Die compensation procedure to negate die deflection and component springback

Net-shape forming enables companies to increase competitiveness by reducing the number of operations and associated costs. The required accuracy, howe ver, is an obstacle in getting processes, and especially tooling, right fir st time. To overcome this problem, an efficient off-line tool design proced ure is necessary. The proposed procedure accounts for two major sources of error in cold-form ed components arising from die deflection and component springback. It is b ased on a hybrid physical modelling/finite element approach. Physical model ling provides information on load distribution at the material/die interfac e which is then used as a load-boundary condition in the two separate finit e element simulations of die deflection and component springback - both ela stic phenomena. The die compensation part is carried out in a CAD environme nt. This paper describes and discusses the proposed procedure. (C) 2001 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.