Abstract
The loading path is crucial to the quality of forming parts in the process of tube hydroforming, and thus the design and optimization of loading path is an important issue for tube hydroforming. Wrinkling is a catastrophic defect for thin-walled tube hydroforming. In order to avoid wrinkling, an adaptive simulation approach integrated with a fuzzy control algorithm is used to optimize the loading path of hydroforming a T-shaped tube. The tubular material used is stainless steel and has an outer diameter of 103 mm and the wall thickness of 1.5 mm. The controlled variables are the axial feeding, the counterpunch displacement, and the internal pressure. A code is developed to make the optimization automatically, which works together with LS-DYNA. Six evaluation functions are adopted for identifying geometrical shape and quality of T-shape. Failure indicators obtained from the simulation results are used as the input of the fuzzy control, and then process parameters are adjusted according to the expert experiences in the fuzzy controller. In this way, a reasonable loading path for producing a sound T-shape is obtained, and also a T-shaped product is successfully hydroformed by experiment. The result shows that the fuzzy control algorithm can provide an adequately reliable loading path for hydroforming T-shaped tubes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Dohmann F, Hartl C (1997) Tube hydroforming—research and practical application. J Mater Process Technol 71:174–186
Yuan SJ, Lang LH, Wang XS, Wang ZR (2001) Experimental and numerical simulation of aluminum tube hydroforming, in: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Hydroforming, Fellbach, Germany, pp 339-347
Li B, Nye TJ, Metzger DR (2006) Multiobjective optimization of forming parameters for tube hydroforming process based on the Taguchi method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 28:23–30
Yuan SJ, Liu G, Huang XR, Wang XS (2004) Hydroforming of typical hollow components. J Mater Process Technol 151:203–207
Koc M, Altan T (2001) An overall review of the tube hydroforming (THF) technology. J Mater Process Technol 108:384–393
Jirathearanat S, Hartl C, Altan T (2004) Hydroforming of Y-shapes product and process design using FEA simulation and experiments. J Mater Process Technol 146:124–129
Cheng DM, Teng BG, Guo B, Yuan SJ (2009) Thickness distribution of a hydroformed Y-shape tube. Mater Sci Eng A 499:36–39
Kwan CT, Lin FC (2003) Investigation of T-Shape tube hydroforming with finite element method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 21:420–425
Ray P, Mac Donald BJ (2004) Determination of the optimal load path for tube hydroforming processes using a fuzzy load control algorithm and finite element analysis. Finite Elem Anal Des 41:173–192
Ray P, Mac Donald BJ (2005) Experimental study and finite element analysis of simple X- and T-branch tube hydroforming processes. Int J Mech Sci 192:1498–1518
Aydemir A, Vree JHP, Brekelmans WAM (2005) An adaptive simulation approach designed for tube hydroforming processes. J Mater Process Technol 159:303–310
Imaninejad M, Subhash G, Loukus A (2006) Loading path optimization of tube hydroforming process. Int J Mach Tool Manuf 45:1504–1514
Jansson M, Nilsson L, Simonsson K (2007) On process parameter estimation for the tube hydroforming process. J Mater Process Technol 190:1–11
Lorenzo RD, Ingarao G, Chinesta F (2009) A gradient-based decomposition approach to optimize pressure path and counterpunch action in Y-shaped tube hydroforming operations. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 44:49–60
Abedrabbo N, Worswick M, Mayer R (2009) Optimization methods for the tube hydroforming process applied to advanced high strength steels with experimental verification. J Mater Process Technol 209:110–123
Muzaalia M, Liaghata GH, Naeini HM (2011) Optimization of tube hydroforming process using simulated annealing algorithm. Procedia Eng 10:3012–3019
Manabe K, Suetake M, Koyama H, Yang M (2006) Hydroforming process optimization of aluminum alloy tube using intelligent control technique. Int J Mach Tool Manuf 46:1207–1211
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teng, B., Li, K. & Yuan, S. Optimization of loading path in hydroforming T-shape using fuzzy control algorithm. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 69, 1079–1086 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-5086-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-5086-7