Paper Title
Experimentally and Numerically Verified Analytical Model for Prediction of Process Force in Novel Method for Pipe-to-Flange Joining

Abstract
The process force during the joining of a pipe and flange by cold forming using a specially designed hydraulic tool is investigated. Assuming a perfectly plastic material behavior, an analytical model is developed based on general plasticity. The method is restricted to basic and easily obtainable material and geometrical data. Results obtained from an experimentally verified numerical axisymmetric FE simulation of the connection process is utilized for comparison. For a perfectly plastic model, the results given by the analytical model are in excellent accordance with simulated results with respect to maximum actuation force. When introducing strain hardening without access to true stress-strain data the accordance remains good, however, less accurate. Overall, it is concluded that the developed analytical model is a highly useful tool to estimate the maximum actuation force required to connect the pipe to the flange. Index Terms - Flange, Cold forming, FE simulation