Sensitivity Analysis of Hydro-Rim Deep Drawing of Cylindrical Cups

Extensive nonlinear finite element analyses were conducted to help predict practical test conditions of intelligent hydro-rim deep forming of cylindrical cups under controlled cooled punch and heated blank temperatures, punch speed, chamber and rim pressures, and punch friction. The study focused on finding practical process conditions for maximizing the drawing ratio by variations in blank and punch temperatures, friction, rim pressure, chamber pressure, and punch speed. The study was based on an experimental cell that aimed at using real time control of the mentioned parameters to delay the necking process. The finite element material model considered the plastic behavior to be strain rate and temperature dependent. While conventional deep drawing is limited to a Limit Drawing Ratio (LDR) of about 2, the results show that a parameters listed above. Blank temperature, punch friction, rim pressure, and chamber pressure provide significant influence of various degrees on increasing the cup drawing ratio. Blank heating is very effective, but does not by itself guarantee higher LDR. The presence of punch friction coupled with chamber pressure tends to delay the necking and moves the latter up along the cup wall and away from the cup bottom corner. Rim pressure, while difficult to implement, results in significant improvement of the LDR, since it helps push the material into the die, and in doing so reduces the cup-wall tension that causes the material instability. High rim pressure, on the other hand, increases the blank thickness resulting in increased blank holder loads. Punch temperature does not play as critical a role as the blank temperature in maintaining a high LDR under the conditions investigated. The study revealed that punch speed had to be above a certain critical level for a LDR of 4. However, increased punch speed proved to cause higher variations in the thickness along cup wall. It is important to mention that the results of this study do not necessarily apply to all metals; copper material was used here. Metals with low ductility, for example would react differently, a subject of future studies.