A Study on the Perforating Process of the Muffer Tube using FEM

Recently there has been a growing interest in the design and manufacturing of the muffler tube due to the strict environment regulations, A muffler is an important part used to reduce noise and to purify exhaust gas in cars and heavy equipment. The shape of the muffler tube and the number of the tube hole has been made variously according to the weight and function of the car. The perforating technique of the muffler tube has a great influence on the manufacturing cost. In this study, metal forming analysis has been carried out to investigate the perforating process for the muffler tube and predict an optimal forming conditions of the muffler tube, Also its simulation results by the finite element method were reflected to the die design and the manufacturing system for the muffler tube. The perforating process is performed in the longitudinal direction of the tube. According to the simulation results, when the shear angle of punch was similar to the tube curvature, the optimal shape was obtained. Also when the clearance of die was 0.2mm, the burr was minimized and optimal shear section was obtained.