Numerical and experimental investigations on the Warm Deep Drawing process of circular aluminum alloy specimens

Warm Deep Drawing process of circular 0.8 mm thick specimens in AA5754-O was investigated using a home designed experimental equipment and a finite element fully coupled thermo-mechanical model. The research activity was aimed to investigate the formability (evaluated by means of the material Limit Drawing Ratio) of the AA5754-O by means of experimental tests supported by numerical analysis. The following process parameters were taken into account: the temperature level of the blank in the centre of the specimen and the forming speed; in addition standard grease lubricant was used. The LDR when adopting different levels of such process parameters was obtained; in particular tests highlighted optimal values when setting the temperature in the blank centre at 110 °C. The stress and strain state in the material section was calculated; the material yield condition was modelled using the isotropic Von Mises criterion, while the Al flow stress was described by the physically based Bergström model.