Numerical simulation of temperature field in large integral panel during age forming process: Effect of autoclave characteristics

As an advanced manufacturing technology, autoclave age forming (AAF) has been developed to form large integral panels. During the AAF, autoclave characteristics (air speed, heating rate and pressure) influence the temperature uniformity in panel, which lead to lower the precision of the formed panel. Temperature field of a large panel with a dimension of 2500×1300×17mm3, formed under a large frame mold, was computationally fluid dynamics simulated and experimentally evaluated. It is found that the simulation results tally well with the test results. Then, the effect of air speed (V), heating rate (H) and pressure (P) on panel's temperature field are investigated via simulation. It shows that increasing the air speed helps improve the temperature uniformity of the panel, while raising the heating rate and the pressure have the opposite effect. Additionally, the combination of the air speed and pressure (V&P) has a great impact on the panels' temperature field. The magnitude of effects on the panel's temperature field correspond to a sequence of V&P > H > V > P > H&V > H&P.