Finite Element Simulation of the Forming Forces of Solid Cylindrical Components Using Flow Forming Principles

Flow forming as a type of metal spinning processes is used in production of thin-walled high-precision tubular components. Due to the flexibility and low tool load requirement, the process may be employed for forming the mentioned shapes from bulk raw material, such as solid bars, cast or forged preforms. In this paper a finite element (FE) model has been proposed to simulate the process of a single-roller flow forming in one pass. The result show that, for a cylindrical roller moving axially along the work-piece, metal moves predominantly in a radial direction. The difficulties in simulating flow forming are outlined and different models using different formulations have been compared.

Keywords:

Flow Forming , Finite Element Simulation , Roller Tool , Metal Spinning