Technological parameters optimization and numerical simulation of hot pushing pipe bending process

Elbow pipes are widely used in many industries such as petroleum, chemical, and metallurgy. Of various elbow pipe forming technology, hot pushing pipe bending process is an efficient and economical one for processing elbow pipes. This paper introduced the technological process and plastic deformation mechanism of hot pushing pipe bending. Four deformation assumptions were proposed to describe the main deformation characteristics in the bending process. The proportional relationship between the bending deformation and the diameter expansion deformation was derived and the horn mandrel was designed. The forming process of the elbow was simulated and the metal flow in the forming process of the elbow was obtained. The results showed that controlling the axial compression and circumferential expansion in proportion is the key to getting constant wall thickness. By using the horn mandrel with variable curvature axis, it benefits the metal flowing uniformity from the concave side to the convexity, avoiding the increase of the inner wall thickness and the decrease of the outer wall thickness during pipe bending. Taking the minimum change rate and good uniformity of the concave side wall thickness as goals, the optimal process parameters were obtained, that is, the heating temperature is 750° Celsius, the pushing speed is 3 mm/s, the friction factor is 0.15, the bending angle is 45° and initial bending radius is 2.0 mm. It will play a positive role in revealing the pipe forming mechanism and have a guiding effect on production practice.