Three-dimensional effects of the bend-stretch forming of aluminum tubes

Bend-stretch forming is commonly used to shape extruded tubular aluminum parts for automotive applications. The tubes are pre-stretched, pressurized and bent over rigid dies. Tension prevents buckling of the compressed side and significantly reduces springback during unloading. An unwanted byproduct of the process is distortion of the cross section. Small amounts of pressure applied during forming can reduce this distortion. A systematic study of how to select the appropriate amounts of tension and pressure for accurate forming with minimal distortion has been conducted. The problem was first studied experimentally using a custom forming facility. An efficient 2-D model of the process was previously developed which was shown capable of capturing the main deformation features of interest. Its efficiency made this model a useful design tool for optimally selecting the forming parameters. In this paper, a 3-D finite element model of the forming process is used to simulate the complete forming process. By using a specially calibrated non-quadratic yield function, the model accurately reproduces all aspects of the process. The model is used to study 3-D features of the problem such as variations of distortion and springback along the length, the effect of friction, the lifting of a section of the tube around the mid-span off of the die, the effect of post-tension, and forming over a variable radius die. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.