08 - Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management
DESIGN OF A SUSTAINABLE FLEXFORMING PROCEDURE FOR AERO ENGINE COMPONENTS IS ALLOY 718
P. Ottosson¹, E.-L. Westman¹, I. Nygren, Quintus Technologies, Sweden; T. Pettersson, Permanova LaserTool in Blekinge, Sweden; F. Niklasson², L.-E. Brattström²; ¹RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Sweden ;²GKN Aerospace Engine Systems Sweden, Sweden
The aero engine industry in Sweden continuously strive to develop abilities, processes and products for lightweight solutions that in a fast pace contribute to a sustainable society. GKN Aerospace Engine Systems Sweden and sub-suppliers explore and demonstrate new variants of manufacturing process chains for products that will power fossil free transportation in Sweden and abroad. In this study, a manufacturing procedure for a load carrying aero engine component in alloy 718 was evaluated, including Flexforming and mechanical cutting. The project had a target to considerably reduce material, time and energy consumption by at least 50% each. The virtual die and process design for the Flexforming procedure involved FE-modeling, anisotropic material model calibration and parameter studies to identify best choice in blank design and process parameters with respect to minimal spring back. Predicted responses were compared with measured results from Flexforming tests. rnExisting multi-step manufacturing procedures are to a high extent based on a forging processes following machining to reach final geometry. This implies high levels of energy, material, and time consumption to a relatively high cost. The Flexforming process is a low-cost sheet metal hydroform technology, ideally suited for low volume production. Flexform use only one single rigid tool half and a flexible rubber diaphragm, backed up by high-pressure hydraulic oil. In this project the Flexforming method is applied to form a geometry used to apply minimal machining to directly obtain the final part tolerances for production. rnA finite element (FE) model of the Flexform process was developed. Material properties for the 718 alloy of which the part is formed needs to be included in the FE model. The anisotropic material model YLD2000-2D in the software Ls-Dyna was applied.rnThe study shows promising agreement between predicted and measured responses such as material thinning and shape deviation. Al