Forming Limit Diagram Determination of Al 3105 Sheets and Al 3105/Polypropylene/Al 3105 Sandwich Sheets Using Numerical Calculations and Experimental Investigations

Sandwich sheet structures are gaining a wide array of applications in the aeronautical, marine, automotive, and civil engineering fields. Since such sheets can be subjected to forming/stamping processes, it is crucial to characterize their limiting amount of deformation before trying out any forming/stamping process. To achieve this goal, sandwich sheets of Al 3105/polymer/Al 3105 were prepared using thin film hot melt adheres. Through an experimental effort, forming limit diagrams (FLDs) of the prepared sandwich sheets were evaluated. In addition, simulation efforts were conducted to predict the FLDs of the sandwich sheets using finite element analysis (FEA) by considering the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) damage model. The agreement among the experimental results and simulated predictions was promising. The effects of different parameters such as polymer core thickness, aluminum face sheet thickness, and shape constraints were investigated on the FLDs.