A design concept of active cooling for tailored forming workpieces during induction heating

Abstract

The demand for lightweight construction is constantly increasing. One approach to meet this challenge is the development of hybrid components made of dissimilar materials. The use of the hybrid construction method for bulk components has a high potential for weight reduction and increased functionality. However, forming workpieces consisting of dissimilar materials requires specific temperature profiles for achieving sufficient formability. This paper deals with the development of a specific heating and cooling strategy to generate an inhomogeneous temperature distribution in hybrid workpieces. Firstly, the heating process boundaries with regard to temperature parameters required for a successful forming are experimentally defined. Secondly, a design based on the obtained cooling strategy is developed. Next a modelling embedded within an electro-thermal framework provides the basis for a numerical determination of admissible cooling rates to fulfil the temperature constraint. Here, the authors illustrate an algorithmic approach for the optimisation of cooling parameters towards an effective minimum, required for applicable forming processes of tailored forming.