Development of optimum process design system for sheet fabrication using response surface method

The aim of this optimum process design system is to assist the decision of material process condition for making a sheet metal which has better formability for stamping. This system is realized by combining finite element analysis and discretized optimization algorithms. In this system, optimization algorithm is required to search the optimum condition quickly. Therefore, the response surface method was newly suggested to improve the efficiency of the retrieval. This system is applied to find the annealing conditions suitable for a sheet forming condition. Annealing temperature and time are chosen for the process parameters. Formability is evaluated by thickness uniformity of stamped part. As the result, this system could search optimum condition quickly. The effectiveness of this system was confirmed through experimental verification. It is demonstrated that this optimum process design system is a useful tool for deciding a material process and sheet metal fabrication design. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.