Single-Stroke Attachment of Sheets to Tube Ends Made from Dissimilar Materials

This paper presents a new joining method by a forming process for attaching sheets to tube ends. The process consists of two different forming stages carried out sequentially in a single stroke. Firstly, the free tube end is flared by compression with a contoured die, then is squeezed (indented) against the sheet surface to create a mechanical interlocking. The new process is carried out at an ambient temperature and, in contrast to existing joining by forming operations based on tube expansion, it avoids seal welds, tube protrusions above the sheet surfaces, and machining of grooves on the sheet holes to obtain the form-fit joints. The paper starts by analyzing the process deformation mechanics and its main operating variables and finishes by presenting examples that demonstrate its effectiveness for attaching sheets to tube ends made from polyvinylchloride and aluminum. Experimental and numerical simulation work provides support to the presentation.

[1]  Krishnan P. Singh,et al.  Tube-to-Tubesheet Joints , 1984 .

[2]  R. Ganesh Narayanan,et al.  Joining of a tube to a sheet through end curling , 2017 .

[3]  Abdulaziz S. Alaboodi.  Finite element study of the hybrid expansion of tube-to-tubesheet joints , 2019, Thin-Walled Structures.

[4]  R. M. Afonso,et al.  Joining sheets to tubes by annular sheet squeezing , 2019, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture.

[5]  R. M. Afonso,et al.  Deformation-Assisted Joining of Sheets to Tubes by Annular Sheet Squeezing , 2019, Materials.

[6]  G. Samołyk,et al.  Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of a New Process for Forming Flanges on Hollow Parts , 2020, Materials.

[7]  R. M. Afonso,et al.  A new deformation assisted tube-to-tubesheet joining process , 2021, Thin-Walled Structures.

[8]  Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials 1 , 2022 .

[9]  R. S. Raghava,et al.  A macroscopic yield criterion for crystalline polymers , 1973 .

[10]  M. Jeong,et al.  Study on Effect of Shapes of Serration of Joining Plane on Joining Characteristics for the Aluminum–Steel Multi-Materials Press Joining Process , 2020, Materials.

[11]  Weimin Guo,et al.  Failure analysis of tube-to-tubesheet welded joints in a shell-tube heat exchanger , 2016 .

[12]  Z. F. Sang,et al.  Reliability Factors and Tightness of Tube-to-Tubesheet Joints , 1996 .

[13]  R. M. Afonso,et al.  Deformation-assisted joining of tubes to sheets made from dissimilar materials , 2020 .

[14]  R. M. Afonso,et al.  Joining by forming of polymer-metal sheet-tube connections , 2020 .

[15]  Blair E. Carlson,et al.  Joining of dissimilar materials , 2015 .

[16]  A. Tekkaya,et al.  Electromagnetic forming—A review , 2011 .

[17]  Marion Merklein,et al.  A method for the layer compression test considering the anisotropic material behavior , 2009 .

[18]  C. V. Nielsen,et al.  Coupled Finite Element Flow Formulation , 2013 .

[19]  R. S. Raghava,et al.  Pressure dependent yield criteria for polymers , 1974 .