Development of Forward Flow Forming Model in ABAQUS for Al 7075 Alloy to Verify Experimental Results and Material Behavior Under Flow Forming Forces

Abstract

Flow forming process is used to produce axis symmetric cylindrical parts with high precision. In the Aerospace sector, the flow forming method is employed extensively, particularly in the manufacture of missile casings and rocket motors. The nature of the process of flow forming is usually complex with high deformations with nonlinear behavior. Essentially, there are two processes of flow forming i.e. The forward flow forming and backwards flow forming. In this investigation the forward flow forming strategy was applied in which the roller and preform extrudes in the same direction. The present investigation will discuss the flow forming of Al 7075 alloy. A 3D Thermomechanical finite element model for forward flow forming of cylindrical workpiece of Al7075 alloy was developed in ABAQUS/Explicit Software. In order to correctly predict forces, instead of stress strain curve, the Johnson Cook material failure for Al7075 was used and its parameters were considered. The research work verified the experimental data with the Finite element analysis results. Changes in mandrel and feed speed were also examined for flow formation purposes. Additionally, the findings of the experiments were compared to the theoretical results. It was determined that the greatest force generated was axial, followed by radial and finally circumferential. In addition, the feed impact was investigated, and it was shown that an increase in feed also increases the axial force.