Investigation of the two-stage SPF process of aluminum alloy door frames

Abstract

The superplastic forming process has been used extensively in aerospace applications for its advantages in manufacture of complicated components. But it has been limited to the long production cycle and the non-uniform thickness distribution of the final formed part. The two-stage SPF process in opposite directions for 5083 aluminum alloy door frames was investigated. A finite element model in PAMSTAMP was used to simulate the forming process. Analyzed the effect of pre-forming die parameters on the minimum thickness of the final formed part by the Response Surface Methodology and optimized the pre-forming die parameters. Moreover, the influence of different rated pressure on the forming quality and forming time of the door frames under the same strain rate were investigated to determine the ideal pressure profile. The result was that the minimum thickness meets the requirements (thinning not exceeding 40%) while reducing the production cycle. Finally, the two-stage superplastic forming experiment in opposite directions was conducted to verify the accuracy of the numerical simulation and produce the door frames with high quality.

Keywords

• Al5083
• Superplastic forming
• RSM
• Finite element method
• Thickness distribution