Modeling of pressure shaping during manufacturing of stamp-welded pipe joints

When manufacturing three-way joints, blanks undergo a range of technological operations, including heating, partial cooling, and pressure shaping. Choice of parameters for each of these technological operations directly influences the quality of output production. At the same time, the calculation of technological parameters using engineering methods seems to be rather challenging. Therefore, it is reasonable to use modern software to model technological operations. This paper analyzes modeling of technological operations in the DEFORM software. Blanks and the tool for modeling technological operations have been created in the SolidWorks software. DEFORM was used to model in succession partial cooling of heated blanks, selection of metal into the flanging zone, and tripping itself. At the first stage, partial cooling of blanks was modeled by placing them in a bath on the depth which was 2/3 of their depth and holding them during a certain time interval. Then, the modeling of selection of metal into the flanging zone took place; during this stage, optimal convexity height was determined. At the third stage, cutting a hole for flanging was modeled; hole dimensions were determined at this stage. At the final stage, flanging of pipe branch was modeled, and after that the wall thickness of the obtained branch was determined. According to modeling results, technological parameters, based on which the trial stamping of three-way joints was made, were determined. Measurement of parameters of finished products showed that calculation results were very close to the results of trial stamping. The obtained three-way joint was deemed acceptable and completely met technical requirements. Thus, it has been demonstrated that the use of DEFORM software at production facilities manufacturing stamp-welded pipe joints is feasible and will help to decrease the time needed to introduce new product into the production cycle.