Tolerance transfer in sheet metal forming

A literature review of sheet metal forming errors as well as geometrical dimensions and tolerances (GD&T) shows that the theoretical means for the allocation of process tolerances with respect to GD&T are insufficient. In order to judge the influence of geometrical process errors (e.g., angular errors of bends), two typical sheet metal designs with parallelism and a position tolerance are studied. These case studies comprise a detailed analysis of tolerance chains including angular errors of bends and their positions. The resulting errors are compared with those resulting from length dimensional process errors and conclusions are drawn.     

Thinning as a failure criterion during sheet metal forming

Thinning during forming is often considered a failure criterion in the metal forming industry. It is believed that a critical amount of thinning takes place in a sheet metal before failure. In this study, varying widths of low-carbon steel sheets were punch stretched under laboratory conditions. Thinning during punch stretching was measured at various locations along the steel sheets. These measurements demonstrated that thinning during forming is not constant, but that it is a function of the strain path followed by the sheet. Hence, thinning should not be used as a failure criterion during forming of sheet metals.     

Improving geometrical accuracy for flanging by incremental sheet metal forming

Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) is a manufacturing technology for individualized and small batch production. Among the opportunities this technology provides there is the possibility of a short ramp-up time and to cover the whole production chain of sheet metal parts by using a single reconfigurable machine set-up. Since recent developments proved that manufacturing of industrial parts is feasible, finishing operations such as flanging and trimming gain importance, which are an integral part of manufacturing process chains of many sheet metal parts. This paper analyses the technological capabilities of performing flanging operations by ISF. Due to the localized forming zone and the absence of surrounding clamping devices, ISF exhibits a different material flow than conventional flanging processes. In this paper, the influence of the tool path characteristics, the flange length as well as the flange radius is analysed in order to establish a process window and to compare it to the process limits of conventional flanging operations. Since geometrical deviations occur when flanging operations are performed by ISF, a new adaptive blank holder is developed, which acts in the vicinity of the forming tool and reduces unwanted deformation outside the primary forming zone. The experimental results show the benefits of the adaptive blank holder with respect to geometric accuracy. The established process window and the adaptive blank holder hence contribute to the applicability of incremental flanging operations, such that ISF can be used for all forming and flanging operations along the process chain.     

Development of a new failure prediction criterion in sheet metal forming

In industrial try-out processes in sheet metal forming usually the forming limit curve is used as failure criterion in order to describe the onset of localized necking. Forming limits, however, are strain-path dependent. Up to today many different approaches how the strain-path dependent behavior of the forming limit curve can be avoided have been published. Best known are the approaches based on forming limit stress curves published by Arrieux, and the approach of Müschenborn published in 1975. An overview over existing failure criteria is given in this contribution. The failure criterion forming limit stress curve as well as several failure criteria based on Müschenborn’s approach will be evaluated with newly recorded experimental data on forming limit curves for non-proportional loading. A new approach, that is in contrast to the two mentioned approaches not based on assumptions but on experimental observations, is presented herein. The suggested approach is presented as failure surface where strains above the surface indicate the onset of localized necking. The failure surface is given as function of the loading mode and the level of effective pre-stretching. Different suggestions how to use and simplify the new approach are given in this paper. The prediction accuracy of the addressed approaches as well as of the newly suggested approach is evaluated by transforming the data of the approaches back into the conventional forming limit curve for several non-linear strain paths. The comparison of the described approaches shows that forming limits for non-proportional loading can be well-predicted with the suggested approach.     

Modeling of localization and fracture phenomena in strain and stress space for sheet metal forming

In this study, a model based on a strain localization level to overcome the shortcomings of the well-established Forming Limit Diagram (FLD) in predicting the physical phenomenon of necking is introduced. An optical measurement system was used to capture the strain history of the Nakazima experiment until rupture occurred. In order to measure the fracture strain more accurately, a further method is introduced, which is based on the microscopic measurements of ruptured regions. This model is validated using a 3-point bending test. The results show the ability of the method to predict failure under bending conditions as well. Additionally, failure is investigated based on the pressure sensitivity and the Lode dependency. The results show that the triaxiality at the failure point is independent of the loading path.     

Today's sheet metal materials and their forming properties

The production and processing of sheet metals of high‐strength steels, titanium, aluminum or magnesium alloys is investigated intensively at universities and in the industry. The main emphasis is put for example on the aluminum space frame concept as well as on the succeeding projects of the ULSAB‐study in the field of the steel sheet metals. Within this article the qualification of the above mentioned materials for the application as deep‐drawing materials will be discussed. The aim of the development for new deep‐drawing sheet metals is to decrease the elastic part of the forming, which means to lower the yield point. A high elastic portion would cause a high resilience after the forming of the sheet metals and therefore an increased requirement of force and form error during the forming process. Furthermore the optimized sheet metal material should have a great uniform elongation, so that it can be plastically deformed in a wide range. The beginning of the deformation should be possible at low forming forces but due to the deformation an increase of the hardening should be caused, so that the finished component has high strength. But it is not possible to realize both aims, high strength and great uniform elongation, at the same time.     

汽车板精益成形技术

建立了面向零件成形特征的合理选材方法,发明了高效的拉延筋阻力混合优化设计方法,构建了变压边力控制实验平台。从降低成形质量对材料和工艺过程波动敏感性的角度出发,研究面向材料和工艺参数随机波动的成形质量的稳健控制。形成了基于“合理选材、工艺优化、稳健设计”思想的汽车板精益成形技术体系。通过在宝钢股份和多家汽车厂10多年的成功应用,支持宝钢汽车板的市场占有率稳步达到50％,有效地推动了国产汽车板使用技术的发展。     

Fast simulation of incremental sheet metal forming by adaptive remeshing and subcycling

In order to use incremental sheet forming (ISF) in an industrial context, it is necessary to provide fast and accurate simulation methods for virtual process design. Without reliable process simulations, first-time right production seams infeasible and the process loses its advantage of offering a short lead time. Previous work indicates that implicit finite element (FE) methods are at present not efficient enough to allow for the simulation of AISF for industrially relevant parts, mostly due to the fact that the moving contact requires a very small time step. Finite element methods based on explicit time integration can be sped up using mass or time scaling to enable the simulation of large-scale sheet metal forming problems. However, AISF still requires dedicated adaptive meshing methods to further reduce the calculation times. In this paper, an adaptive remeshing strategy based on a multi-mesh method is developed and applied to the simulation of AISF. It is combined with subcycling to further reduce the calculation times. For the forming of a cone shape, it is shown that savings in CPU time of up to 80 % are possible with acceptable loss of accuracy, and that the simulation time scales more moderately when the part size is increased, so that larger, industrially relevant parts become feasible.     

薄板类件多点成形过程的数值模拟

以希尔关于弹塑性材料唯一性的充分性条件为理论基础,采用虚功率增率型原理,建立了多点成形的有限元模型,探讨了板材厚度、材质及弹性介质等因素对成形结果的影响,通过数值模拟找出参数合适的弹性介质,并对薄板类件的多点成形过程进行了实验验证.研究表明,通过使用参数合适的弹性介质,可以有效抑制压痕现象的产生,并能保证工件的成形精度;实验验证表明对马鞍形件多点成形过程中压痕现象的模拟是合理的.     

The effects of forming history on sheet metal assembly

In this study a simulation-based sensitivity study is performed in order to investigate the influence of the forming history on the properties of an assembly. In the study the assembly properties are predicted by sequentially simulating the manufacturing process chain of a sheet metal assembly. Several simulations of the assembly stage are performed in which different combinations of forming histories are transferred from the forming stage. It is found that the forming history affects the properties of the assembly and that the residual stress state is the most influential history variable. This demonstrates the importance of utilising the complete final mechanical state of each manufacturing step as the initial condition for the subsequent step in the manufacturing process chain in order to achieve accurate predictions of the assembly properties. Furthermore, if more reliable predictions can be made concerning the manufacturability of a product and its in-service behaviour, more design alternatives can be evaluated during product development while a considerably smaller number of physical prototypes are needed.     

板材数字化成形加工路径规划研究

在板材数字化成形过程中零件的直壁部分常因为金属变形量过大而极易发生破裂,故在加工前需要进行适当的路径规划以控制成形中直壁部分金属过度变形,使板材整体壁厚变化缓慢而均匀,优化其成形过程,最终完成薄板材的直壁部分成形.研究了具体的路径规划方法及其加工轨迹自动生成,主要从工艺角度对直壁部分成形作了有益的探索.     

微薄板塑性成形本构关系研究

尺寸效应的影响使得传统的成形理论和变形机制不再适用于微塑性成形.在考虑尺寸效应对微薄板成形性能影响的基础上,对已有的CuZn36黄铜薄板微拉伸实验结果进行处理,提出了一种研究微塑性成形本构关系的方法.根据弹性和塑性变形过程,分阶段分析了t/d(板厚/晶粒大小)对屈服强度和切线模量的影响,修正了双线性弹塑性本构关系,获得了考虑尺寸效应的微塑性成形本构关系.借鉴宏观增量本构关系,结合微拉伸实验,采用Mises屈服准则和随动强化模型,得出适合微塑性成形的弹塑性增量本构方程,为微塑性成形的理论研究和实际应用奠定了基础.     

POD surrogates for real-time multi-parametric sheet metal forming problems

Our approach aims at coupling the ever increasing off-line computing power of mainframe computers with the interactive on-line possibilities of ubiquitous low computing power devices at the early design stages in order to provide insight into the design problems and to search for candidate optimal design points. In the off-line phase, the method under investigation relies on combining an optimized space-filling sampling plan on the design parameter space with extensive finite elements (FE) simulations yielding a learning set of displacement fields. The objective of this paper is the on-line phase. We provide a rigorous mathematical presentation of a family of non-intrusive, bi-level surrogates. We focus on displacement field approximation by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) combined with kriging interpolation of coefficients. The method is illustrated with two simple, easily reproduced numerical examples of quality assessment of deep-drawing process of a cylindrical cup by on-the-fly plotting forming limit diagrams (FLDs) and related quantities enabling thus to spot improved design points.     

Analysis of superplastic metal forming by a finite element method

A finite element velocity method for analysing the superplastic sheet metal forming process is presented. This method is developed from the principle of virtual work and is based on the use of isoparametric continuum elements. The large inelastic deformation of the superplastic material is modelled as the behaviour of an incompressible non-linear viscous flow material. The contact and friction problem is solved by using the compatibility load step method, which is an extension of an earlier work. The finite element method is applied to selected problems to illustrate the applicability of the solution procedure.     

Finite deformation formulation of a shell element for problems of sheet metal forming

An elastic-plastic thin shell finite element suitable for problems of finite deformation in sheet metal forming is formulated. Hill's yield criterion for sheet materials of normal anisotropy is applied. A nonlinear shell theory in a form of an incremental variational principle and a quasi-conforming element technique are employed in the Lagrangian formulation. The shell element fulfills the inter-element C ¹ continuity condition in a variational sense and has a sufficient rank to allow finite stretching, rotation and bending of the shell element. The accuracy and efficiency of the finite element formulation are illustrated by numerical examples.     

Springback prediction in sheet metal forming of high strength steels

Both increased weight reduction and improved passive safety have been simultaneously required for components of new vehicle generation. Thus, advanced high strength Dual Phase (DP) steels have been progressively used when making automotive parts. During each sheet metal forming process the high strength steels exhibit distinct springback effect, which is governed by strain recovery of material after load removal. The springback is variably sensitive to materials and process parameters. Considering springback occurred in a formed part is significant for designing tools and dies. In this work, both experiments and Finite Element Analyses (FEA) of a U-shape forming test were performed and compared for investigating the springback effect. Two DP steels (JSC590R and JSC780Y) with different strengths and a mild steel (JSC270C) were taken into account. The planar anisotropic material model according to Hill’s 1948, Barlat’s yield 2000, and Yoshida–Uemori kinematic hardening model were applied in the simulations. Various mechanical testing as hydraulic bulge test, disk compression test, and in particular cyclic test under tension and compression load were carried out in order to determine required materials parameters of the models. Obviously, steel with higher yield and tensile strength definitely showed an increasing in magnitude of both springback and curling. All presented material models restricted ability to predict springback effect of the examined steels, although the Yoshida–Uemori criterion provided more accurate results than other ones. The model is therefore preferred for describing the strain recovery mechanism of high strength steels, while parameter determination plays a decisive role. The cyclic test was verified to successfully describe the kinematic behaviour of material.     

Effects of yield surface shape on sheet metal forming simulations

Three phenomenological yield criteria are adopted to describe the plastic behaviour of sheet metals with normal plastic anisotropy. The sheet metals are assumed to be elastic-plastic, rate-sensitive and incompressible. A rate-sensitive thin shell finite element formulation based on the virtual work principle is derived for the three yield criteria. The effects of the yield surface shapes based on the three yield criteria with the same value of the plastic anisotropy parameter R on the strain distribution and localization are investigated under a hemispherical punch stretching operation and a plane strain rawing operation. The results of the simulations show that the yield surface shape, in addition to the plastic anisotropy parameter R, controls the punch force, strain distribution and strain localization for the punch stretching operation. However, the yield surface shape does not affect the punch force and the strain distribution significantly for the plane strain drawing operation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于FEM-Archard模型的高强钢冲压成形粘模行为评估

为探明高强钢冲压成形过程中的粘模机理,利用数值模拟与工艺试验相结合的方法系统评估了其宏观粘模行为.以高强钢SPFC590为研究对象,采用方盒拉深成形工艺,基于FEM-Archard磨损模型研究了弯曲-拉深复合变形模式下界面压力与滑移距离对粘模行为的影响规律.研究结果表明,方盒拉深过程中模具的宏观粘模行为主要集中在界面压力较大的拉深圆角与弯曲直边相接处附近,并随着拉深次数的增加(即滑移距离的增大),粘模量不断增大且不断向拉深方向扩展.同时,基于FEM-Archard磨损模型得到的粘模评估结果与方盒拉深试验结果相一致.     

Rapid hard tooling by plasma spraying for injection molding and sheet metal forming

Amidst the harsh competition over the development of new products around the world, rapid prototyping, especially rapid tooling methods have received widespread attention. Amongst the rapid hard tooling methods, thermal spraying can manufacture metal molds without limitation of pattern size. However, it has the disadvantage that only soft metals with low melting points such as zinc alloy can be sprayed to original mold, such as a rapid prototyping model or a natural material pattern, due to their lack of heat resistance and shrinkage of spray metals. So the wear resistance of spray tool is poor, it can be used only for trial or small-lot production. In this study, attempts were made to improve the heat resistance by using composite materials made of ceramic and metal powders as the sprayed original mold materials, and using stainless steel, tungsten carbide alloy, iron–nickel–chromium alloy with excellent wear resistance as spraying materials, respectively. The results show that injection molding spray mold and sheet metal forming spray die can be made by transferring from natural patterns and rapid prototyping models. As the durability and dimensional accuracy of the sprayed tools has sharply improved, the tools can be used for mass production.