Numerical Analysis of the Process of Drawing Thin-Walled CuSn8 Alloy Tubes on a Cylindrical Plug

The paper presents the results of FEM computer simulations of the drawing process on a cylindrical journal of thin-walled CuSn8 alloy tubes. This study demonstrates through FEM simulations that the drawing angle significantly affects the state of stress, strain and tool wear. Regardless of the geometry of the drawing die, greater wear was noted for the cylindrical plug. Increasing the angle of drawing die 2α from 6° to 38° contributed to a slight 5% increase in wear of the drawing dies and more than 80% increase in plug wear. Accelerated tool wear at high angles is to be associated with higher pipe pressures on the drawing die and plug. Inadequate selection of drawing geometry can cause additional material deformation effort and material fracture in the industrial drawing process of thin-walled tubes. After the drawing process, these tubes may also show non-uniform wall thickness. The optimum drawing angle for thin-walled tubes is 2α = 22°, for which about a 10% decrease in the drawing force was recorded.