18

CHAPTER 2
Literature Review

19
Flow forming is a process whereby a metal blank, a disc or a hollow
tube are mounted on a mandrel which rotates the material to make flow
axially by one or more rollers along the rotating mandrel. [20]

Fig. 2.1 Forward and Backward flow forming [20]

The major difference between spinning and flow forming is, in

spinning, the thickness reduction is very minor and in flow forming the
variation in thickness can be maintained at different places along axial
directions. The two types of flow forming are shown in Fig. 2.1
schematically. The difference is according to the direction of material flow
with respect to direction of motion of tool(roller).

If both are in same

direction, then it is forward flow forming and if they are in opposite

direction, then it is backward flow forming. Forward flow forming is

20
suitable for long, high precision thin walled components. Backward flow
forming is suitable for blanks without base or internal flange. In
backward flow forming the mandrel is unsupported. In both the flow
forming processes, there is no difference in stress and strain rate [21].
Both spinning and flow forming can also be combined to produce
complex components. By rotating mandrel process only cylindrical
components can be produced.
Wong[7] made observations in his study on flow forming of solid
cylindrical billets, with different types of rollers. A flat faced roller
produces a radial flange and a non orthogonal approach of nosed roller
produces a bulge ahead of the roller.
The study made by Lee and Lu[22] on flow forming of cylindrical tubes
gave us the information that the forces will be increased with increase of
deformation ratio.
Groche [23] used the flow forming principle for the production of
internally geared wheels. Internally geared wheels are currently produced
by cutting operations in high volumes. By use of slotting technology, the
toothing is machined incrementally into the cup-like workpiece. In this
new process, an externally geared mandrel is fitted into a cup-like work
piece[Fig. 2.2]. By reducing the cups outside diameter, the inner wall of
the cup is rolled into the mandrels teeth, to produce the gears profile.

21

Fig. 2.2. Manufacture of Internal Geared wheel[23]

From the experimental studies of Rajan[24] on the bursting pressure

of thin walled pressure vessel which are flow formed, it is found that the
longitudinal - transverse stress is developed, and the most likely failure
mode is in hoop direction.
Real-time defects detection in flow-forming process are investigated by
Zong-hua [25]. Defects are caused by either imperfect of material or poor
selection of forming parameters. To obtain a defect free part, an elaborate
study has to be done.

22
Naegele [26] suggested an optimum process for production of
automotive parts. One such example is Drive shaft flange [Fig.2.3].
Originally, this part was designed to be produced solely by machining
processes

Fig. 2.3. Drive shaft flange[26]

In optimized manufacturing process machining is replaced by
forming, which will reduce cost of production, scrap and increase
strength of the product.

23
According to Emin Erdin [27] at elevated temperatures, deep drawing
is not considered for industrial application. Literature about forming at
elevated temperatures is limited. Hence determination of the parameters
and simulation of the manufacturing process are primary stages that are
to be considered for further studies. There are quite enough studies with
aluminium and magnesium, but there are only a few studies with EDD
steel.
The conventional deep drawing process is limited to a certain Limit
Drawing Ratio (LDR), beyond which localized wall thinning and rupture
will occur. One way to increase the LDR is to try to capture the onset of
necking and to adjust the process parameters in order to delay or avoid
necking [28]
Vedat Savas and Omer Secgin [29] investigated the effects of blank
holder and die shapes, using five kinds of blank holder and die shapes.
Deriving from the experimental studies, it is clarified that the angle of
blank and die at deep drawing process influence the blank holder force
distribution and ratio of drawing. During a deep drawing operation,
workpiece is subjected to a type of radial stress and longitudinal stress.
There is also a compressive stress normal to the element which is due to
blank holder pressure. When angle has increased, deep drawing ratio
will also be increased.

24
Moura [30])

investigated for the cause of rejection of end caps of

automotive shock absorber. A deep drawing operation to manufacture

shock absorber end caps leads to the result of excessive scrap. Possible
solutions to this are to change the die material and a lubricant to
withstand the pressures.
Bayraktar and Sabri Altintas [31] studied some problems concerning
hardening, heating and softening phenomena in forming at room
temperature of steel sheets such as Hadfield steel and low carbon steels.
The effect on formability of strain rate and temperature arising from
deformation is investigated in tensile specimens of Hadfield steel. At high
strain rate (2 s_1), the maximum measured temperature increase is about
140C (at the specimen center).
Turretta [32] used Nakazima concept is used to evaluate the material
formability

at

elevated

mechanical

data

are

temperature.

identified

Phase

through

transformation

and

thermo-mechanical

tests

reproducing the industrial conditions

Kim[33] investigated the hydroformability of an extruded aluminum
alloy at elevated temperatures. The deformation behavior of the
aluminum at 200 and 3000C are measured by uniaxial tensile tests with
varying strain rates
Younis [34] made a study on the effect of drawing ratio in deep
drawing process on the thickness distribution along the cup (wall, base

25
and nose). Obviously, the drawing ratio is one of the most important
parameter that has been adopted to design the drawing die. Both
experimental and numerical models are carried out on various drawing
ratios (1.484, 1.589, 1.739, 1.908, 2.12 and 2.332).The simulation
results showed that the best drawing ratio is 1.484, which gives small
difference between maximum and minimum thickness distribution along
the cup. To examine the simulation results, experimental tests are
performed on one of the drawing ratios which shows the same behavior
and pattern approximately.
Emin Erdin [27] investigated that the deep drawing of HSLA/UHSLA
is effective in elevated temperatures in steels aluminium, titanium and
magnesium and this study tells that the deep drawability differs from
material to material. For this, it is important to determine the forming
temperature.
Daoming and Ghosh [35]

studied that the increase in temperature

under isothermal conditions facilitates the drawability and stretchability.

It is found that the die would take heat in cold condition and it reduces
the sheet formability. Formability is achieved only with the heated die
and unheated punch. Byaxial warm forming improves formability at
temperature ranging from 200 to 350 0c for Al5754 and Al 5782.

26
Ambrogio[36]

has

taken

traditional

deep

drawing

process

for

analysing the improvements in terms of material formability that can be

achieved by superimposing a thermal gradient of the sheet.
Tyng-Bin Huang [37] studied about formability of non-isothermal deep
drawing of Magnisium alloy (AZ31B) sheets. Magnesium alloys exhibit
poor formability at room temperature, but the formability can be
improved at elevated temperature. The experimental results indicate that
the highest limit drawing ratio (LDR) is at a forming temperature of
2600C for 0.58mm thick AZ31B sheet, and the highest LDR is 2.63. The
highest LDR is at a forming temperature of 200 0C for 0.50mm thick
AZ31B sheet, and the highest LDR is 2.5.
Peng [38] described the behaviors of metallic materials subjected to
thermo-mechanical loading with fast heating, with reference to heatingassisted forming applications. The effect of heating-rate on the hardening
and damage was taken into account by the concept of local thermal
inconsistency.
Yuan [39] conducted the hydrobulge test to know the formability of
5A02 aluminium at elevated temperature and mechanical properties by
uniaxail tensile test. The results show the same tendency at elevated
temperature. It is understood that the deep drawing has some difficulties
in knowing unknown material constants.

27
It is understood that the deep drawing of high strength materials
comprises some difficulties and unknowns such as material constants at
elevated temperatures [27]
Tests are conducted at 273 to 573 K to examine the material
properties

and

found

the

LDR

increases

with

the

increase

in

temperature. The variation of LDR with temperature is well associated

with the flow of stress and ductility.
Claudio Garcia [40] presented an experimental characterization of
the mechanical behaviour of the EK4 deep drawing steel. The EK4 steel
sheet sample to be tested according to the standard specifications by
Tensile

testing.

The

experimental

characterization

of

the

plastic

behaviour is subsequently accomplished by mainly aiming at deriving the

hardening parameters. The influence of strain rate effects the mechanical
behaviour of the EK4 steel. It is evaluated by measuring the variation of
both UTS and the yield strength by performing tensile test at different
load cell velocities.
Yuan[39] suggested that the uniform elongation, K value and n value
should be considered.
R. Padmanabhan [41] presented that blank holder force strategy is
applied to know the formability of the blank and the thickness of the
sheet metal. The main purpose is to apply minimum blank holder force

28
on the cup to restrict wrinkling. It is proved that the blank holder force
scheme reduces the thinning of the deep drawn part.
Lee and Lin [42] investigated for the high-temperature deformation
behaviour of Ti6Al4V alloy. A series of experiments have been carried out
to investigate the high-temperature deformation behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy
under dynamic compressive loading conditions. The results show that
the flow behaviour of this material is quite sensitive to temperature. For
a given temperature range, the temperature sensitivity increases
gradually with true strain.
Liu [43] proved that the EMF can improve the formability of the
aliminium cylindrical part with the help of deep drawing effect better
than the conventional method under specific conditions.
Doege and Droder [44] investigations lead to the conclusion that
drawing velocity during deep drawing of magnesium sheets is a more
important parameter compared to the forming of conventional sheet
materials, e.g. aluminum. Therefore, hydraulic presses can be preferred
for forming of the magnesium alloys instead of mechanical machines
working at higher speed. The heating of the blank represents an
additional process stage in sheet metal forming of magnesium alloys
compared to the conventional sheet metal forming at room temperature.
Possible alternatives for the heating step are the external heating of the
blank in an oven with following transportation to the tool or the heating

29
of the blank inside the deep drawing tool as a result of heat conduction.
External heating guarantees homogeneous blank temperature.
The development effort described in this paper has yielded a novel
measurement technique for the inspection and control of drawn cup wall
thickness during

process execution. The

measurement technique

employs a noncontact ultrasonic-based gauge [45].

The most suitable way to determine the best deep drawability
temperature of a sheet material is to make analysis at different
temperatures by modelling the process via computer and comparing the
obtained results with experimental studies.
Lee [46] made a study for predicting the flow stress during hot
deformation of carbon steel where the strain rate reaches as high as
3000 s-1 at high temperature (70011000C). Shida expressed the flow
stress of steels,

, as a function of the equivalent carbon content ( ), the

strain ( the strain rate ( ) and temperature (T) as follows:

where

and

are functions dependent upon strain and strain

rate, respectively. In this study, these are called strain hardening

function and strain rate hardening function.

which is called

deformation resistance function.

Kim [47],

in their study, an analytical model was developed to

investigate the effects of geometric parameters, material and process, and

30
in the warm forming of aluminum alloys under simple cylindrical deep
drawing conditions.
Naka [48] studied the effect of temperature and ram velocity on the
drawing Mg alloy at higher temperature (293- 453K). It is found that the
limiting drawing ratio (LDR) mostly increases with increasing die
temperatures. LDR becomes lower with increasing forming speeds at all
temperatures.
Bolt [49] carried out a study on the feasibility of using warm
forming at temperatures from 100 to 250 C in order to improve the
makeability of aluminium sheet components. It is found the increase in
product height possible at elevated temperature and hardness of warm
products do not differ as compared with at room temperature products.
Studies conducted by Shinagava [50] and Takuda [51] indicated
that the warm forming of stainless steel sheet reduces the martensite
formation at elevated temperatures. Tests are performed on types 304
and 316 stainless steel sheets at room temperature, 90C, 120C and
150C. The limiting draw ratio (LDR) values are obtained for the different
forming temperatures to measure the drawability of the sheet material. It
is observed that the LDR becomes remarkably higher in warm deep
drawing compared with drawing at room temperature. Takuda [51]
recorded a maximum LDR of 2.7 at 150C for a punch velocity of 2.5
millimeters per second. Shinagawa obtained a maximum of 3.1 at 200C

31
for a punch velocity of 1 millimeter per second. The higher the LDR, the
deeper the cup could be drawn.
The applicability of deep drawing and stretch forming processes is
limited by the onset of wrinkling behavior and fracture. It was found by
Gavas [52] that by increasing the gap between tooling (both male and
female) drawability can be increased. Fracture can also result by
excessive wrinkling tendency. Usually this wrinking tendency can be
suppressed by increasing the blank holder force bvet excessive force
again causes fracture. Lin [53] found LDR (Formability Limit) with
different holding pressure.
Tebbe and Kridli [54] showed that the problem of low formability of
Aluminium

alloys

can

be

overcome

by

using

elevated

forming

temperatures below recrystallization temperature. Schmoeckel [55,56]

investigated

the

drawability

of

5XXX

series

alloys

at

elevated

temperatures, it is found that the formability with a partial heating in the

holder or matrices area is much better when compared with the
homogeneously heated tools. A significant increase in the LDR is shown
for the Aluminium alloy AlMg4.5Mn0.4 by a heated and lower strain
rated hydromechanical stamp. LDR is also increased by the use of a
rotationally symmetrical tool cooled from the stamp side by additional
air. The undesired surface defects such as stretcher lines causing an
uneven surface after deformation can be eliminated by forming processes

32
at elevated temperatures [57]. Browne [58] used a modified die to study
the formability and also parameters which produces the sound products.
Boogard [59] investigated the forming of Al alloy at elevated
temperature and it is identified that when there is temperature gradient
in the tools and the blank, there is an increase in the formability on
these materials. Similar studies were conducted by Chen [60] where the
formability of Al alloy is investigated with the help of Finite Element
computation. Chen designed the tooling and identified the optimum
working temperature of forming which produces defect free cups with
maximum drawability.
The effects of temperature on yield locus for 5083 Aluminium alloy
sheet are investigated by Naka [48, 61]. There was a decrease in the size
of yield locus with variable temperature. Naka also studied the effect of
temperature on the stamping of Al alloy with Mg as the major impurity
and it is identified that there is substantial increase in the formability of
the material at higher temperature. It can be noted that Al alloy are
famous for its poor formability and simultaneously these alloy are
attractive due to light weight and strength. There is a constant effort by
the various researchers to improved the formability of these material.
Takuda [62] also conducted similar studied on the Aluminum alloy. They
developed a setup for drawing cylindrical cups. They studied the
deformation pattern of the cup at various temperatures. They concluded

33
that there is a change in the pattern of residual stresses by change in the
temperature of the work piece and the tooling. It shows that there will be
substantial increase in Limiting draw ratio (LDR) when the temperature
is increased.
Li [63] studied the plastic (uniaxial) behavior of Al alloy specifically
(Al 5182 + 1%Mn, Al 5754 and Al 6111-T4). They performed the test on a
servohydraulic UTM by varying the strain rates in the range of 0.015-1.5
per second and in the temperature range of 200-350C. It is obvious that
when there is an increase in the temperature, percentage elongation will
be increased substantially. In the material if there is no impurity of Cr,
generally the elongation will increase but there is Cr, since mobility of Cr
is more than the dislocation, this results drastic increase in the
dislocation density of the material and hence increase in hardness. This
will also decrease the percentage of elongation [64,65].
A large number of automotive parts are manufactured by deep
drawing operations and as it was discussed earlier that Al alloys are
attractive for such applications, Jain [66] investigated that alloys like
AA5754-O and AA6111-T4 shows improvement if the formability at
higher temperatures. It is also proved by mathematical modeling that the
warm forming process can be simulated and there was a close match
with the experimentation and modeling results. They also concluded that

34
LDR also depends upon the die curvature radius. Increase in the radius
will increase LDR but it will affect the accuracy of the drawn cup.
Deep drawing at higher temperature is performed by Palumbo [67]
for AA5754-O aluminum alloy. It was reported that the increase in the
temperature increases the friction. To control it, grease is applied but it
is not a good lubricant in the warm forming conditions. It will be
explained in the present work, that the Molycote is the best lubricant to
use in the deep drawing operation at elevated temperatures. Dry film
lubrication is tested by Meiler [68] while drawing Al sheets at elevated
temperatures. This was resulted in the better formability, especially while
drawing

the

complex

shapes,

used

in

the

different

automobile

applications.
Once the temperature of the material is such, the work hardening
phenomenon is insignificant, and it is called super plastic flow of
material. Wu[69] studied a super plastic deformation of 5083 Al alloy.
This material is subjected to draw in a rectangular cavity. It is observed
that the behavior of this material changes and a uniform thickness
distribution of drawn cup is achieved at higher temperatures [70].
Xu [21] and Li [71] adopted finite element simulation to study the
deformation characteristics and the axial displacement distribution
respectively in flow forming of tubes. There are several scientific papers

35
and articles on flow forming/flow forming of tubes with regard to the
development of the theoretical methods for forces and power. In addition
to this, many researchers have investigated the effects of process
variables on different components of force, power, surface finish and
mechanical properties. These aspects of the investigations are described
here under.
Mohan and Misra [72] developed a theoretical analysis of the
plastic flow mechanism of tubes, involving the use of grid-line analysis
for each individual working condition and constant. The roller forces and
effective strains are then calculated using the plastic work deformation.
It is assumed that the strain path during deformation is linear and the
strain components can be evaluated in three principal directions from
the total displacement after deformation. They reported that the values of
axial, radial and tangential force show good agreement with the
experimental results for commercially pure copper.
Later, Hayama and Kudo [73] attempted an analysis to estimate
the working forces and the diameter accuracy by using the energy
method. It is reported that the agreement between the calculated and the
experimental values is good over a wide range of conditions such as
angle of the roller, feed rate and the reduction in thickness. Wang [74]
adopted a plain strain model and slip line field method to solve for the
forces involved in three dimensional flow forming. They reported that the

36
results correlate well with those of Hayama and Kudo. Singhal [75]
proposed a generalized expression for the power required in tube
spinning, by assuming no build up of material, so that it is applicable to
both forward and backward tube spinning. In addition, they assumed a
constant friction factor between the roller and material and also no
diametral growth, as hard materials were used. To calculate the total
power consumption required in deformation and the related tangential
force, Park [76] adopted the upper bound stream function method.
Trapezoidal and spherical velocity fields using the stream function are
suggested and their results suggested that the experimental results are
better correlated with the trapezoidal velocity field.
The ability to form the material in hot flow forming depends upon
the temperature of forming. So in the present investigations the optimum
temperature of EDD steel sheets at which it can be flow formed safely
into a die will be calculated by observing the thickness distribution along
the drawn component.