Collaborative Research: Warm Hydroforming of Lightweight Materials Using Selective Heating Strategies

这项合作研究的目标是获得必要的基本了解，以便开发和设计一种工业上可行且可靠的温液压成形工艺技术，以将铝和镁合金加工成飞机和汽车车身和结构所需的复杂形状。众所周知，在高温(即200-300oC)和静水压力条件下，材料表现出更高和更均匀的伸长率，高达150-300%，而在室温水平下，其可成形性非常差。该方法是设计一个实验室规模的工具，用于材料表征和摩擦测试，以了解和模拟高温对材料性能、摩擦和整体成形性的影响。然后，建立计算机模型，有效、快速地研究各种工艺参数对整体成形性的影响。最后，实验和数值结果将被综合成工业使用的设计指南。拟议的研究将促进使用该技术的各种部件和产品的工艺、部件和工装设计的快速和具有成本效益的开发。当以负担得起的成本向消费者推出具有显著燃油效率和排放改善的低质量车辆时，这一努力的社会影响就可以实现。温热液压成形技术及其成功实施将在飞机和汽车的整个生命周期中产生显著和持久的影响，从而更好地造福于公众健康、环境保护和经济。

The objective of this collaborative GOALI research is to gain basic understandings necessary to develop and design an industrially viable and reliable warm hydroforming process technology for fabrication of aluminum and magnesium alloys into complex shapes as required in aircraft and automotive body and structures. It is known that at high temperature levels (i.e. 200-300oC) and under hydrostatic pressure conditions, materials demonstrate increased and more uniform elongations up to 150-300% as opposed to their very poor formability degrees at room temperature levels. The approach is to design a lab-scale tooling for material characterization and friction testing to understand and model the effect of high temperature on material properties, friction, and overall formability. Then, a computer model will be constructed to effectively and rapidly study the effects of various process parameters on the overall formability. Finally, the experimental and numerical findings will be synthesized into design guidelines for industrial use. Proposed research will facilitate the rapid and cost-effective development of process, part and tooling design for a variety of parts and products using this technology. Societal impacts of this effort can be realized when low-mass vehicles with significant fuel efficiency and emission improvements are introduced to consumers at an affordable cost. The warm hydroforming technology and its successful implementation will make remarkable and enduring impacts throughout the life-cycle of aircrafts and automotives to the greater benefit of public health, environmental conservation and economy.