Finite element simulation of sheet metal forming process using local interpolation for tool surfaces

Treatment of contact between a sheet and tools is one of the most difficult problems to deal with in finite-element simulations of sheet forming processes. In order to obtain more accurate tool models without increasing the number of elements, this paper describes a new formulation for contact problems using interpolation proposed by Nagata [5] for tool surfaces. A contact search algorithm between sheet nodes and the interpolated tool surfaces was developed and was introduced into the static-explicit elastoplastic finite-element method code STAMP3D. Simulations of a square cup deep drawing process with a very coarsely discretized punch model were carried out. The simulated results showed that the proposed algorithm gave the proper drawn shape, demonstrating the validity of the proposed algorithm.