Development Of Rubber Diaphragm Forming System Based On ABAQUS

With higher manufacturing requirements for sheet metal part in aeronautic field, the forming of sheet metal part is developing in sophisticated direction. Due to the advantages of rubber diaphragm forming, it is used widely to manufacture sheet metal parts of modern plane such as frame and rib. So the rubber bladder forming is one of the important technologies in aerospace.ABAQUS is able to analyze complex non-linear problem and the convenient re-development interfaces are provided, and it is likely to be wrong using ABAQUS software to perform rubber forming simulation due to the complex operations, therefore the special Rubber Diaphragm Forming System(RDFS) based on ABAQUS software is developed. RDFS includes two main model, blank unfolding model and rubber diaphragm forming simulation model. The modified one-step inverse forming algorithm for rubber diaphragm forming is proposed based on normal one-step inverse forming algorithm via analyzing the characteristics of rubber diaphragm forming. As there is no blank unfolding model in ABAQUS software, the blank unfolding model of RDFS is developed based on one-step inverse forming algorithm and nodes element information exported by ABAQUS software’s meshing. After analyzing the process of traditional rubber diaphragm forming simulation, the rubber diaphragm forming simulation model is developed using Python language. Complex relationship between all kinds of parameters is fixed into this model. Only some necessary parameters are needed to be input in friendly user interface for finishing the simulation analysis of rubber diaphragm forming, which takes great convenience for users. The system’s feasibility is verified by simulation experiments applied on blank unfolding model and rubber diaphragm forming simulation model using the stent of doorframe as an example. Finally, a plane rib part is analyzed by this system to guide its actual production.The blank model can be obtained directly by blank unfolding model of RDFS, and it will be input into rubber diaphragm simulation model for deep simulation analysis. The probability of missing data result from converting data can be reduced by using RDFS. Also, this system is of great convenience for users and is meaningful in simulation analysis of rubber diaphragm forming in company.