Because of the light weight,high stiffness and high structural efficiency,aluminium alloy integral panels are widely used on modern aircrafts.Press bend forming has many advantages,and it becomes a significant technique in aircraft manufacturing field.In order to design the press bend forming path for aircraft integral panels,we propose a novel optimization method which integrates the finite element method(FEM) equivalent model based on our previous study,the artificial neural network response surface,and the genetic algorithm. First,a multi-step press bend forming FEM equivalent model is established,with which the FEM experiments designed with Taguchi method are performed.Then,the backpropagation(BP) neural network response surface is developed with the sample data from the FEM experiments.Further more,genetic algorithm(GA) is applied with the neural network response surface as the objective function.Finally,experimental and simulation verifications are carried out on a single stiffener specimen.The forming error of the panel formed with the optimal path is only 5.37%and the calculating efficiency has been improved by 90.64%.Therefore,this novel optimization method is quite efficient and indispensable for the press bend forming path designing.
A modified Swift type flow stress—strain relation was presented in order to describe the uniaxial tension test curve reasonably. The FLD-strain （forming limit diagram made up of limit strain） of 5754O aluminum alloy sheet was calculated based on the two flow stress—strain relations using Yld2000-2d yield function. By comparing the theoretical and experimental results, it is found that the calculated FLD-strain based on the modified Swift flow stress—strain relation can reasonably describe the experimental results. However, though the common Voce flow stress—strain relation can describe the deformation behavior during homogenous deformation phase accurately, the FLD-strain calculated based on it is obviously lower than the experimental result. It is concluded that the higher the hardening rate of sheet metal is, the higher the forming limit is. A method for determining the reasonable flow stress—strain relation is recommended for describing the material behavior during inhomogenous phase and the forming limit of sheet metal.
In order to predict the buckling of stiffeners in the press bend forming of the integral panel,a method for solving the critical buckling load of the stiffeners in press bend forming process was proposed based on energy method,elastic-plastic mechanics and numerical analysis.Bend to buckle experiments were carried out on the designed press bend dies.It is found that the predicted results based on the proposed method agree well with the experimental results.With the proposed method,the buckling of the stiffeners in press bend forming of the aluminum alloy integral panels with high-stiffener can be predicted reasonably.
