Numerical study on the deformation behaviors of the flexible die forming by using viscoplastic pressure-carrying medium

The flexible die forming (FDF) of sheet metal with the aid of viscoplastic pressure-carrying medium (VPCM) is one of the advanced forming technologies for forming complex sheet metal components with large plastic deformation. The technology has been used in industries by employing different VPCMs, the epistemological understanding of the deformation and process behaviors of this process, however, has not yet been fully addressed. In this paper, numerical study is conducted to look into the deformation behaviors of this process by explicit 3D-FE simulation under the ABAQUS platform, in which the counter pressure variations of VPCM is applied via user subroutine VDLOAD and the ductile fracture criterion is implemented by using VUMAT. Three case study parts, viz., barrel, conic and parabolic parts with large Limit Drawing Ratio (LDR) are studied. The comparison between the conventional deep drawing (CDD) and VPCM-based FDF is conducted in terms of wall-thickness reduction, hydrostatic pressure, principal stress distribution and damage factor. The uniqueness and the deformation behaviors of the VPCM-based FDF are then highlighted. The simulation results show that the higher VPCM pressure could result in the higher hydrostatic pressure throughout the process and further resist wall thinning and prevent fracture of the sheet metal. The formability is thus increased significantly.