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Hydroforming of a non-axisymmetric thin-walled tubular component with variable cross sections was analyzed. In order to solve the sealing problem which occurred due to the thin and non-axisymmetric shape, the use of a lead patch on the punch, which had been successful in hydroforming of thin tubes, was evaluated. A lead patch was attached to the punch to solve the sealing problem, which was caused by the stress gradient in the non-axisymmetric shape. FEM and experiments were also performed to analyze these sealing problems associated with the punch shape and non-axisymmetric shape. Finally, the lead patch was attached at tube surface where intensive local strain concentration would occur to enhance the hydroformability. These methods were successfully used to fabricate non-axisymmetric thin-walled tubular component with variable cross sections that had previously failed during traditional hydroforming. Key Words : Hydroforming, Thin-wall Tube, Non-axisymmetric Shape, Variable Cross Sections, Sealing Problem, Lead Patch

Bursting during tube hydroforming is preceded by localized necking. The retardation of the initiation of necking is a means to enhance hydroformability. Since high strain gradients occur at the necking sites, a decrease in local strain gradients is an effective way to retard the initiation of necking. In the current study, the expansion at potential necking sites was intentionally restricted in order to reduce the strain gradient at potential necking sites. From the strain distribution obtained from FEM, it is possible to determine strain concentrated zones, which are the potential necking sites. Prior to the hydroforming of a trailing arm, an incompressible material(such as lead) is attached to the tube where the strain-concentrated zone would contact the die. Due to the incompressibility of lead, the tube expansion is locally restricted, and the resultant strain extends to adjacent regions of the tube during hydroforming. After the first stage of hydroforming, the lead is removed from the tube, and the hydroforming continues to the final targeted shape without any local restriction. This method was successfully used to fabricate a complex shaped automotive trailing arm that had previously failed during traditional hydroforming fabrication.

The use of roll-formed products increases every year due to its advantages, such as high production rates, reduced tooling cost and improved quality. However, till now, it is limited to part profiles with constant cross section. In recent years, the flexible roll forming process, which allows variable cross sections of profiles by adaptive roll stands, was developed. In this study, an attempt to optimize profile design for the flexible roll forming process was performed. An equation that predicts the longitudinal strain for part geometries with variable cross-sections was proposed. The relationship between geometrical parameters and the longitudinal strain was analyzed and investigations on the optimal profile design were performed. Experiments were conducted with a lab-scale roll forming machine to validate the proposed equation. The results show that the profile design method proposed in this study is feasible and parts with variable cross sections can be successfully fabricated with the flexible roll forming process.

Direct Laser Melting is a prototyping process whereby a 3-D part is built layer wise by melting the metal powder with laser scanning. This process is strongly influenced by the shielding gas and the laser operating parameters such as laser power, scan rate, layering thickness, and rescanning. The shielding gas is especially important in affecting the microstructure and mechanical properties. In the current study, fabrication experiments were conducted in order to analyze the effect of shielding gas on the forming characteristics of direct laser melting. Cylindrical parts were produced from a Fe-Ni-Cr powder with a 200W fiber laser. Surface quality, porosity and hardness as a function of the layering thickness and shield gas were evaluated. By decreasing the layering thickness, the surface quality improved and porosity decreased. The selection of which shield gas, Ar or , to obtain better surface quality, lower porosity, and higher hardness was examined. The formability and mechanical properties with a atmosphere are better than those parts formed under an Ar atmosphere.

Discrete layer forming proposed in this study is a hydroforming process which can selectively deform the outer tube to a desired shape without any deformation of the inner tube by piercing small holes in the inner tube. A three-layered tube is assembled from inner, middle, and outer tubes, from either similar or dissimilar materials, and deforms simultaneously when internal pressure and axial feed are applied to the tube. In special working environments, multi-layered tubes with combined material properties, high strength, and corrosion resistance are required to satisfy conflicting performance requirements. The feasibility of proposed discrete layer forming process of three-layered tube was evaluated by a tube hydroforming experiment and process analysis was performed. An optimal loading path to prevent wrinkling around holes was developed by an analytical model and was experimentally verified. The results show that the proposed discrete layer forming process can be successfully applicable to hollow forming of non-axisymmetric multilayered tubes for structural purposes.

Tube hydroforming is a technology that utilizes hydraulic pressure to form a tube into desired shapes inside die cavities. Due to its advantages, such as weight reduction, increased strength, improved quality, and reduced tooling cost, single-layered tube hydroforming is widely used in industry. However in some special applications, it is necessary to produce multi-layered tubular components which have corrosion resistance, thermal resistance, conductivity, and abrasion resistance. In this study, a hollow forming process to fabricate a part from multi-layered tubes for structural purposes is proposed. To accomplish a successful hydroforming process, an analytical model that predicts optimal load path for various parameters such as tube material properties, thickness of tubes, diameter of holes and the number of holes was developed. Tubular hydroforming experiments to fabricate a hollow part were performed and the optimal loading path developed by the analytical model was successfully verified. The results show that the proposed hydroforming process can effectively produce hollow parts with multi-layered tube without defects such as wrinkling or fracture.

Hydroforming has attracted the attention of manufacturing industries for vehicles and transportation systems. A wide range of products such as subframes, camshafts, radiator frames, axles and crankshafts are made by the hydroforming process. Hydroformed parts often need to be structurally joined to other components during assembly. Therefore it is useful if the hydroformed automotive parts can be attached with a localized flange. In this study, a hydroforming process to produce a rectangular shape flange is proposed. FE analysis to form the flanged rectangular shape was performed by Dynaform 5.5. The hydroforming characteristics at various die aspect ratios and feeding conditions were analyzed and optimal process conditions which can avoid defects are suggested. For validation purposes, hydroforming experiments to form the flange were conducted with the optimized conditions. The results show that the flanged parts can be successfully formed with a hydroforming process without additional processing steps.

Studies on the forming characteristics by a rotary swaging process using the sub-scale specimens have been carried out to obtain a shell body nose of desirable quality. To analyze the changes of the nose thickness and length at the respective reduction of inside diameter, the finite element simulations were carried out. As a result, the desired target dimension is satisfied with the diameter reduction of more than 64 % for the given preform. The thickness of nose area increased up to 56.1 % from initial thickness of 2.62 mm to 4.09 mm after swaging. The values of the hardness before and after swaging were 208 HV and 325 HV, respectively. To analyze the dimensional changes (length and thickness) of nose area with decreasing inside diameter, the rotary swaging test was carried out for two different diameter reductions such as 65 % and 67 %. The lengths of nose area for the diameter reductions are 11.79 mm in 65 % and 12.53 mm in 67 %, respectively. At the diameter reduction of more than 67%, the crack occurs when the localized strain hardening reduces ductility in internal area. Therefore, the nose area should be formed from 64% to 67% reduction in target inner diameter.

Hydroformed parts have higher dimensional accuracy, structural strength, and dimensional repeatability. The pre-bending process is an important process for the successful hydroforming in the case where the perimeter of the blank is nearly the same as that of final product. At initial pre-bending stage, the variations of wall thickness and cross-section have effects on the accuracy of final products and quality. Because of a relatively excellent productive velocity, geometric size precision and reliance of product qualities, rotary draw bending is widely used. This study shows the bendability such as cross-section ovality, springback ratio and thickness variation in the various conditions of materials.

Direct laser melting (DLM) technology can be applied to restore damaged steel dies. To understand the effects of DLM process parameters such as the laser power and scan rate, a series of experiments was conducted to determine the optimal operating parameters. To investigate the laser melting characteristics, the depth/height ratio, depth/width ratio and micro-hardness as a function of the laser energy density were analyzed. Fe-Cr and Fe-Ni layers were deposited on a steel die with 11.38 J/mm2 of energy input. The wear-resistance and the friction coefficient of the deposited layer were investigated by a pin-on-disk test. The penetration depth decreased as the scan rate increased as a consequence of the shorter interaction time. The depth/height ratio of the deposited layer decreased with an increase in the scan rate. The depth/width ratio increased as laser power increased and the scan rate decreased. The deposition shape of the Fe-Ni powder was relatively shallow and wide compared with that of the Fe-Cr powder. The scan rate had a substantial effect upon the deposition height, with the Fe-Cr powder melting more than the Fe-Ni powder. The micro-hardness of the layer melted from the powders is higher than that of the substrate, and the hardness of the laser-surface-melted layer without any metal powder is higher compared to that of the metal-powder-melted layer. The direct laser melting process with Fe-Ni powder represents a superior method when restoring a steel die when the bead shape and hardness of the restored surface are important outcome considerations.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is emerged as a new manufacturing technique to directly fabricate precise parts using metallic materials. The final characteristics of a component fabricated through the SLM process are strongly dependent upon various parameters such as laser power, scan rate and pulse duration, etc. This paper, therefore, focuses on the dimensional characteristics of melted 20㎛ Fe-Cr-Ni powder by fiber laser for the selective laser melting process. With energy density decrease, the height and depth were decreased. Although the conditions are of the same energy density, the shape is different by laser power and scan rate. The shapes at various laser parameters were divided into 3 groups based on depth over height. The smooth regular shape is obtained under the conditions of 50㎛ of powder height and 15-20㎲ of pulse duration. And the laser power influenced the variation of shape more significantly than the scan rate. Key Words : Selective Laser Melting(SLM), Fiber Laser, 20㎛ Fe-Cr-Ni Powder, Processing Parameters, Melted Shape

Hydroforming is the technology that utilizes hydraulic pressure to form tube or sheet materials into desired shapes inside die cavities. Tube hydroforming provides a number of advantages over the conventional stamping process, including fewer secondary operations, weight reduction, assembly simplification, adaptability to forming of complex structural components and improved structural strength. In many case, hydroformed parts have to be structurally joined at some point. Therefore it is useful if the hydroformed automotive parts can be given a localized attachment flange. In this study for the numerical process design FE analysis was performed with DYNAFORM 5.5. Die parting angle and circumferential expansion ratio was optimized. With optimized condition, bulge and hydroforming experiments to form flange were performed. Forming characteristic at various pressure conditions was analyzed and optimized internal pressure condition was evaluated. The results show that flanged parts can be successfully produced by tube hydroforming process.

Hydroforming has attracted a great deal of attention in the manufacturing industries for vehicles and transportation systems. Hydroforming technology contributes to weight reduction, increased strength, improved quality and reduced tooling cost. Hydroformed automotive parts used as structure components in vehichle body frame often have to be structurally joined at some point. Therefore it is useful if the hydroformed automotive parts can be given a localized attachment flange. For a given flange shape, a parting plane for the dies is established relative to which the various surfaces of the flange shape, in cross section, have no significant reverse curvature. In this study, hydroforming process for flange forming was proposed. FE analysis to form flanged circular shape and flanged rectangular shape was preformed with Dynaform 5.5. To accomplish successful hydroforming process design, thorough investigation on proper combination of process parameters such as tool geometry and hydraulic pressure has been performed and optimized. The results show that flanged automotive parts can be successfully produced with tube hydroforming.

In marine engines, the wear between the piston-ring face and the cylinder liner is an extremely unpredictable and hard-to-reproduce phenomenon that significantly decreases engine performance. This study investigates the characteristics of wear arising between both hard and soft piston-ring coatings and the running surface of the cylinder liner. A detailed tribological analysis using a Pin-on-Disk (POD) testing machine compares the wear rate and the friction coefficient between piston-ring coatings and the cylinder liner for various test parameters, such as test temperature, roughness of the liner, and lubrication. The experimental results show that the wear rate and the friction coefficient of soft coatings were higher than those of hard coatings. The wear rate and the friction coefficient were also found to be influenced by test temperature, due to the lubrication effect of the wear-protective oxidized layers that developed at elevated temperatures. The surface roughness of the cylinder liner on the wear rate strongly influenced the soft coating but was much less apparent for the hard coating. The morphological features of the scuffed cylinder liner revealed that a harder piston-ring coating enhances scuffing of the cylinder liner.

Bending characteristics of double-walled pipe during offshore reel-lay operations have been investigated by finite element method. For the subsea pipeline reel-laying operations, the pipe is welded and spooled on the reel at docks. The pipe undergoes repetitive bending deformation while spooled on the reel. At the offshore destination, the pipeline installation is usually accomplished by spool-off, straightening, and laying out the pipelines. When the pipe is reeled out at sea, again it undergoes bending deformation. In order to simulate such a nonlinear behavior, the bending analysis of double-walled pipe consisting of SS400 and STS304 has been analyzed by finite element method and discussed for the respective cyclic bending processes using the relation of deformed compatibility of hysteresis loops. Furthermore, the feasibility analysis has also been made on the application of combined material properties which are based on the rule of mixture to the finite element analysis of double-walled pipe. The analysis results give a reasonable understanding of how materials behave during cyclic deformation of reel-laying operations. The application of combined material properties is proved to be feasible for the analysis of double-walled pipe with reasonable accuracy.

An attempt to fabricate Fe-Ni-Cr coating on AISI H13 tool steel was performed with selective laser melting. Fe-Ni-Cr coating was produced by experimental facilities consisting of a 200 W fiber laser which can be focused to 80 μm and atmospheric chamber which can control atmospheric pressure with N 2 or Ar. Coating layer was fabricated with various process parameters such as laser power, scan rate and fill spacing. Surface quality and coating thickness were measured and analyzed. Three different surface patterns, such as type I, type II and type III, are shown with various test conditions and smooth regular pattern is obtained under the conditions as 10 μm of fill spacing, 50–350 mm/s of scan rate and 40 μm of fill spacing, 10–150 mm/s of scan rate. The maximum coating thickness is increased with power elevation or scan rate drop, and average thickness of 10 μm fill spacing is lower than that of 40 μm fill spacing.

The roll gap set-up in the finishing mill is one of the most important technologies in the hot plate rolling process. As the target thickness can be obtained by the correct set-up of the roll gap, improving the roll gap set-up technology is very critical for plate thickness accuracy. The main cause of thickness variation in hot plate mills is the non-uniform temperature distribution along the length of the slab. The objective of this study is to adjust the roll gap set-up for the thickness accuracy of plate in hot rolling process considering top-end temperature drop. Therefore this study has concentrated on determining the correct amounts of thickness variation according to top-end temperature drop and roll gap to compensate thickness variation. The control method of roll gap set-up which can improve the thickness accuracy was proposed. The off-line simulation of compensated roll gap significantly decreases top-end thickness variation.

The wear between piston ring face and cylinder liner is an extremely unpredictable and hard-to-reproduce phenomenon that significantly decreases engine performance. This study will discuss characteristics of wear between hard and soft piston ring coatings with running surface of cylinder liner. Detailed tribological analysis by using Pin-on-Disk(POD) testing machine describes the lubricity mechanism between piston ring coatings and cylinder liner at different temperature with and without oil. The effect of surface roughness of the cylinder liner on the friction coefficient and wear amount of piston ring coatings will also be analyzed. To simulate scuffing mechanism between piston ring and cylinder liner, accelerated lab testing was performed. This study will provide the data from tribological testing of hard and soft piston ring coatings against cylinder liner. Furthermore, the microstructures and morphological features of the surface and the near-surface materials during wear will be investigated. From the scuffing test by using POD testing machine, scuffing mechanisms for the soft and hard coating will be analyzed and experimentally confirmed.

Sidewall curl is the curvature that results from non-uniform through-thickness strain present in the sheet stamping process which involves material flow over a die radius. In order to understand and control curl for tight fit-up tolerances, an analytical model that can provide a reliable measure for the amount of curl would be very helpful. In this study, a model is developed based on the moment-curvature relationship during bending-under-tension operations. For the verification of analytical model, sidewall curl is experimentally measured after deformation of a strip using a bending-under-tension test system. The results show a consistent relationship between the theoretically predicted value and the experimentally obtained one, especially in regions of high curl.

Sidewall curl is the curvature that results from non-uniform through-thickness strain present in the sheet stamping process which involves material flow over a die radius. In order to understand and control sidewall curl for tight fit-up tolerances, an analytical model that can provide a reliable measure for the amount of curl would be very helpful. In this study, a model is developed based on the moment-curvature relationship during bending-under-tension operations. The analytical model includes the variables of applied tensile force, the yield strength, the elastic modulus, the bending radius, and the sheet thickness, which are the primary factors affecting sidewall curl during sheet stamping operations. For the accuracy of analytical model, six possible deformation patterns are proposed on the basis of material properties and bending geometries.