
remove mandrel from the tube after forming.
Technol 2018;255:137–49.