• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.316-323
• /
• 2011

The hot curvature-forming of large aluminum thick plate using a grid-typed hybrid die is a process for the production of a spherical LNG tank. Many variables such as the initial die surface quality, grid size, grid thickness, size of blank plate and cooling line design, control the success of the process. In addition, the plate used in this process is generally larger than $10{\times}10m$ in size. Thus, it is very difficult to predict the surface characteristics of the plate during forming and to measure the different parameters due to the high cost of the experiments. In order to optimize the process design for the grid-type die, the development of an analytical method to predict the surface characteristics of the final product in hot curvature-forming is needed. This paper described the development of the method and procedures for FE simulations of the hot curvature-forming process, including hot forming, air flow, cooling, and thermal deformation analyses. An experiment for a small scale model of the process was conducted to check the validity of the numerical method. The results showed that the curvature of the plate in the analysis agrees well with that of the experiment within 0.037 and 0.016% tolerance margins for its side and corner, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.8
• /
• pp.815-823
• /
• 2013

The hot curvature forming of large aluminum plates is a process used to produce spherical liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks. In this study, we describe a method to determine the optimum shape of blanks to minimize the root gap in the forming process. The method proposed in this study was applied to a small-scale model for thick plates with a curvature of 1500 mm and thickness of 6 mm. First, the shape of the curved shells was determined as the target shape, and then a coordinate transform was used to determine the optimum blank shape, which was then iteratively modified using the results of finite element method (FEM) simulations, including heat transfer, until the shape error was minimized. Experiments in forming using Al5083 thick plate were carried out, showing that the method can determine the optimum blank shape within an allowable root gap of 0.1 mm.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.11
• /
• pp.1190-1198
• /
• 2012

A hot forming of large thick Al plate using a grid-type hybrid die is a process to make a shell plate for the production of a spherical LNG tank. This process is characterized by using a grid-typed die with an additional air cooling system for reducing the cooling time of the heated plate after hot forming. The process consists of the plate's feeding, heating, forming and cooling in detail and each of them is continuously performed along the rail. This paper was designed to propose the analytical and experimental methods for determining the convection and interfacial heat transfer coefficients required in hot forming analysis of Al plate. These values in the analysis are to reproduce numerically the cooling performance of grid-typed die and cooling device. Interfacial heat transfer was obtained from the heat transfer experiments for different pressures and inverse analysis method. To verify the efficiency of the coefficient values obtained from above methods, FE analysis and experiment of the hot spherical-forming process were conducted for a small-scaled model. The convection coefficient was also calculated from flow analysis of air released by cooling device within grid-typed die using ANSYS-CFX.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.346-349
• /
• 2004

In the previous experimental study about extru-bending of angle product, the bending of extruded angle products with the '${\wedge}$' section and 'ㄱ' section can be abtained by the hot metal extru-bending machine with the two punches moving in the different velocity. The bending curvature can be controlled by the different velocity of billets through the two-hole container. This paper describes simulation of extru-bending process by the difference of punch velocities. The result of the forming simulation by $DEFORM^{TM}-3D$ shows that the bending phenomenon at the die exit during extrusion can be abtained by the two punches moving in the different velocity. And it is possible to design extrusion dies and to control the curvature of product through the simulation of extru-bending process by analysis

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.14 no.2 s.74
• /
• pp.160-167
• /
• 2005

In the present study about extru-bending of angle product, the bending of extruded angle products with the $'\Lambda'$ section and 'ㄱ', section can be obtained using two extrusion billets by the hot metal extru-bending machine with the two punches moving in the different velocity. The bending curvature can be controlled by the different velocity of billets through the two-hole container. This paper describes simulations and experiments of extru-bending process that can make bending during extruding by the difference of stem velocities. And they are applied to two kinds of dies, that is, one of them is conical dies with symmetry $'\Lambda'$ section and the other one is conical dies with asymmetry 'ㄱ' section. The results of the forming simulation by $DEFORM^{TM}-3D$ and results of experiments show that the bending phenomenon at the die exit during extrusion can be obtained with two extrusion billet by the two stems moving in the different velocity. And it was known that it is possible to design the structure of conical cavity of extrusion dies and to control the curvature of product through the simulation and experiment of extru-bending process.