Experimental Study on Warm Incremental Tube Forming of AA6063 Aluminum Tubes

Effect of temperature on formability of AA6063 aluminum tubes in incremental forming process was investigated. Experiments are performed on AA6063 aluminum tubes. A spirally moving tool incrementally expands the tube wall. The tube is clamped from both ends while the deformation zone is not in contact with the die. A circumferential heating system is used to heat the tube due to the low formability of aluminum alloys at ambient temperature. The effects of process parameters including temperature, radial feed, axial feed and tool linear velocity are investigated in order to obtain the highest formability and surface quality. The results show that with a temperature rise from 100°C to 300°C, the expansion ratio increases from 28% to 34%. Axial feeding and temperature are the most effective parameters on the surface roughness and bulge diameter, respectively.