Multi-point flexible straightening process by reciprocating bending for metal profiles

A multi-point flexible straightening process characterized by reciprocating bending is proposed.Specifically,the process is analyzed in terms of deformation mechanism and verified by numerical simulations and physical experiments of the straightening of a series of metal profiles with different materials and initial shapes.Further,the relationship between the bending radius and the times of reciprocating bending required to unify the curvature is discussed,and the distribution of residual stress after straightening is analyzed.The results show that the reciprocating bending process can eliminate the difference of the initial curvature,make the curvature of each section tend to be uniform;the times of reciprocating bending to reach the uniform curvature decreases with the decrease of bending radius.The straightness of the straightened profile obtained from the experiment and simulation is less than 0.2%,demonstrating a good feasibility of this method.

Cross-sectional distortion behaviors of thin-walled rectangular tube in rotary-draw bending process

The cross-sectional distortion usually appears during rotary-draw bending process of thin-walled rectangular tube with small bending radius.To study the cross-sectional distortion of the tube,a three-dimensional finite-element model of the process was developed based on ABAQUS/Explicit code and its reliability was validated by experiment.Then,the cross-sectional distortion behaviors of the tube were investigated.The results show that a zone of larger circumferential stress appears on the tube when bending angle reaches 30°.And in the larger circumferential stress zone,the sagging phenomenon is produced obviously.The maximum cross-sectional distortion is located in the larger circumferential stress zone and the angle between the plane of maximum cross-sectional distortion and the bending reference plane is about 50°.The position of the maximum cross-sectional distortion keeps almost unchanged with the variation of the clearances between dies and tube.

New extrusion process of Mg alloy automobile wheels

The recent research and development of forged magnesium road wheel were reviewed.Methods of flow-forming,spin forging of manufacturing a forged magnesium alloy wheel were introduced.A new extrusion method was investigated especially. Extrusion from hollow billet was proposed in order to enhance the strength of spoke portion and reduce the maximum forming load. By means of the developed technique,the one-piece Mg wheels were produced successfully by extrusion from AZ80+alloy.At the same time,the existing problems on the research and development of forged magnesium road wheel were analyzed.The impact testing,radial fatigue testing and bending fatigue testing results show that AZ80+wheel can meet application requirement in automobile industry.

Catenary action of restrained steel beam against progressive collapse of steel frameworks

The changing law of internal forces during the whole deformation development process was analyzed. The process was divided into five stages based on the internal force state of the beam and the assumptions of internal force relationship of five stages were proposed. Then, the formulas for determining the midspan deflection of the steel beam under distributed load, which was restrained both in rotational and axial directions, were obtained using restraint coefficient method and rigid-plastic mechanism, thereby the deformation development process was expressed accurately in a quantified way. Priority was given to the analysis of the process from bending to tension-bending, then the final state totally depends on tension to resist the external loads, that is the problem of catenary action of the restrained beam under distributed load. Additionally, finite element analysis was carried out with soitware ABAQUS6.7 on a restrained steel beam under distributed load with different axial and rotational restraint coefficients. The accuracy of the formulas presented was verified by the results of the behavior of the restrained beams. Finally, error analysis was conducted and some formulas were corrected according to the reasons of errors. The calculated results of corrected formulas match the FEM analysis results better, thus the accuracy of these formulas is improve .

Damage process and performance of PVA fiber-reinforced alkali-activated slag mortar plate under bending

The effects of unoiled polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)fiber with four different volume fractions of 0%,1.0%,1.5%and 2.0%on the bending properties of alkali-activated slag(AAS)mortar plates were studied.Meanwhile,the acoustic emission(AE)technique and a high-speed camera were utilized to detect the crack development over the complete damage process,and the scanning electronic microscopy(SEM)was used to observe the fiber-matrix interface.Test results show that PVA fibers play a significant role in the toughness improvement of AAS plates.However,the enhancing effect of PVA fibers on the bending behaviour of AAS plates at 120 d is not as remarkable as at early ages.It is observed that the failure process of the PVA fiber-reinforced alkali-activated slag plate can be divided into three stages:elastic stage,main crack formation stage and post-peak load stage.Observations on the fracture surface of specimens indicate that the deterioration process of specimens under bending changed from fiber pull-out at 3 and 28 d to fiber fracture at 120 d.

Experimental Investigation on Springback Performance of Transformation-induced Plasticity Steel Sheet during Cyclic Bending Process

In order to investigate the springback performance of a cold-rolled transformation-induced plasticity （TRIP） steel sheet during cyclic bending, three-points bending experiments were performed. The specimen was firstly forward bended and then reversed bended according to three basic punch strokes, 10 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm, respectively. The outlines of the deformed specimens, punch load and crosshead displacement were obtained. The experimental procedures and the method of determining the springback displacement were reported in detail. The contributi^m of the strain hardening and decrease of elastic modulus to the overall springback was explained. The results demonstrated that springback increases both with the cycles and with the punch stroke during the cyclic bending process. Furthermore, springback in forward bending is larger than that in the corresponding reverse bending. This may be helpful to understand the complex springback behavior of the complicated sheet metal pancls.

FE Study for Reducing Forming Forces and Flat End Areas of Cylindrical Shapes Obtained by the Roll-Bending Process

A roll-bending process that minimizes the flat areas on the leading and trailing ends of formed plates will produce more accurate and easier assemble final shapes. There are several methods of minimizing flat areas, but they are costly or difficult to apply for thick plates. This study proposes a new, simple approach that reduces these flat areas. This approach includes moving the bottom roll slightly along the feeding direction and adjusting the bottom roll location. Sensitivity analyses were performed using a developed 3D dynamic FE （finite element） model of an asymmetrical roll-bending process in the Ansys/LS-Dyna software package. Simulations were validated by experiments run on an instrumented roll-bending machine. The FE results indicate that this new approach not only minimizes the flat areas but also reduces the forming forces.

Bending analysis and control of rolled plate during snake hot rolling

In order to study the bending behavior of aluminum alloy 7050 thick plate during snake hot rolling, several coupled thermo-mechanical finite element(FE) models were established. Effects of different initial thicknesses, pass reductions, speed ratios and offset distances on the bending value of the plate were analyzed. ‘Quasi smooth plate' and optimum offset distance were defined and quasi smooth plate could be acquired by adjusting offset distance, and then bending control equation was fitted. The results show that bending value of the plate as well as the extent of the increase grows with the increase of pass reduction and decrease of initial thickness; the bending value firstly increases and then keeps steady with the ascending speed ratio; the bending value can be reduced by enlarging the offset distance. The optimum offset distance varies for different rolling parameters and it is augmented with the increase of pass reduction and speed ratio and the decrease of initial thickness. A proper offset distance for different rolling parameters can be calculated by the bending control equation and this equation can be a guidance to acquire a quasi smooth plate. The FEM results agree well with experimental results.

Impact of nonlinear processes on formation of the Kuroshio large meander path in a barotropic inflow-outflow model

Based on a barotropic inflow-outflow model,we examine the formation of the Kuroshio large meander(LM) using conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation(CNOP) method.Both linear and nonlinear evolutions of such perturbations obtained by this method are investigated.The results show that the nonlinear evolution can result in the Kuroshio transition from a straight to LM path,whereas the linear evolution cannot.This implies that nonlinearity plays an important role in the formation of the Kuroshio LM path.The nonlinearity exists as advection in the evolution equations of the perturbation derived from the barotropic inflow-outflow model,namely the nonlinear advection of the perturbation by the perturbation(NAPP).By examining the role of this nonlinearity,we find that the NAPP tends to move the cyclonic eddy induced by the CNOP-type perturbation westward.Together with the beta effect,this offsets part of the eastward advection caused by the interaction between the perturbation and the background flow.Hence,the eastward movement of the cyclonic eddy is significantly weakened,effectively causing the eddy to develop.The sufficient evolution of this cyclonic eddy leads to the formation of the Kuroshio LM.

ExExperimental and numerical studies on the prediction of bendability limit of QSTE340 welded tube in NC bending process

For a low carbon steel tube with small wall factor D/t and bending radius R,the over-thinning induced localized necking is one dominant failure in tube numerical control(NC) bending process,which strongly restricts the bendability limit of the tube.In addition,the deterioration of bendability of a tube is increased by the existence of the weak weld region.Therefore,an important issue is how to determinate and predict the welded tube bendability limit.In the present study,a finite element(FE) model with weld and subdivided heat affected zones under ABAQUS platform is employed to explore the deformation behaviors of welded tube NC bending.A localized necking criterion based on the critical thickness thinning is used to predict the critical principal strains,critical bending radius and burst location during the forming process.It is found that the failures always occur at the rigid supporting point of mandrel flexible balls near the tangent point at the outside of the bend,where the wall thickness of the tube is the lowest.The bending limit curves(BLCs) of the QSTE340 welded tube are obtained by shifting the standard shaped forming limit curve to the critical principal strains along the major strain axis.Comparison between the numerical and experimental results has shown that the BLC and critical bending radius predictions agree well with the experimental results.In addition,the effect of weld positions on BLC is discussed,the weld region shows an almost negligible effect on the forming limit at a non-critical location that is far away from the outside of the bend.However,when the weld is at the large tensile deformation region on the outside of the bend,a decrease of the forming limit strains is seen.

Study on intelligent control technology for forming steel pipe of pipeline with JCO process

Based on plastic bending engineering theory and machine vision technology, the intelligent control technology for forming steel pipe with JCO process is presented in this paper. By ‘twice pre-bending method’ in the first forming step, the springback law can be obtained. With the springback law and the target angle, the exact punch displacement which determines the formed angle in each bending step is predicted. In the succedent forming steps, the bending process is carried out with the exact punch displacement by real-time revising the springback law. And the angle error in each forming step is calculated by comparing the actual formed angle with the target angle. By conducting compensation for the last angle error in the next forming step, each precise bending process step is realized. A system of intelligent control technology for forming the steel pipe was developed. A calibration method is proposed to calculate the exterior parameters of the CCD camera, in which the equilateral triangle is em-ployed as the calibrating board and only one image needs to be captured. A mathematical model, which converts the angle in the image into the actual formed angle, is derived. The experimental results showed that the ellipticity of the formed pipes was less than 1.5% and the high-quality pipes can be manufactured without the worker's operating experience by employing the in-telligent control technology.

Generalized Butler-Volmer relation on a curved electrode surface under the action of stress

According to the principle of thermal activation process, the energy state of a material under the action of stress is a function of local stress. A generalized Butler-Volmer relationship for the electrode reaction on the surface of a curved electrode is derived,which takes account of the effects of local stress and the radius of mean curvature. From this relationship, the overpotential is found to be proportional to hydrostatic stress and the activation volume under the condition of open circuit. The conditions for the deposition of the material made solely from solute atoms and the formation of surface pits and porous structures are obtained,using the generalized Butler-Volmer relationship.