A procedure for designing initial thickness variation for superplastic free inflation
Resource
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 36: 981-1000
Journal
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
Journal Volume
36
Journal Issue
11
Pages
981-1000
Date Issued
1994
Author(s)
Abstract
A procedure is proposed for determining the required initial thickness distribution in order to produce a given design specification by the superplastic blow forming method. Analytical solutions are first derived to predict the thickness variation during a free inflation process. The equation is then used to obtain the thickness distribution prior to inflation from a prescribed final thickness as though the deformation is reversed. The commercial finite element program, ABAQUS, is adopted to simulate the superplastic blow forming process of the acquired preform. Although the inflated thickness is compared fairly close to the desired result, errors do exist due to the simplified assumptions made in the analytical method. In order to overcome the difficulty, a model describing the thickness variation of the inflated sheet is first obtained from curve-fitting the solutions of finite element simulation instead of analytical derivation. The initial thickness determined from this model is shown to give the intended final thickness from finite element simulation. Experiments have also been performed to verify the results. © 1994.
SDGs
Type
journal article