Speaker
Description
To reduce CO2 emissions in the transportation industry, weight reduction and resource efficiency are crucial issues. Tubes with variable cross-sections offer significant advantages in meeting these needs. This research examines the effects of different axial feed directions on the forged shape in the proposed mandrel-less incremental forging. Compared to conventional forming processes such as radial forging, rotary swaging, and drawing, this process provides a more flexible approach to producing tubes with variable cross-sections. A tube is compressed by a pair of simple flat dies without a mandrel, and its rotational and axial positions are numerically controlled by a manipulator. Previous research primarily focused on the forging of the center of the tube in the axial direction, and revealed that the rotational feed defined by 2π/k rad·blow⁻¹, where k is an odd number, is effective in reducing both the outer diameter and ovalization. As a next step, it is necessary to study the forging of circular tube ends to provide a wide range of forged shapes. While this previous research focused on the height reduction ratio of multi-pass on forged shapes without axial feed, the present research examines the effects of axial feed direction on forged shapes as a subsequent step. Finite element analysis using Elfen developed by Rockfield Software and forging experiments with a prototype CNC incremental forging machine were conducted to evaluate the effects of different axial feed directions. As a result, the feed direction from the fixed side to the free side was more effective in reducing ovalization than the feed direction from the free side to the fixed side. These results can be applied to determine efficient pass schedules for incremental forging of circular variable-cross-section tube ends.
| Speaker Company/University | Institute of Technologists |
|---|