Comparison of the numerical and experimental results of the sheet metal flange forming based on shell-elements types

Abstract

Flanging is a common sheet metal forming operation to produce structural sheet metal components. Flanging is used to give a component smooth rounded edge, and to provide jointing and assembling of components. In this paper, the simulation and experimental results of two types of z-flanging are investigated. First, a z-flange forming which incorporates mating drawbeads on the main and backup punches is studied. Drawbeads are used in commercial stretch flange operations to control or limit the rate of cut-out expansion. A z-flange forming is then performed on a blank with pre-punch created holes. The non-uniform deformation of the hole and undulating are two main important defects. Stretch z-flange forming is simulated using the explicit finite element (FE) LS-DYNA software. In three dimensions FE simulation, four different types of shell elements have been used to determine the one showing the best agreement with the experimental results.