Usage of 3D roughness parameters adapted to the experimental simulation ofsheet-tool contact during a drawing operation

The multipass strip drawing tests of sheet metal car body parts in cylinder /sheet/cylinder contact geometry is particularly well adapted to the simula tion of sheet/tool contact conditions during a stamping operation. Within t his framework, a rough sheet rubs against a smooth tool. During the sliding contact, a modification in the average size of plateaus appears, the locat ions where the shear stress and normal pressures are transmitted. Owing to a profilometrical relocation technique between each tool passage, we use st atistical parameters corresponding to the average width and length of the p lateaus. The observed flattening of the plateaus and the quantity of free w ear particles modifying the third body in the contact are particularly more important in the case of aluminum sheets than in those of mild steel sheet s. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.