Computer simulations are essential part in toolmaking. They significantly reduce the costs and time required for tool development. We discussed the mechanical conditions which are a consequence of steel sheet metal forming. The analysis was performed using the finite element method (FEM) in the AutoForm R8 software environment. We performed 11 computer simulations where we used different settings to influence the FE meshing, we compared different types of FE used and changed the number of integration points across the sheet thickness. We found that the FE mesh density at the sharp transitions of the product geometry has a great influence on the final results. Type of FE used greatly influences the calculation of sheet thinning, while the number of integration points across the sheet thickness has a more noticeable impact in the computation of springback.
|
