Study on V-Bending of Aluminium Foam Sandwich Panels
The forming of the completed aluminium foam sandwich (AFS) panels would determine an improvement in the manufacturing of parts and panels. In this paper the authors have investigated the formability of AFS through experiments. the load versus punch stroke curve and deformation procedures of Aluminium foam sandwiche panels was investigated by performing V-bending experiments. A serious problem encountered in the V-bending was bending-induced large transverse shear deformation of the skin-core layer. It causes the delamination of the AFS. It was found from experimental observations that the large shear defomation progresses rapidly only at the final stage of V-bending. Consequently, the air-bending operation for Aluminium foam sandwiche panels is recommended for suppressing the shear deformation of skin-core layer to within an acceptable limit.