Numerical simulation and analysis on the deep drawing of LPG bottles

Deep drawing is one of the most used sheet metal forming processes in the production of automotive components, LPG bottles and household goods, among others. The formability of a blank depends on the process parameters such as blank holder force, lubrication, punch and die radii, die-punch clearance, in addition to material properties and thickness of the sheet metal. This paper presents a numerical study made on the deep drawing of LPG bottles. In particular, the application of both variable blank holder forces and contact friction conditions at specific location during deep drawing are considered. The numerical simulations were carried out with DD3IMP FE code. A variable blank holder force strategy was applied and the numerical results were compared with results from other blank holder force schemes. It is evident that the proposed variable blank holder force scheme reduces the blank thinning when compared to other schemes; the friction coefficient also has a significant influence on the stress–strain distribution.     

轴对称曲面件智能化拉深成形过程的解析定量描述

成形过程的定量描述是板材成形智能化控制中在线识别材料参数和工况参数以及预测最佳工艺参数的理论依据，识别和预测精度取决于定量描述的准确程度。为了实现轴对称曲面件拉深过程的智能化控制，分析了轴对称曲面拉深件的共性特征，建立了完整的力学模型，在直线假设、面积不变假设和似直梁弯曲假设条件下，给出了拉深过程中拉深力－行程曲线的解析定量描述。用三种板材以锥形件拉深为例进行了实验验证。     

封头的多点成形工艺分析和数值模拟研究

结合多道次成形和分段成形工艺方式,文章对封头的多点成形过程进行了工艺分析。通过对其成形过程的有限元数值模拟,研究了封头多道次成形和分段成形的成形规律,制定了封头的多点成形工艺,并进行了实验验证。结果表明,通过合理的成形工艺,可以用多点成形设备成形封头,并能得到良好的成形效果。     

Analysis of Residual Stresses in High-Pressure Sheet Metal Forming

The further development of innovative forming processes like sheet metal hydroforming is only possible with the help of detailed knowledge about the workpiece properties and their formation depending on the particular process strategy. Up to now, the detailed understanding regarding the formation of residual stresses in hydroforming processes like the high-pressure sheet metal forming (HBU) is insufficient. Therefore, numerical (FEM) and experimental investigations on the residual stresses induced in HBU-formed workpieces have been carried out. The results show that a higher fluid pressure leads to significantly lower residual stresses in addition to an improved accuracy of form and dimensions.     

The use of spatial impulse responses to characterise flexible forming processes with mobile tools

A novel test method for the characterisation of flexible forming processes is proposed and applied to four flexible forming processes: Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF), conventional spinning, the English wheel and power hammer. The proposed method is developed in analogy with time-domain control engineering, where a system is characterised by its impulse response. The spatial impulse response is used to characterise the change in workpiece deformation created by a process, but has also been applied with a strain spectrogram, as a novel way to characterise a process and the physical effect it has on the workpiece. Physical and numerical trials to study the effects of process and material parameters on spatial impulse response lead to three main conclusions. Incremental sheet forming is particularly sensitive to process parameters. The English wheel and power hammer are strongly similar and largely insensitive to both process and material parameters. Spinning develops in two stages and is sensitive to most process parameters, but insensitive to prior deformation. Finally, the proposed method could be applied to modelling, classification of existing and novel processes, product-process matching and closed-loop control of flexible forming processes.     

Modeling and FE Simulation of Quenchable High Strength Steels Sheet Metal Hot Forming Process

High strength steel (HSS) sheet metal hot forming process is investigated by means of numerical simulations. With regard to a reliable numerical process design, the knowledge of the thermal and thermo-mechanical properties is essential. In this article, tensile tests are performed to examine the flow stress of the material HSS 22MnB5 at different strains, strain rates, and temperatures. Constitutive model based on phenomenological approach is developed to describe the thermo-mechanical properties of the material 22MnB5 by fitting the experimental data. A 2D coupled thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) model is developed to simulate the HSS sheet metal hot forming process for U-channel part. The ABAQUS/explicit model is used conduct the hot forming stage simulations, and ABAQUS/implicit model is used for accurately predicting the springback which happens at the end of hot forming stage. Material modeling and FE numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of the processing parameters on the hot forming process. The processing parameters have significant influence on the microstructure of U-channel part. The springback after hot forming stage is the main factor impairing the shape precision of hot-formed part. The mechanism of springback is advanced and verified through numerical simulations and tensile loading-unloading tests. Creep strain is found in the tensile loading-unloading test under isothermal condition and has a distinct effect on springback. According to the numerical and experimental results, it can be concluded that springback is mainly caused by different cooling rats and the nonhomogengeous shrink of material during hot forming process, the creep strain is the main factor influencing the amount of the springback.     

板料成形数值模拟进展

在给出板料成形的典型成形过程、物理过程与力学模型的基础上，评述了板料成形数值模拟的发展历史和最新进展，包括成形过程与成形缺陷模拟发展，常用材料模型与壳体模型，接触摩擦处理及汽车覆盖件成形应用，文末指出了该领域的发展趋势。     

金属板材分层渐进成形技术及其有限元模拟

本文介绍了金属板材分层渐进成形技术。由于金属板材分层渐进成形的工艺较复杂 ,各种参数及加工轨迹很难用实验方法确定 ,如何选择合理的工艺参数来得到理想的加工工件成为问题的关键。根据金属板材分层渐进成形为多工步成形的技术特点 ,提出了金属板材分层渐进成形的有限元模拟方案     

盘型件双面辗压过程的数值模拟研究

利用商品化软件Deform3D,对盘型件双面辗压成形过程进行了24种不同工况的数值模拟,获得了辗压沟槽的形态特征以及工具参数、工件参数和工艺参数对沟槽形态的影响.最后对槽深与压痕深度的关系问题进行了数值模拟与实验结果对比,二者符合较好,说明数值模拟给出的研究结论是可信的.     

Effect of material scatter on the plastic behavior and stretchability in sheet metal forming

Robust design of forming processes is gaining attention throughout the industry. To analyze the robustness of a sheet metal forming process using finite element (FE) simulations, an accurate input in terms of parameter scatter is required. This paper presents a pragmatic, accurate and economic approach for measuring and modeling one of the main inputs, i.e. material properties and its associated scattering.For the purpose of this research, samples of 41 coils of a forming steel DX54D+Z (EN 10327:2004) from multiple casts have been collected. Fully determining the stochastic material behavior to the required accuracy for modeling in FE simulations would require many mechanical experiments. Instead, the present work combines mechanical testing and texture analysis to limit the required effort. Moreover, use is made of the correlations between the material parameters to efficiently model the material property scatter for use in the numerical robustness analysis. The proposed approach is validated by the forming of a series of cup products using the collected material. The observed experimental scatter can be reproduced efficiently using FE simulations, demonstrating the potential of the modeling approach and robustness analysis in general.     

国产锆合金板料冲裁间隙的有限元分析

锆合金常用于制作核电设备的重要元器件。为了提高国产锆合金板料冲裁的产品质量与模具寿命,针对锆合金板料价格昂贵和各向异性明显的特点,利用有限元模拟软件研究不同冲裁间隙下的冲裁效果。通过试验测得国产锆合金的材料参数,利用有限元软件模拟分析在冲裁过程中冲裁力、冲裁功和工件断面质量随冲裁间隙变化的趋势;研究合理冲裁间隙的取值、以及厚向异性系数对合理冲裁间隙和断面质量的影响;通过裂纹扩展方向分析和实物断面分析验证了模拟分析的正确性。结果表明,厚度为0.47 mm锆合金板料的合理冲裁间隙为0.035 mm;厚向异性系数的变化对合理冲裁间隙的取值没有明显影响,但是对工件断面质量有显著影响。     

基于板料电磁翻边的电磁力分布及成形质量影响

本文针对铝合金板料电磁翻边工艺过程,采用数值模拟方法,研究板料上的电磁力分布特性以及几何参数对电磁力分布的影响规律,并揭示电磁力分布对翻边件成形质量的影响。结果表明,铝合金板料电磁翻边中,预制孔的存在使板料上形成电磁力边缘积聚效应,板料预制孔径和成形线圈内径参数通过改变线圈投影面积比影响电磁力分布;随着线圈投影面积比的减小,电磁力边缘积聚效应更加显著,边缘电磁力密度增大;电磁力分布较均匀时,圆角区材料塑性流动更显著,成形件能获得更高的成形高度与更小的边缘减薄率,变形区厚度分布较均匀,成形质量更好。     

Influence of the Workpiece Stiffness on the Electromagnetic Sheet Metal Forming Process into Dies

Electromagnetic sheet metal forming is a high speed forming process using pulsed magnetic fields to form metals with high electrical conductivity such as aluminum. Thereby, workpiece velocities of more than 300 m/s are achievable, which can cause difficulties when forming into a die. The kinetic energy, which is related to the workpiece velocity, must be dissipated in a short time slot when the workpiece hits the die; otherwise undesired effects, for example rebound can occur. One possibility to handle this shortcoming is to locally increase the stiffness of the workpiece. A modal analysis is carried out in order to determine the stiffness of specific regions of the workpiece so that an estimation concerning the feasibility of the desired geometry is possible in advance without doing cost and time consuming experiments. Thereby, the desired geometry of the workpiece will be fractionized in significant sectors. This approach has to define the internal force variables acting on the cutting edge, which are required to constrain the numerical model. Finally, a method will be developed with the objective of calculating the stiffness of each sector. The numerical results will be verified by experiments. This article was presented at Materials Science & Technology 2006, Innovations in Metal Forming symposium held in Cincinnati, OH, October 15-19, 2006.     

Formability Investigations of High-Strength Dual-Phase Steels

Car manufacturing is always regarded as the key industry behind sheet metal forming, and thus, the requirements of and developments in car manufacturing play a decisive role in the development of sheet metal forming. The automotive industry is faced with contradictory demands and requirements: better performance with lower consumption and less harmful emissions, more safety and comfort; these are extremely difficult to supply simultaneously with conventional materials and conventional manufacturing processes. The fulfillment of these often contradictory requirements is one of the main driving forces in the automotive industry and thus in the material and process developments in sheet metal forming, as well. In recent years, significant developments can be observed in the application of high-strength steels. In this respect, the application of various dual-phase steels is one of the best examples. However, the application of these highstrength steels often leads to formability and manufacturing problems. One formability problem is the springback occurring after sheet metal forming. In the current research, we have dealt mainly with advanced high-strength steels, primarily with dual-phase steels. When applying them, the springback phenomenon is one of the most critical issues. To reduce the tremendous amount of experimental work needed, we also applied numerical simulation using isotropic–kinematic hardening rules. The isotropic–kinematic hardening behavior of a given material in the applied Auto Form numerical package may be characterized with three independent material parameters c, v and K(a detailed explanation of their meaning will be given in the main part of this paper). However, we found that the material data included in simulation packages for these new high-strength steels are not fully adequate. For the determination of more reliable material parameters and to achieve better simulation results, a new testing device was developed. Numerical simulations were performed using the material parameters determined by the new device to show the sensitivity of springback behavior to these material parameters.     

基于数值模拟的空间曲面壳体成形分析

为了解决空间曲面壳体的整体成形难题,针对空间曲面壳体零件的几何形状特点,采用三维刚塑性有限元分析软件Deform-3D软件,对空间曲面壳体的成形过程进行了数值模拟,分析了不同板料结构形式对成形过程的影响,获得了成形过程中等效应力极限-时间曲线图、凸模载荷-行程曲线图以及变形过程中的金属流动规律。结果表明:使用带椭圆孔的板料,能够获得满足要求的工件,优化了工艺参数,为空间曲面壳体零件的生产提供了参考依据。     

Analysis of friction between stainless steel sheets and machine hammer peened structured tool surfaces: experimental and numerical investigation of the lubricated interaction gap

Forming of stainless steel with stringent requirements on surface integrity is currently realized using protective foils as a separating agent between tools and workpiece. The protective foils are applied with special machines and need to be removed after the forming process or at the end customer. This approach has pronounced economic and ecological disadvantages. Alternative tribological systems for a foil free forming are insufficiently researched and not yet reliably applicable in a production process. Recent developments in the field of machine hammer peening motivate the investigation of surface modifications for foil free sheet metal forming. The research question of this paper is: under which tribological boundary conditions do structured tool surfaces provide a total separation of tools and workpiece? The performed research work is based on experimental analyses investigating the friction behavior of surface structured tools. Numerical simulations of normal and sliding contact using finite element method enable the investigation of the lubricated interaction gap in order to identify significant tribological process parameters.     

Study on the continuous roll forming process of swept surface sheet metal part

Continuous roll forming (CRF) is an effective process to manufacture swept surface parts of sheet metal. The forming tool in CRF is a pair of small-diameter bendable forming rolls, a swept surface is formed continuously after the rotating rolls sweep out the whole sheet metal blank. The two bent rolls and the non-uniformly distributed roll gap along the rolls’ length make the sheet metal bent in longitudinal and transverse directions simultaneously, the cross-section curve of the formed swept surface is controlled by the curved profile of the forming rolls and the spine curve is controlled by the differential elongations of sheet metal generated by roll gap. In this paper, a necessary condition for the formation of a swept surface is proposed and analyzed, the parametric equations of the formed surface in CRF are derived and the method to determine the roll gap for forming a given swept surface is presented. The numerical simulations and analyses on the CRF processes demonstrate the validity of the presented theoretical models. The experimental and measured results show that the formed surfaces are in good agreement with the desired surfaces, and swept surface parts with good forming precision can be obtained by CRF process.     

Surface reconstruction for incremental forming

In spite of extensive efforts being made with regard to virtual process optimization technology, the production of prototype parts is still a necessity. With respect to the production of sheet metal parts in low quantities, incremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) is a highly interesting process. ISMF allows the production of complex parts with drastically reduced costs in tooling and machinery compared to conventional processes like deep drawing. However, ISMF, with it’s incremental nature, introduces the need for generating a tool path considering both final geometry and process-induced deviations or constraints. Consequently, for the generation of the tool path a (tool path) surface, with an adequate offset, is necessary. That is why, within the scope of extensive research work at the Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Construction (IUL), a special correction module has been developed, determining this offset e.g. depending on the workpiece geometry. This paper presents the algorithm, the application, and the effect on the produced parts. Furthermore, a concept for an extension regarding further constraints like elastic workpiece behavior is presented.     

Evaluation of effect of flow stress characteristics of tubular material on forming limit in tube hydroforming process

The material properties for the analytical and numerical simulation in sheet metal processes, especially in tube hydroforming process, are generally obtained from the uniaxial tensile test of raw sheet material. However, the validation of the formability and reliability of the numerical simulation for the tube hydroforming process arises from the fact that the material characteristics of tubes are different from those of the raw sheet materials. In order to determine the most suitable material property of the tubular material for the evaluation of forming limit on the THF process, the uniaxial tensile test for the specimens of the raw sheet metal and the roll-formed tube and the free bulge test for the roll-formed tubular material are carried out in this paper. The forming limit curves are also derived using plastic instability based on three kinds of necking criteria, which are Hill’s local necking criterion for sheet and Swift’s diffuse necking criteria for sheet and tube, to describe and explain the forming limits for the roll-formed tubular material in the THF process. In order to acquire the informative data on the forming limit curves in the THF process, the loading condition of the free bulge test is controlled. The proper band from nearly necking initiation to nearly bursting initiation has been defined for the roll-formed tubular material in the THF process. It can be concluded that the flow stress of the tubular material should be determined from the actual free bulge test to find the practically valuable forming limit curve for the THF process.     

多弯角板料弯曲成形金属流动规律研究

以刚塑性有限元模型为基础,对典型的多弯角宽板零件弯曲用MSC／superform软件进行数值模拟,科学地分析了多弯角板料同时成形过程的金属流动规律,根据模拟得到的应力场、应变场、速度场及加载变化等,可以预测变形时产生的缺陷,为该类零件的成形工艺提供了理论依据。