FEM simulation for cold press forging forming of the round-fin heat sink

Abstract

In this paper, the finite element method is used to investigate the forming process of cold press forging for the round-fin heat sink in the automotive lighting. A series of simulations on the round-fin heat sink forming using the program DEFORM were carried out. The blank thickness and friction coefficient on the formation of round-fin were studied, and the tooling structure with counterpressure on the heat sink formation was also investigated. The results show that the blank thickness is very good for the round-fin formation, and the thicker the blank is, the better the round-fin can be formed; and also When both the punch-blank interface and the die-blank interface have the same value of friction factor, the larger value of friction factor is in favor of round-fin forming, the further investigation reveals that the friction at the punch-blank interface has more significant effect on preventing the initiation of flow-through compared with the friction at the die-blank interface, which implies that the punch-blank interface has more significant effect on the material flow in the formation of round-fin. Meanwhile, The tooling structure with counterpressure is helpful to the formation of round-fin heat sink, which not only ensures the height of each round-fin on the heat sink is uniform but also retards the initiation of flow-through on the reverse side of round-fin. In addition, the experiments of press forging process were conducted to validate the finite element analysis, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data.