Chapter 15: Tube Flaring

15 Tube Flaring


Summary 240

Introduction 241
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Requested Solutions 241
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FEM Solutions 241

Input File(s) 245
240 MD Demonstration Problems
CHAPTER 15

Summary
Title Chapter 15: Tube Flaring
Features Deformable-deformable contact
Large elastic-plastic deformation
Geometry Axisymmetric
x=r
• Tube diameter = 8 inches
• Tube thickness = 0.3 inches y CL
• Tube length = 8 inches
• Tool apex angle = 30°
• Tool wall thickness = 0.6 inches x=r
• Tool length = sufficient to mode
the process y CL

Material properties Tube: Young’s modulus = 3.0e7 psi, initial yield stress = 3.6e4 psi, yield
stress at 0.1 equivalent plastic strain = 1.8e5 psi, Poisson’s ratio = 0.3
Tool: Young’s modulus = 4.0e7 psi, Poisson’s ratio = 0.3, no yielding
Analysis type Quasi-static analysis
Boundary conditions The left end of the tube is prevented from moving in the axial direction but
is free to move in the radial direction.
Applied loads An edge load is applied to the right end of the tool (the end with a larger
diameter) to push the tool into the steel tube, then released
Element type 4-node axisymmetric elements
Contact properties Friction between the tool and the tube is ignored in the analysis
FE results 1. Plot of tube tip versus time.
2. Contours of von Mises stress at maximum load on deformed mesh
3. Contours of plastic strain on deformed mesh after load removal

0.5 Radial Displacement Point A (in)

0.4

0.3 A

0.2
x=r

0.1 y CL

Time (s)
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
 CHAPTER 15 241
Tube Flaring

Introduction
A cone-shaped flaring tool is pushed into a cylindrical tube to permanently increase the diameter of the tube end. The
goal of the analysis is to determine whether the final shape of the tube, after the entire process, meets the objective.
The nonlinear nature of the problem, along with the irreversible characteristics, makes it impossible to know in
advance the load required to drive the tool into the tube. As a result, multiple runs through the analysis cycle may be
necessary to achieve the final objective of the analysis.
This problem demonstrates the use of MD Nastran SOL 400 to analyze a contact problem involving deformable-
deformable contact and large elastic-plastic deformations.

Requested Solutions
The requested solutions include the curve of the tube diameter at the right end as a function of loads and the deformed
shape of the tube and the tool along with the distributions of von Mises stresses and plastic strains.

FEM Solutions
A numerical solution has been obtained with MD Nastran’s SOL 400 for the element mesh (shown in Figure 15-1)
using axisymmetric elements.

x=r

Figure 15-1 Finite Element Mesh

There are two contact bodies. One is the tube and one is the tool. The two contact bodies with ID 3 and 4 are identified
as selected elements of the tube and the tools respectively as:
BCBODY 3 2D DEFORM 3 0
BSURF 3 109 110 111 112 113 114
115 116 117 118 119 120
...

and
BCBODY 4 2D DEFORM 4 0
BSURF 4 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
...
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CHAPTER 15

Furthermore, the BCTABLE entries shown below identify that these bodies can touch each other.
BCTABLE 0 2
SLAVE 3 0.05 100. 0. 0. 0 0.
0 0 0
fbsh 0.8
MASTERS 3
SLAVE 4 0.05 100. 0. 0. 0 0.
0 0 0
fbsh 0.8
MASTERS 3
BCTABLE 1 2
SLAVE 3 0.05 100. 0. 0. 0 0.
0 0 0
fbsh 0.8
MASTERS 3
SLAVE 4 0.05 100. 0. 0. 0 0.
0 0 0
fbsh 0.8
MASTERS 3

Axisymmetric elements are defined with CQUADX along with PLPLANE and PSHLN2 entries:
PLPLANE 1 1
PSHLN2 1 1 1 +
+ C3 AXSOLID L +
+ C4 AXSOLID L +
+ C5 IPS L +
+ C6 AXSOLID Q +
+ C8 AXSOLID Q
$ Pset: "pshell.1" will be imported as: "plplane.1"
CQUADX 109 1 10 144 145 1
CQUADX 110 1 144 146 147 145
…

The Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratios for the tube and the tool are defined as:
MAT1* 1 3.+7 1.15385+7 .3
* 1.
MAT1* 2 4.+7 1.53846+7 .3
* 1.

The yield stresses along with the hardening are defined respectively as:
MATEP 1 Table 36000. 1 Isotrop Addmean
TABLES1,1,2,,,,,,,+,
+,0.,36000.,0.1,180000.,ENDT,

The NLPARM entry is used to define the nonlinear analysis iteration strategy. There are two load steps: loading and
unloading. One hundred (100) uniform time increments are used to solve each load steps. The stiffness matrix will be
updated at each iteration (full Newton-Raphson iteration strategy).
NLPARM 1 100 PFNT 1 25 U YES

NLPARM 2 100 PFNT 1 25 U YES

 CHAPTER 15 243
Tube Flaring

The tube diameter at the right end of the tube gradually increases during the analysis as the load increases and reaches
the maximum of 0.4316 inches. The final tube radial displacement after unloading is settled at 0.4093 inches. See
Figure 15-2 for the curve of tube diameter as a function of time (load). The entire analysis procedure can be repeated
with various load levels to achieve the desired final tube diameter. The curve is not smooth at the loading path because
of the discrete finite elements. It can be improved by refining the finite element meshes.

0.5 Radial Displacement Point A (in)

0.4

0.3 A

0.2
x=r

0.1 y CL

Time (s)
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Figure 15-2 Curve of Tube Diameter as a Function of Time

The deformed mesh and the distribution of von Mises stress at the time the applied load reaches maximum are shown
in Figure 15-3. It can be observed that the stresses are concentrated in two areas: the tip of deflection where the tube
made contact with the tool and in the area where the tube is deformed.
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CHAPTER 15

x=r

Figure 15-3 Deformed Mesh and Distribution of von Mises Stress at Maximum Load

The deformed shape of the tube and the tool along with the distribution of plastic strains at the end of the analysis are
shown in Figure 15-4.

x=r

Figure 15-4 Deformed Mesh and Distribution of Equivalent Plastic Strains at the End of Analysis
 CHAPTER 15 245
Tube Flaring

Input File(s)
File Description
nug_15.dat Tube flaring input file.