Experimental investigation of forming limit curves and deformation features in warm forming of an aluminium alloy.

The determination of forming limit curves and deformation features of AA5754 aluminium alloy are studied in this article. The robust and repeatable experiments were conducted at a warm forming temperature range of 200 °C-300 °C and at a forming speed range of 20-300 mm/s. The forming limit curves of AA5754 at elevated temperatures with different high forming speeds have been obtained. The effects of forming speed and temperature on limiting dome height, thickness variation and fracture location are discussed. The results show that higher temperatures and lower forming speeds are beneficial to increasing forming limits of AA5754; however, lower temperatures and higher forming speeds contribute to enhancing the thickness uniformity of formed specimens. The decreasing forming speed and increasing temperature result in the locations of fracture to move away from the apexes of formed specimens. It is found that the analysis of deformation features can provide a guidance to understand warm forming process of aluminium alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]