A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims
As one of the key safety components in motor vehicles, the steel wheel rim is commonly fabricated with the roll forming process. However, due to the varied cross-sections of the rim and the low formability of high-strength steel, it is difficult to produce thin-wall and defect-free wheel rims to rea...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/19/6820 |
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| author | Wei-Jin Chen Yong Xu Hong-Wu Song Shi-Hong Zhang Shuai-Feng Chen Liang-Liang Xia Yong Wang Boris-B. Khina Artur-I. Pokrovsky |
| author_facet | Wei-Jin Chen Yong Xu Hong-Wu Song Shi-Hong Zhang Shuai-Feng Chen Liang-Liang Xia Yong Wang Boris-B. Khina Artur-I. Pokrovsky |
| author_sort | Wei-Jin Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As one of the key safety components in motor vehicles, the steel wheel rim is commonly fabricated with the roll forming process. However, due to the varied cross-sections of the rim and the low formability of high-strength steel, it is difficult to produce thin-wall and defect-free wheel rims to realize the purpose of light weight. To solve these problems, a novel hydroforming process by combining internal and external pressures (HIEP) was proposed to produce thin-wall wheel rims in the current study. The designed initial tube with diameter between the maximum and minimum diameter of the wheel rim ensures dispersed deformation and effectively avoids local excessive thinning. During HIEP, a hydroforming process was performed with two successive stages: the external pressure and internal pressure stages. Theoretical analysis and finite element method (FEM) were jointly used to investigate the effect of process parameters on the wrinkling and thinning. With the optimized parameters for internal and external pressure, the wrinkling of wheel rims is prevented under compressive state during the external pressure forming stage. Additionally, HIEP was experimentally carried out with high-strength steel rims of 650 MPa ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Finally, wheel rims with weight reduction of 13% were produced successfully, which shows a uniform thickness distribution with a local maximum thinning ratio of 11.4%. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:30:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-07e09a68ad4b4cb0bb7ae77dcc4b26fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:30:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-07e09a68ad4b4cb0bb7ae77dcc4b26fa2023-11-23T20:57:20ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442022-09-011519682010.3390/ma15196820A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel RimsWei-Jin Chen0Yong Xu1Hong-Wu Song2Shi-Hong Zhang3Shuai-Feng Chen4Liang-Liang Xia5Yong Wang6Boris-B. Khina7Artur-I. Pokrovsky8Shi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaShi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaShi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaShi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaShi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaShi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaResearch Institute, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201999, ChinaPhysical-Technical Institute, National Academy of Science of Belarus, 220141 Minsk, BelarusPhysical-Technical Institute, National Academy of Science of Belarus, 220141 Minsk, BelarusAs one of the key safety components in motor vehicles, the steel wheel rim is commonly fabricated with the roll forming process. However, due to the varied cross-sections of the rim and the low formability of high-strength steel, it is difficult to produce thin-wall and defect-free wheel rims to realize the purpose of light weight. To solve these problems, a novel hydroforming process by combining internal and external pressures (HIEP) was proposed to produce thin-wall wheel rims in the current study. The designed initial tube with diameter between the maximum and minimum diameter of the wheel rim ensures dispersed deformation and effectively avoids local excessive thinning. During HIEP, a hydroforming process was performed with two successive stages: the external pressure and internal pressure stages. Theoretical analysis and finite element method (FEM) were jointly used to investigate the effect of process parameters on the wrinkling and thinning. With the optimized parameters for internal and external pressure, the wrinkling of wheel rims is prevented under compressive state during the external pressure forming stage. Additionally, HIEP was experimentally carried out with high-strength steel rims of 650 MPa ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Finally, wheel rims with weight reduction of 13% were produced successfully, which shows a uniform thickness distribution with a local maximum thinning ratio of 11.4%.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/19/6820high-strength steelwheel rimhydroforming by combining internal and external pressures (HIEP)finite element method (FEM) |
| spellingShingle | Wei-Jin Chen Yong Xu Hong-Wu Song Shi-Hong Zhang Shuai-Feng Chen Liang-Liang Xia Yong Wang Boris-B. Khina Artur-I. Pokrovsky A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims Materials high-strength steel wheel rim hydroforming by combining internal and external pressures (HIEP) finite element method (FEM) |
| title | A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims |
| title_full | A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims |
| title_fullStr | A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims |
| title_short | A Novel Hydroforming Process by Combining Internal and External Pressures for High-Strength Steel Wheel Rims |
| title_sort | novel hydroforming process by combining internal and external pressures for high strength steel wheel rims |
| topic | high-strength steel wheel rim hydroforming by combining internal and external pressures (HIEP) finite element method (FEM) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/19/6820 |
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