An Investigation into the Forming of Tube Ends Using the Ballizing Process
Abstract
Nowadays metal forming is required in many engineering sectors. Metal forming methods provide several advantages, including no waste of raw material, enhanced mechanical performance, and a rapid manufacturing rate.In this work, the enlargement of the metal tube-end takes place. The forming of the tube-end is typically performed by die and axial compression load. The tube end enlarging was performed using a ballizing process with a multi-objective spinning tool as a proposed forming technique. Working condition parameters are axial feed (f) mm/rev, end forming ratio (NR), and rotating speed (N) rpm are considered with different values for conducting specimens. The influence of these mentioned parameters on the end forming load and produced part mechanical characteristics was investigated. The results reveal that there is a significant impact on end-forming loads, surface hardness, and wall thickness. Moreover, a theoretical analysis to model the different types of end-forming loads (tangential, axial, and radial) was presented. The forming limit of the end-forming process concerning the working condition was discussed. The difference between analytically calculated and experimentally measured loads shows a minor difference in the forces analytically calculated and measured within the experiment. Furthermore, the theoretical results are in close agreement with the experiment.