Numerical simulation of the electromagnetic hot forming process of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy

To solve the problem that 7075 aluminum alloy tends to fracture during conventional forming processes, a novel forming method (electromagnetic hot forming) is introduced and investigated in this paper. The optimum mesh number (in the thickness direction) is obtained for loose-coupling method and sequential-coupling method. Then, both the loose-coupling method and the sequential-coupling method are compared with the hot forming process, and the dynamic sheet-deformation process is analyzed. With increasing temperature, the sheet forming height decreases before it increases. The simulation results, which are calculated using the sequential-coupling method, are consistent with the experimental results for four different temperatures. However, regardless of the forming temperature, either the sheet profile or the maximum forming height of the loose-coupling method differs significantly from the experimental results.