Experimental and Numerical Study of Restraining Force Development in Inclined Draw Beads

Inclined (angled) draw bead geometries are becoming increasingly common as body styling requirements necessitate external panel shapes with considerable curvature. The restraining force that develops as material undergoes bending and frictional contact varies with bead geometry, material strength level and ambient lubrication conditions. In this study, an FEA based parametric approach is used to model the effects of material strength, friction condition, and binder angle on draw bead restraining force (DBRF). A finite element draw bead simulation was calibrated to experimental data for a 250 MPa electro-galvanized bake-hardenable specimen. The experimental data is used to confirm that the DBRF vs. binder angle curve roughly follows a concave shaped second order function with a maximum somewhere in the positive binder angle domain.