Study on forming limit and feasibility of tube axial compressive process

Tearing and buckling failures concerning forming limit during the process will restrict the advantage exertion and successful realization of tube axial compressive forming process. So it is important to open out forming limit and realize process feasibility analysis. In this paper, the forming limit conception for tube axial compressive forming under both fillet and conical dies is proposed firstly by considering tearing and buckling failures. Through thorough study the failure models are established, then the failure mechanism are exploring and criteria for them are developed based on minimum energy principle for plastic forming. Combining with finite element simulation system developed the forming limit, process feasibility and effects of process parameters on them are investigated, then reasonable ranges for process parameters to realize stable forming are determined. The experiments for the forming process under fillet die with aluminum tube blanks with brand no. 5052, t0/d0 = 0.024, 0.032 show that the method for forming limit and feasibility and the results obtained are reliable and practical.