Friction Characteristics Analysis of Symmetric Aluminum Alloy Parts in Warm Forming Process

Abstract

There are many typical symmetric large plastic deformation problems in aluminum alloy stamping. Warm stamping technology can improve the formability of materials and obtain parts with high-dimensional accuracy. Friction behavior in the stamping process is significant for the forming quality. An accurate friction coefficient is helpful in improving the prediction accuracy of forming defects. It is hard to obtain a unified and precise friction model through simple experiments due to the complicated contact conditions. To explore the effect of friction behavior on the forming quality, warm friction experiments of the AA6061 aluminum alloy and P20 steel with different process parameters were carried out using a high-temperature friction tester CFT-I (Equipment Type), including temperatures, the interface load, and sliding speeds. The variation curves of the friction coefficient with various parameters were obtained and analyzed. The results show that the friction coefficient increases with temperature and decreases with the sliding speed and load. Then, the influences of process parameters on the surface morphology of the samples after friction were observed by an optical microscope; adhesive wear occurred when the temperature increased, and the surface scratch increased and deepened with the increase in the load. Finally, the friction coefficient models of the speed and load were established by analyzing the data with Original software. Compared with the experimental and the finite element analysis results of the symmetrical part, the errors of the velocity friction model in thickness and springback angle are less than 4% and 5%, respectively. The mistakes of the load friction model are less than 6% and 7%, respectively. The accuracy of the two friction models is higher than that of the constant friction coefficient. Therefore, those coefficient models can effectively improve the simulation accuracy of finite element software.