Rubber pad forming (RPF) is a novel method for sheet metal forming that has been increasingly used for: automotive, energy, electronic and aeronautic applications [1]. Compared with the conventional forming processes, this method only requires one rigid die, according to the shape of the part, and the other tool is replaced by a rubber pad [1]. This method can greatly improve the formability of the blank because the contact surface between the rigid die and the rubber pad is flexible. By this way the rubber pad forming enables the production of sheet metal parts with complex contours and bends. Furthermore, the rubber pad forming process is characterized by a low cost of the die because only one rigid die is required [2]. The conventional way to develop rubber pad forming processes of metallic components requires a burdensome trial-and-error process for setting-up the technology, whose success chiefly depends on operator’s skill and experience [4][5]. In the aeronautical field, where the parts are produced in small series, a too lengthy and costly development phase cannot be accepted. Moreover, the small number of components does not justify large investments in tooling. For these reasons, it is necessary that, during the conceptual design, possible technological troubles are preliminarily faced by means of numerical simulation [4],[6]. In this study, the rubber forming process of an aluminum alloy aeronautic component has been explored with numerical simulations and the significant parameters associated with this process have been investigated. Several effects, depending on: stamping strategy, component geometry and rubber pad characterization have been taken into account. The process analysis has been carried out thanks to an extensive use of a commercially finite element (FE) package useful for an appropriate set-up of the process model [7],[8]. These investigations have shown the effectiveness of simulations in process design and highlighted the critical parameters which require necessary adjustments before physical tests.
The HDD process performance and the quality of the formed parts can be influenced by many process variables, such as: fluid pressure, blankholder force, pre-bulging pressure, friction and punch speed [1]. Many studies report how pre-bulging characterization may be done in accordance with the fluid pressure variation [2] or with the maximum bulge height [3][4] value. In this paper, the authors use the maximum bulge height to characterize prebulging levels influence on the process feasibility. The effects of three different pre-bulging levels as well as the traditional geometric and process parameters on a specific component characterized by an inverse drawn shape have been analyzed. In the experimental phase, for each considered process condition the Thickness Reduction (TR) has been detected on the formed component in sixteen different points of interest, to verify numerical and experimental correlation. The good accuracy shown by the numerical model allowed to develop an appropriate numerical campaign to obtain an ANOVA analysis to evaluate the pre-bulging heights influence on TR distribution. The obtained results have shown that the pre-bulging height influences the TR distribution significantly but in a less way than punch radius and blankholder forces profile.
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