Experimental and numerical evaluation of forming limit diagram for Ti6Al4V titanium and Al6061-T6 aluminum alloys sheets

The forming limit diagram (FLD) is a useful concept for characterizing the formability of sheet metal. In this work, the formability, fracture mode and strain distribution during forming of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy and Al6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheets has been investigated experimentally using a special process of hydroforming deep drawing assisted by floating disc. The selected sheet material has been photo-girded for strain measurements. The effects of process parameters on FLD have been evaluated and simulated using ABAQUS/Standard. Hill-swift and NADDRG theoretical forming limit diagram models are used to specify fracture initiation in the finite element model (FEM) and it is shown that the Hill-swift model gives a better prediction. The simulated results are in good agreement with the experiment.