An analysis of localized necking in aluminium alloy tubes during hydroforming using a continuum damage model

In this work, localized necking in aluminium alloy tubes subjected to free hydroforming is analyzed. The main objective is to study the influence of loading conditions, such as prescribed fluid pressure or volume flow rate in conjunction with axial end feed, on the nature of the forming limit curve (FLC). To this end, the strain histories experienced at the tube mid-length, which were computed in an earlier investigation [14] [Varma NSP, Narasimhan R. A numerical study of the effect of loading conditions on tubular hydroforming, Journal of Materials Processing Technology 2005; [Submitted for publication]], are analyzed using the Marciniak–Kuczynski (M–K) method along with an anisotropic version of the Gurson model. The Gurson constitutive parameters are determined following an inverse approach using the sheet FLC for the chosen alloy. The predicted FLC for combined pressure and axial contraction corroborates well with the experimental data obtained in [12] [Kulkarni A, Biswas P, Narasimhan R, Luo A, Stoughton T, Mishra R, Sachdev AK. An experimental and numerical study of necking initiation in aluminium alloy tubes during hydroforming. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 46:2004;1727–46] and is almost flat, whereas it is akin to the sheet FLC and increases with negative minor strain when fluid volume is specified. The forming limit strains for loading with specified fluid volume are in general higher when compared to those with prescribed fluid pressure. Finally, it is demonstrated that a transition from axial to circumferential necking occurs when high ratios of axial extension to volume flow rate are applied to the tube.