Simulation of pressure processing operations in the production of stamp-welded pipe joints

There are several basic tee manufacturing techniques. These technologies differ in the way they perform form-changing operations and the equipment used. The choice of parameters for each technological operation directly determines the quality of the finished product. At the same time, the calculation of technological parameters by engineering methods is difficult. Therefore, it is advisable to use modern programs for simulation technological operations. The simulation of technological operations of metal forming in the DEFORM program used in various tee production technologies is considered. The workpiece and tool for simulation process operations were created in the SolidWorks program. In the DEFORM program, the operations of partial cooling of the heated billet, the set of metal into the flanging zone, and the flanging operation were successively simulated. Based on the simulation results, the technological parameters were determined, according to which experimental stamping of the “tee” parts was later performed. Measurement of the finished product parameters showed that the calculation results were very close to the results of experimental stamping. The convergence of the results varied for different technologies in the range from 95 to 99 %. The main factors affecting the convergence of simulation results and experimental stamping are determined. The resulting tees are recognized as fit, fully satisfying the requirements of technical conditions. Thus, it has been shown that the use of the DEFORM software package at enterprises producing die-welded parts of the pipeline is expedient and will reduce the time it takes to commission a new product.