Process parameters impact on the forming quality of conical rotary parts during power spinning

The conical rotary part with variable wall thickness is a typical aircraft engine sheet metal casing, which requires high forming quality. In this paper, the hot power spinning process of conical rotary part with continuously variable wall thickness of superalloy GH4169 was simulated by DEFORM-3D FE (finite element) software. The equivalent stress, equivalent strain and temperature distribution characteristics were analysed to explore the forming mechanism. The single factor variable method was used to explore the influence of three process parameters, namely, the mandrel speed, the roller feed ratio and the spinning temperature, on the forming quality. The wall thickness deviation and the roundness error of the cone outer surface were taken as the evaluation indexes. Excessive thinning rate will produce large equivalent strain, which may lead to work piece fracture. Therefore, appropriate roller feed ratio should be selected to reduce the generation of defects. The results provide a theoretical basis for improving the service life of aero-engine sheet metal casing.