Experimental Study on Process Design of Rubber Pad Bending

고무 패드 벤딩 공정설계에 관한 실험적 연구

In this study, a research for process design in bending of structural frame of AA6061-T6 with rubber pad was conducted. In this process, the conventional lower die made of metal is replaced with a polyurethane pad, resulting in high flexibility during bending. Vulcanized polyurethane rubber with shore A hardness of 60 was used for the pad. Experiments on a newly developed bending machine were carried out by controlling the stroke of the roller and horizontal movement of roller pad lower die. From this, the relation between roller path and geometry of the materials bent was obtained for the process design of producing roof rail part of a passenger car and the experimental result was compared with the target profile. For more accurate process design, it is required to control the roller path interactively. Based on the experience in developing the prototype bending machine, it is construed that a fully automated bending system with rubber pad to produce various light-weight components for automotive body frames can be successfully developed.