Experimental and Numerical Study of Rotational Draw Bending Process of SS-304 Thin-walled Pipes Using Polyurethane and NBR Mandrels

One of the forming pipes methods is the rotary draw bending process. Today, bending of thin-walled pipes with low radius of curvature is widely used in the automotive, military and aerospace industries, which is used to bend high-strength pipes. In this paper, at first the necessary models were created to simulate the bending process of the rotary pipe, and then the necessary mechanical and physical properties for stainless steel 304 and elastomers were determined. Then, experimental and numerical study of the forming force and changes in pipe wall thickness were performed. The process simulation was analytically performed using polyurethane elastomeric mandrels and nitrile rubber based on ABAQUS finite element software on 304 steel. The results show a good agreement between simulation and experimental results. Finally, the effects of process parameters including mandrel type, pipe diameter and bending radius were analyzed on the maximum forming force by factorial analysis. The results showed that the maximum forming force for both types of mandrel materials is obtained for pipes with small diameter and high curvature radius. Also, the bending forces increase 5 times by 30%increasing the bending radius, for pipes with smaller diameters. In addition, in equal diameter and radius of bending, the bending forces in the case of using polyurethane mandrel are 25% more than nitrile mandrel.