Electromagnetic forming of aluminum alloy sheet: Free-form and cavity fill experiments and model

A series of high-rate electromagnetic-forming experiments are presented that consider free-forming and two configurations of cavity fill operations, one with a flat-bottomed die and the other with a hemispherical protrusion on the bottom of the die cavity. The experiments are performed on 1 and 1.6 mm AA5754 and 1 mm AA5182 aluminum alloy sheet; all of which are candidates for lightweight automotive structural applications. Increasing energy levels of discharge resulted in increased cavity fill and strain level in the formed parts. The effect of die geometry on formability, strain state and location of failure is examined. Numerical simulations of the high-rate deformation and structural impact that occur during electromagnetic forming are presented, and provide insight into the physics of the problem and the transient nature of this high-rate deformation process. A transient electromagnetic finite-element code is used to model the time-varying currents that are discharged through the coil in order to obtain the transient magnetic forces that are imparted to the workpiece. The body forces generated by electromagnetic induction are then used as the loading condition to model the high-rate deformation of the workpiece using an explicit dynamic finite-element code. A “two-way, loose coupling” of the electromagnetic analysis with the elastic-plastic structural analysis is utilized to account for the effect of changing workpiece geometry on the transient body forces. Validation of the numerical model is performed through comparison between predicted and measured strain distributions within the formed parts.