Study of fluid pressure on formability of metal sheets by using fixed and pulsating sheet hydroforming method

Today there are generally two types of forming methods used in the manufacture of body and metal components for ships and vessels, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, the use of pulsating pressure hydroforming method has increased the formability of metal sheets and it has been shown that steel plate can be formed with higher height than conventional methods. For this purpose, a sheet hydroforming die was made in which cylindrical workpieces of different heights were formed. The cylindrical workpiece was chosen as a standard shape for forming. To apply the oil pressure with different modes, a device was developed that was capable of generating pulsating pressure paths such as sinusoidal, triangular, stepped and trapezoidal states. The results showed that if the oil was applied at a constant pressure of 180 bar, the formation depth increased by 56.25% compared to the oil-free state. Also, increasing the oil pressure under the sheet increases the height of the rupture. Using pulsating pressure in the range of 180 to 220 bar with a frequency of 20Hz, the rupture height was increased more than 4 times and 47.82%, respectively, without oil and with 220 bar constant pressure. It was observed that as the pressure increased, the deviation from the thickness distribution increased. However, if the pulsating pressure is used, the deviation from the standard thickness of the workpeice is less than 220 bar. However, the forming depth of the workpiece with pulsating pressure is approximately 50% greater than the constant pressure state of 220 bar.