Numerical and experimental analysis of damage in the single point incremental forming of Aluminum/Copper bilayer sheet

Incremental forming of metal sheets is one of the new methods of forming, in which the local exertion of forming forces and the absence of a matrix enhances the forming limit of the sheet and extends the flexibility of process in producing of complex geometries. In this research, the forming limit of aluminum/copper bilayer sheets in the single-point incremental forming of different geometries was studied. Considering the instability mechanism of the sheet, the Xue-Wierzbicki damage criterion was used in the form of the VUMAT subroutine of Abaqus in the numerical prediction of the growth and damage initiation of bilayer sheets. Experimental tests showed that the type of geometry has influences on the forming height limit due to the different induced stress and strain states on the sheet. The prediction of the numerical model of the forming height limit on average for different geometries with difference of 8% compared to the experimental tests, which indicates the validity of the numerical model. Accordingly, using the numerical model, the effect of changes in equivalent plastic strain and triaxial stress as crucial variables on the distribution of surface strains and damage was analyzed. Also, cyclic and nonlinear loading in this process was shown by plotting the strain path for different geometries.