Abstract:
A new numerical method to predict the initial blank geometry
from the desired objective shape of parts is presented. Based on
the conditions that the deformations in material are most evenly
distributed and that the volume remains constant, a positive
definite functional for blank design is constructed. The
functional is minimized by an iterative scheme of finite
element, and then the optimal initial configuration is obtained.
The method is easy and expedient to use. The results of
numerical simulation of forming process and multi-point forming
experiments for sheet metal demonstrate that good precision is
achieved by the proposed method.
Key words:
Sheet metal
Blank design Finite element
* This project is supported by the 10th Five-Year National S&T Program of China (No. 2001BA203B11). Received March 2, 2001; received in revised form October 29, 2001; accepted January 28, 2002
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