Analysis of necking in tube hydroforming by means of extended forming limit stress diagram

Abstract

In this paper, an extended forming limit stress diagram (EFLSD) was applied to predict neck initiation failure in tube hydroforming of metal bellows. The proposed EFLSD was used in conjunction with ABAQUS/EXPLICIT finite element simulations to predict the onset of necking in tube hydroforming of metal bellows. The amount of calibration pressure and axial feeding required to produce an acceptable part in finite element method (FEM) were compared with the published experimental data and a satisfactory agreement between the FEM and published test results was achieved. Therefore, the present approach can be used as a reliable criterion for designing metal bellows hydroforming processes and reducing the number of costly trials.