Process design of flow control forming for rib–web structure

Abstract

Rib–web structure is a key geometry element involved in components used in the aerospace industry. To obtain a good distribution of streamline and reduce forming load during hot working, different forming processes are presented in this paper. The slab method is used to obtain stress distribution of different regions divided in terms of deformation mode and optimise geometry of performing blocker. Resistance controlled forming technology is presented to prevent metal flow from web to rib for reducing forming load. A finite element model for plane strain is established to obtain the flow behaviour during deformation and predict forming load. Good agreements are obtained, which verify that the presented solutions are reasonable.

Keywords:

• Rib–web structure
• Metal flow control
• Slab method
• Preforming blocker
• Resistance controlled forming technology

This work was supported by NSFC (grant no. 50705034) and State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology. This work was also supported by Major Projects on Advanced Numerical Control Machines and Foundational Equipments (project no. 2009ZX04005‐011), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China.