Research on the hydroforming regularity and process optimization control of complex aluminum alloy part with variable cross-section size

Hydroforming technology is an advanced flexible forming technology using high-pressure of flowing liquid. This paper mainly focuses on a complex aluminum alloy part with variable cross-section size and adopts hydroforming technology. In this paper, the numerical simulation method is used to study the forming regularity of the sharp corner area of the part. It optimizes the key process parameters such as the pressure loading curve of the liquid chamber and the initial inverse bulging pressure and analyses the flow characteristics of the material and the mechanism of wrinkling. The results show that the wrinkling defects in the sharp corner area can be effectively reduced by setting appropriate chamber pressure loading curves and drawbead parameters, and it can improve the forming quality of the complex part with variable cross-section size. The simulation result proves the feasibility and reliability of this process route, and it lays a good foundation for forming other parts. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.