Numerical investigation of the effect of material properties on forming metal bellows

Forming process of the metal bellows is very sensitive to the fluctuation of material parameters. In this state, revealing the influence of material parameters on deformation behaviors is important for desirable dimension and mechanical performance. In this paper, the effects of the material parameters of 316L stainless steel on the bellow hydroforming process are studied by finite element analysis and Taguchi method. The most important factor influencing the final shape of convolution of the metal bellows is found out. Two multi-linear regressions between the quality responses and the material parameters are extracted and evaluated by simulated and experimental results. Based on the regression equations, response surfaces of the quality characteristic and the reasonable factor region for required forming quality are obtained. Further, the relationship between the internal pressure and the material parameters is built to guarantee the shape of the bellows. The method is applied in the scenario when the material is changed to AISI 304 steel, and a satisfying prediction profile is achieved.