Research on deep drawing process of aluminum alloy drawn box based on segment blank holder technique

A radial segmented blank holder technique for drawn box is proposed, which can realize independent loading of blank holder force along the different radial zones. Firstly, the wrinkling model on the flange is established by theoretical derivation. The wrinkles can be suppressed with a smaller blank holder force compared with the conventional blank holder method which preliminarily proves the theoretical feasibility of the new blank holder method. Then, the numerical forming simulations are carried out by using the finite element method. The results show that the radially segmented blank holder can effectively control the material flow, suppress wrinkling and improve the forming limit. Finally, the deep drawing experiment is carried out. With the same blank holder force of 5.9 kN, the drawn box under the action of the new blank holder method has better forming quality, which verifies that the radial segmented blank holder technique is feasible for sheet metal forming.