Influence of bending effect of low melting alloy on wrinkling for sheet metal forming

A novel method of forming sheet metal uses low melting alloys (LMA) to apply loads directly to the surface of the blank, which reduces plastic instability and wrinkle formation. The method also reduces the amount of sheet that needs to be processed, which increases material efficiency and also eliminates the need for trimming. Combining numerical simulation and experimentation, the mechanism of wrinkling was studied. High-temperature tensile tests were used to obtain the mechanical characteristics of LMA, and the FEA software ABAQUS was used to create the FEA model for the proposed forming method. The mechanism of wrinkles was revealed by analyzing the impacts of layer thickness and forming temperature on the LMA’s bending phenomenon. Experimental studies on the impact of LMA on sheet formation at various temperatures were conducted. The results of the numerical simulation agree with the experimental findings.