Drawbeads in sheet metal forming

Drawbeads are used to control the flow of sheet metal into the die cavity during stretch-draw forming of large panels. They prevent wrinkling in formed panels, reduce the blankholder force, and minimize the blank size needed to make a part. Drawbead restraining forces (pulling forces) and failure locations in the formed sheets are usually evaluated by using drawbead simulation tooling. In this article, a drawbead simulation apparatus is used to assess the influence of variation in material, bead penetration, and fric-tion conditions on the drawbead restraining force. Results from the test can be used as input for sheet metal forming simulation programs.