High Velocity Forming of Aluminum Cylindrical Cups-Experiments and Numerical Simulations

A new two stage detonation forming machine was developed and cylindrical aluminum cups were formed by using gas detonation forming technology. The forming process was analyzed with the explicit finite element method with various parameters and ANSYS/LS-DYNA software. Defects of wrinkling and rupture were predicted for some forming conditions. The strain and the thickness distribution results were in good agreement with the experimental results. It was seen that thinning and forming mainly take place during the one fourth of the time. The effects of detonation pressure and blank holding force on the deformation of the work pieces were discussed. The numerical results were compared with those obtained in the experiments.