Numerical simulation of multi-point forming accuracy for polycarbonate sheet

Abstract

Multi-point forming is an advanced flexible manufacture technology, which has been used in many fields successfully. In order to provide a flexible method for forming a polymer, multi-point forming is applied to the manufacture of polycarbonate sheet. An optimized DSGZ constitutive model is established to describe the stress–strain relation of polycarbonate sheet, and its parameters are determined according to experimental data. The multi-point forming process of polycarbonate sheet is introduced briefly, and a simple calculating scheme of punch height is developed. Numerical simulations of spherical and saddle-shaped parts are carried out by dynamic explicit finite element analysis, and the effects of punch number and punch radius on the surface accuracy and shape accuracy are studied. The multi-point forming experiments of polycarbonate sheet are done, and the comparisons of shape error between experimental parts and objective parts are conducted, which show that the polycarbonate products have good surface accuracy and shape accuracy.