Abstract
To improve the processing and practical performance during the manufacture of complex thin-walled parts, the mechanical properties and microstructure revolution of complex thin-walled parts of 6061 aluminum alloy prepared by ellipse bidirectional vibration incremental forming were investigated. The traditional incremental forming, vertical unidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming, and ellipse bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming methods were compared. To verify the enhancement effect on forming quality and mechanical properties of complex thin-walled parts of aluminum alloy, the microhardness and residual stress of as-prepared parts were analyzed, and their morphologies were observed. The microhardness test results show that the ellipse ultrasonic incremental forming process can soften the material and improve its plasticity and toughness, thereby promoting the formability of thin-walled parts of aluminum alloy. A great number of dimples appearing on the fracture surface further confirms this conclusion. The microstructure characteristic on the surface of as-prepared parts shows that the ellipse bidirectional vibration incremental forming method can significantly improve the surface quality. In addition, the ellipse bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming method can form a residual compressive stress layer on the surface of 6061 aluminum alloy, which improves the fatigue resistance performance of complex thin-walled parts.
As a commonly used engineering material in 6XXX series aluminum alloys, 6061 aluminum alloy is widely applied in aircraft, ship, automobile, and furniture due to its lightweight, high strength, good elasticity, easy processing ability, and good corrosion resistanc
Traditional stamping method can be applied to process the sheet metal part
Wang et a
With the wide application of ultrasonic assistance technique, the ultrasonic incremental forming has been extensively researched. Khan et a
Therefore, this research proposed a bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming technique. The microhardness, surface morphology, fracture morphology, and residual stress were analyzed to investigate the mechanical properties and microstructure revolution of the thin-walled plates of 6061 aluminum alloy after the traditional single-point incremental forming (SPIF), vertical one-way ultrasonic vibration incremental forming, and bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming. This research provides design guidance for the complex thin-walled plates of high-strength alloys.
The ultrasonic vibration plastic forming of metal materials is related to the application of controllable ultrasonic vibration with specific direction, frequency, and amplitude on the processing equipment (tool, die) in the classic plastic processing system. Thus, the ultrasonic energy assists the plastic forming process of metal materials. The ultrasonic vibration device is generally composed of ultrasonic generator, transducer, vibration bar, tool head, and workpiece, as shown in

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of ultrasonic vibration device
According to different vibration modes, the ultrasonic incremental forming of metal materials has two types: the vertical unidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming (VUUVIF) and the ellipse bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming (EBUVIF). Currently, the researches on ultrasonic incremental forming mainly focus on VUUVIF, which can reduce the forming force and improve the forming performance. As shown in

Fig.2 Schematic diagrams of VUUVIF process (a) and EBUVIF process (b)
A bidirectional composite ultrasonic vibration system was designed and manufactured to conduct the ultrasonic vibration incremental forming process, which consisted of X-axis and Z-axis ultrasonic vibration devices fixed on the vibration system foundation. Each ultrasonic vibration device included an ultrasonic generator, a transducer, a frequency filter, a phase shifter, a vibration bar, and other components. The perpendicular pair of vibration bars were connected to the vibration platform, where the process mould and fixture were installed.

Fig.3 Appearance of ellipse bidirectional ultrasonic vibration system
The chemical composition and mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy are shown in
Si | Fe | Cu | Mn | Mg | Cr | Zn | Ti | Al |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.40–0.80 | ≤0.70 | 0.15–0.40 | 0.15 | 0.8–1.2 | 0.04–0.35 | 0.25 | 0.15 | Bal. |
Thickness/ mm | Tensile strength/MPa | Yield strength/MPa | Elongation/ % |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ≥180 | ≥110 | ≥14 |

Fig.4 Appearance of specimen and auxiliary tool
To investigate the effect of bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming on the mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of thin-walled parts of 6061 aluminum alloy, the microhardness, surface morphologies, and residual stress of conical parts of 6061 aluminum alloy after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes were analyzed.
The microhardness tests were conducted by HMAS automatic microhardness testing system. The loading force was 2.94 N and the pressing time was 20 s. The Vickers microhardness (HV) was measured. Five indentations were applied on the specimen surface, and the average value of five measurements was used for analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM, TESCAN MIRA LMS, Czech Republic) with backscattered electron (BSE) mode was used to observe the surface morphology and fracture morphology of the specimens.
The nondestructive residual stress measurement is related to the measurement of acoustic, optical, magnetic, or electrical characteristics of materials, and then indirectly reflects the microhardness. To obtain the residual stress distribution on the surface of 6061 aluminum alloy specimens after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF, the residual stress tests were conducted by X-ray diffractometer (XRD, RIGAKU company, Japan). The tube current was 1.5 mA, the tube voltage was 30 kV, the X-ray incidence angle was 35°, the alpha angle offset was 0°, K-alpha X-ray wavelength was 0.2291 pm (Cr), K-beta X-ray wavelength was 0.2085 pm (Cr), diffraction crystal plane was (2, 2, 2) with face-centered cubic structure, Young's modulus was 72.470 GPa, and Poisson's ratio was 0.341.
After SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes, the original sheet and the machined conical plates were cut into specimens for the microhardness tests, and the results are shown in

Fig.5 Microhardness results of 6061 aluminum alloy raw material and 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes
The surface morphologies of the 6061 aluminum alloy raw material and 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes were observed by SEM, as shown in Fig.

Fig.6 SEM surface morphologies of 6061 aluminum alloy raw material (a) and 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF (b), VUUVIF (c), and EBUVIF (d) processes
The fractures morphologies of 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes are shown in

Fig.7 SEM fracture morphologies of 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF process (a–c), VUUVIF process (d–f), and EBUVIF process (g–i)
EBUVIF process impacts the specimen surface at a certain inclined angle. In addition, its unique design of double-vibration enhances the ultrasonic effect, which significantly softens the metal materials and improves the plasticity. Fig.7g shows the fracture morphology of the 6061 aluminum alloy after EBUVIF process. A few big dimples and a large number of tiny dimples are distributed on the fracture surface. This is because the work hardening, heat softening, ultrasonic softening, stress superposition, and ultrasonic hardening effects simultaneously exert influence on the aluminum alloy sheet during EBUVIF process. On the one hand, the softening effect promotes the generation of dimples. On the other hand, the hardening action suppresses the growth of dimples. Moreover, the softening effect is dominant. With continuously increasing the plastic deformation during EBUVIF process, nucleation and growth of dimples can be observed near the secondary phase particles. Before the metal material reaches its plastic deformation limit, the substrate material around the dimples undergoes large plastic deformation. Therefore, EBUVIF process leads to the ductile fracture.
To investigate the residual stress distribution of 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes, the residual stress tests were conducted by XRD residual stress testing system. According to the principle of equal angle in the circumferential direction and equal distance in the depth direction, five representative testing points were selected on the inner wall of the conical parts, as shown in

Fig.8 Appearance of specimen and test point positions for residual stress tests
The residual stress test results of 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes are shown in

Fig.9 Residual stress curves of point 1 (a), point 2 (b), point 3 (c), point 4 (d), and point 5 (e) of 6061 aluminum alloys after SPIF process

Fig.10 Residual stress curves of point 1 (a), point 2 (b), point 3 (c), point 4 (d), and point 5 (e) of 6061 aluminum alloys after VUUVIF process

Fig.11 Residual stress curves of point 1 (a), point 2 (b), point 3 (c), point 4 (d), and point 5 (e) of 6061 aluminum alloys after EBUVIF process
As a result, the residual compressive stress layer is generated on the surface of 6061 aluminum alloy parts after SPIF, VUUVIF, and EBUVIF processes. The residual compressive stress is beneficial to improve the fatigue resistance of metal parts. But these manufacture methods produce different distributions of residual compressive stress on the conical parts. Therefore, the optimization of machining dwell time, the forming tool size, and the vibration mode should be further investigated to improve the distribution of residual compressive stress on the machined product and to ameliorate the fatigue resistance.
1) The vertical unidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming (VUUVIF) process can achieve the maximum microhardness of conical part of 6061 aluminum alloy. The microhardness of the conical parts after the single-point incremental forming (SPIF) and ellipse bidirectional ultrasonic vibration incremental forming (EBUVIF) is similar to that of the raw material of 6061 aluminum alloy. Moreover, the scratches on surface of the conical part after EBUVIF process are even ameliorated, compared with those of raw materials. The hardening effects including the work-hardening and ultrasonic strengthening are in the dominant position during VUUVIF process. EBUVIF method intensifies the heat softening, ultrasonic softening, and stress superposition effects, which hinders the influence of hardening effects. It is deduced that low strength and weak rigidity of 6061 aluminum alloy sheet are related to this phenomenon. In addition, EBUVIF process can improve the plastic flow deformation of 6061 aluminum alloy for better manufacture of complex thin-walled plates.
2) The surface quality of the conical part after SPIF process barely changes, compared with that of raw material. The ultrasonic vibration can dramatically improve the surface quality of plastically deformed part. Only a few slight scratches can be observed on the part surface after VUUVIF process. EBUVIF process can further improve the surface quality of the conical part. Barely no defects appear on the conical part after EBUVIF process.
3) The conical part after SPIF process has a lot of dimples with different sizes, indicating the great plastic deformation of 6061 aluminum alloy at room temperature. A few big dimples appear on the fracture surface of the conical part after VUUVIF process, which further verifies that the vertical unidirectional ultrasonic vibration can enhance the hardening effects of metal materials and hinder the plastic deformation. EBUVIF process exerts the work hardening, heat softening, ultrasonic softening, stress superposition, and ultrasonic hardening effects on 6061 aluminum alloy, and the softening effect is in the dominant position. Except a few big dimples, a great number of tiny dimples appear on the fracture surface of 6061 aluminum alloy after EBUVIF process.
4) The residual compressive stress is beneficial to improve the fatigue resistance of metal parts. Vertical bidirectional ultrasonic vibration impacts the bottom of the conical part in an upright angle. Therefore, the maximum microhardness and maximum compressive residual stress are obtained at the part bottom. The forming tool with vertical vibration mode impacts the side wall of the conical part in an inclined angle, which decreases the impact energy and the hardening effects on the side wall. The ellipse vibrated forming tool impacts the side wall and the bottom of the conical part in an appropriate angle. The distributions of residual compressive stress between the side wall and the bottom are different.
5) The optimization of machining dwell time, forming tool size, and vibration mode should be further investigated to improve the distribution of residual compressive stress of the manufactured parts. EBUVIF process has great advantages to improve the plastic deformation capacity and fatigue resistance performance, presenting great potential in the manufacture of complex thin-walled parts of aluminum alloys.
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