The multi-step forward finite element method is presented for the numerical simulation of multi-step sheet metal forming. The traditional constitutive relationship is modified according to the multi-step forming processes, and double spreading plane based mapping method is used to obtain the initial solutions of the intermediate configurations. To verify the multi-step forward FEM, the two-step simulation of a stepped box deep-drawing part is carried out as it is in the experiment. The comparison with the results of the incremental FEM and test shows that the multi-step forward FEM is efficient for the numerical simulation of multi-step sheet metal forming processes.
