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CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION

8.1 CONCLUSION

The following conclusions are made, based on this research work.

i. A modified Thermo mechanical treatment for grain

refinement of Al 7075 alloy has been identified, in order to
obtain grains of size 10m, and a reduction in the cycle time
to the extent of one hour was achieved, during the modified
thermomechanical treatment.

ii. It was found that after 30 minutes of annealing, the material

exhibited a strain rate sensitivity of 0.49, at the forming
parameters of 0.5 MPa pressure, 60 minutes forming time
and 530C temperature. When the temperature was high, the
m value also was high, but the thinning factor was found to
be less. Hence, the optimum forming temperature was fixed
as 530C.

iii. When the annealing time was increased from 60 to 150

minutes, the strain rate sensitivity index was found to
decrease, due to the grain instability during the high
annealing time. This increase in the annealing time did not
cause any change in the bulge height; it is, therefore, evident
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that the process parameters of temperature and pressure are

largely influential in the forming.

iv. In the three variable forming pressure cycle method, the

thinning factor was found to be enhanced, with a reduction
in the cavity volume fraction. In this method, the forming
time was increased from 40 to 68 minutes. A small grain
growth took place at a high forming time, but the cavity
volume fraction was only 5%, and the thinning factor was
0.879. By this method, the thinning factor was enhanced by
8%, and the cavity volume fraction was reduced by 35%,
when compared to the constant forming pressure cycle
method.

v. Based on this study, the optimal temperature for the

superplastic forming of Al 7075 alloy was identified as
530C. Below this temperature, the micro grains gave higher
resistance to deformation, and above this temperature,
structural instability occurred. Both these conditions gave
more than 10% cavity volume fraction.

vi. For higher thickness sheets (1.75 and 2mm), a less cavity
volume fraction and a higher thinning factor were obtained,
at an annealing time of 120 minutes. For lesser thickness
sheets (1.25 and 1.5mm), the annealing time required for a
high thinning factor was high, in order to achieve a lesser
cavity volume fraction.

vii. For a sheet of lesser thickness, when the annealing time was
increased, the cavity volume fraction also increased,
whereas in the case of higher thickness, the grains were
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accommodated easily at high annealing time, and hence, the

cavity volume fraction was low. When the annealing time
was increased, the cavity volume fraction was affected
more, compared to the grain size.

viii. Pressure thermoforming generally led to a deterioration in

the post forming properties. The reason for this could be
traced to the increase in the Cavity volume fraction of 7 %,
as measured in the post formed component.

ix. The experimentally found optimum process parameters were

given as input in the ABAQUS 6.5 analysis software, to
simulate the superplastic forming of a rectangular pan. The
comparison of the thickness distribution between the
simulation and experiment was made and the variation lies
within 8%.

8.2 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK

It is suggested that further work on the lines listed below, could be

continued in order to arrive at more significant conclusions:

i. Cavitation studies could be further extended, with the objective

of achieving greater suppression of cavitation.

ii. In the pressure thermoforming of a rectangular box with a

dome shape in the middle, a reverse billowing process and pre
machining the blank to control the thickness variation, could be
attempted.
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iii. A finite element simulation analysis could be carried out for

the starting blank of variable thickness, to obtain a formed
component with minimum thinning.