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

此次GOALI合作研究的目的是获得必要的基本理解，以开发和设计工业上可行且可靠的热液压成形工艺技术，用于制造飞机和汽车车身和结构所需的复杂形状的铝和镁合金。众所周知，在高温水平（即200-300℃）和静水压力条件下，材料表现出增加和更均匀的伸长率，可达150-300%，而不是在室温水平下非常差的成形度。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到工业应用的设计指南中。拟议的研究将促进使用该技术的各种零件和产品的工艺，零件和工具设计的快速和经济有效的发展。当以可承受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汽车时，这一努力的社会影响就可以实现。温成形技术及其成功实施将对飞机和汽车的整个生命周期产生显著和持久的影响，对公共卫生、环境保护和经济产生更大的效益。

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.