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, however, is an obstacle in getting processes, and especially tooling, right first time. To overcome this problem, an efficient off-line tool design procedure is necessary. The proposed procedure accounts for two major sources of error in cold-formed components arising from die deflection and component springback. It is based on a hybrid physical modelling/finite element approach. Physical modelling provides information on load distribution at the material/die interface which is then used as a load-boundary condition in the two separate finite element simulations of die deflection and component springback - both elastic phenomena. The die compensation part is carried out in a CAD environment. This paper describes and discusses the proposed procedure. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.