BLANKSOFT: a code for sheet metal blanking processes optimization

This paper presents an industrial software called BLANKSOFT dedicated to sheet metal blanking processes optimization. The code allows for the prediction of the geometry of the sheared profile, the mechanical state of the sheared zone, the burr height, the force-penetration curve, and the wear evolution of the punch versus the number of the blanking cycles. The present paper is concerned with the presentation of BLANKSOFT. This includes the industrial interest as well as the potentials of the program which will be discussed in the light of a comparison with experiments. The program is written in Visual Basic language and enables to combine numerical computation and graphical illustration. The approach is based on an original theoretical investigation formulated from plasticity theories. This program is designed by considering several factors, such as material and geometry of product as well as the wear state of the tool. The numerical results obtained by the proposed program were compared with experimental ones to verify the validity of the proposed software. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.