15th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics

SHEET METAL FORMING USING HEATED STEAM ENERGY

Mohsen SAIDI1(*), Mohamed-Ali REZGUI2(*), Mahfoudh AYADI3, Mourad BOUAFIA4, Walid NASRI5, and Ali ZGHAL6 1, Institut Suprieur des Etudes Technologiques (ISET) de Rades, Tunis, Tunisia 1,2,3,4,5,6, Unit de Recherche en Mcanique des Solides, des Structures et de Dveloppement Technologique (URMSSDT)-(99-UR11-46), Ecole Suprieure des Sciences et Technique de Tunis (ESSTT), Tunis, TUNISIA 2 College of Engineering, Taibah University Yanbu-Branch, P.O. Box 83 Yanbu, Saudi Arabia 3 Ecole Nationale dIngnieurs de Bizerte (ENIB), Bizerte, Tunisia (*) Emails: saidi_mohsen@hotmail.com and mohamedali.rezgui@gmail.com

ABSTRACT This paper shows an overview about possibilities of hydroforming thin sheet metal performed using heated vapor pressure. The principle is based on the disturbance of thermodynamic equilibrium point of liquid vapor water system contained in die cavity closed by a sheet intended for forming. Under the effect of the coupled temperature and pressure, the thin sheet metal swells easily making up the increasing volume. This process shows that the stress-strain evolution of sheet metal presents some advantages regarding those obtained by hydroforming at room temperature or at fixed initial temperature of the sheet. It is able to shape a complex geometry parts and needs less equipments and less energy. INTRODUCTION The plastic deformation occurring during sheet forming process depends on the formability potential of material. It is known that room temperature formability of sheet metals is much lower than high temperature formability. However, the initial imposed temperature at the beginning of the hydroforming process is independent of applied pressure on the sheet metal. This poses problem in choosing both optimal temperature and pressure needed for shaping. In this paper we propose a new thermo-forming experimental approach using variable temperature which is linked up to the applied pressure during forming process. It consists on swelling of sheet metal by using heated steam. Water enclosed in die cavity is heated by electrical resistance incorporated in the die. The mixture liquid water and water vapor at starting point (100C and 1 bar) is in a state of equilibrium because it satisfies the criteria of thermal, mechanical and chemical equilibrium. Heating should continue beyond 100C up transformation phase from liquid to vapour making an increasing temperature and pressure and volume simultaneously. In fact, increasing temperature disturbs the mechanical equilibrium. The increasing pressure creates stresses within the system that deform the sheet metal which is the mechanical weakest part. This deformation makes up for the increasing volume and creates a new thermodynamic equilibrium. This cycle should be repeated till forming sheet. An experimental protocol was developed (Fig. 1) and a total of 5 repetitive tests were performed for both steel and aluminium alloy. The triplets of temperature, pressure and volume were measured and their evolutions are in good agreement with the first law of thermodynamics of ideal gas law.

ICEM15

Porto/Portugal, 22-27 July 2012

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS A law of thermodynamic is an equation of state which is a functional relationship between the parameters of a system in equilibrium. The state of thermodynamic system is completely described by the three parameters P,V, and T from five. The equation of state then takes the form f(P,V,T)=0. The vapor pressure of water increases significantly more rapidly than the temperature of the system. Based on ideal gas law, the theoretical pressure Pthe(T) is explained with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. However Duperray has developed an empirical relationship of the pressure Pemp(T) in a temperature range of 100C<T<250C. The evolution of Pthe(T) and Pemp(T) as well as the experimental pressure Pexp(T) are in good agreement (Fig. 2). By equating the volume of spherical cap to the augmented volume of heated vapor in the die cavity, and invoking basic analytic geometry formulas, one can deduce the strain in the deformed sheet on the one hand and the stress according the temperature on the other hand. Fig. 3 shows that the behavior of the thin sheet under the coupled temperature and pressure is closed to Hollomon model.

Fig. 1: Experimental protocol for forming process using vapor energy.

Fig. 2: Comparaison between theoretical pression emperical pressure and experimental pressure

Fig. 3: Comparaison between Experimental Model and Hollomon Model for sheet steel

REFERENCES James J. Kelly, Review of Thermodynamics, from Statistical Physics using Mathematica, 1996-2002

Editors: J.F. Silva Gomes and Mrio A.P. Vaz