Application of ALE finite elements method to a lubricated friction model in sheet metal forming

An Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation involving the use of an operator splitting procedure is presented. In solid mechanics applications, ALE formulation is employed to overcome mesh distorsion problems in finite deformation. Here, we present a new application to fluid/structure interac tion problems: determining the film thickness h in lubricated contact analy sis using a method of characteristic in the framework of a finite element m ethod. Hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic lubrication regimens are analyze d using an averaged Reynolds equation. The friction stress is then expresse d in terms of lubricant parameters such as the film thickness and viscosity and forming process parameters such as the pressure, forming speed and sur face roughness. The efficiency of the method is illustrated in the case of three examples. The first one involves the ALE formulation developed here i n sheet metal forming and the others are applications to lubricated contact analysis. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.