Integral Hot Gas Pressure Forming of an AA2219 Aluminum Alloy Ellipsoidal Shell

To overcome the poor plastic deformation performance of AA2219 aluminum alloy sheet and its weld seam at room temperature, an integral hot gas pressure forming (IHGPF) process for a combined welded ellipsoidal shell was proposed. A simulation of the IHGPF process was conducted to analyze the axis length variation and thickness distribution during the forming process of the combined welded ellipsoidal shell at elevated temperature. The results demonstrated that lengths of the short and long axes were 150 mm and 220 mm, respectively, and that maximum wall thinning occurred at the pole. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted using IHGPF, and the forming accuracy was measured by three-dimensional video technology. A sound ellipsoidal shell with final axis length ratio of 1.5 was obtained with a shell diameter accuracy of more than 99.3%. It was experimentally proven that an aluminum alloy ellipsoidal shell can be formed using the proposed IHGPF technology.