Numerical analysis and design of industrial superplastic forming

Abstract
In the aerospace industry, the production of structural shell components with a prescribed thickness distribution by superplastic forming requires the specification of the initial thickness profile in the undeformed sheet. To this purpose, a finite element simulation methodology developed previously for the analysis of superplastic deformation processes along with the optimum monitoring of the forming pressure is extended to the determination of the initial thickness profile. The utilization of the procedure is shown for the pre-contouring of the blank for the industrial production of a satellite tank. The examination of the produced part confirms that the requested thickness distribution is achieved fairly well and thus proves the appropriateness of the proposed computational approach as a tool for the process design in superplastic net-shape forming.