The Experimental Investigation of Punching of the AM60 and AZ61 Magnesium Alloy Sheets by Using Varied Punch Shapes

The using of magnesium alloys for industrial sheet metal part production has become increasingly common in recent years. This research aims to characterize the effects of the cutting-edge shapes of the punches on the blanking forces and the sheared edge qualities in the blanking/piercing operations of magnesium alloy sheets. Magnesium sheets (AM60 and AZ61) were produced by casting and rolling processes. AM60 and AZ61 Mg alloys produced by casting were rolled by using two different speeds, 2.5 m/min and 7.5 m/min. Material thickness was adjusted to three mm in the rolling process. Blanking tests were carried out on a die-set and hydraulic press by varying shaped punches. In the experimental studies, flat-ended, concave shaped, and 16° angled punches were used. A loadcell was fixed to the experimental setup to determine the blanking forces. The results showed that the AM60 alloy was more resistant to shearing than the AZ61. The lowest blanking force was obtained by use of the 16° angled punch. It was determined that the using of flat-ended punches for blanking operations was more convenient according to the usage purpose of the parts while all three punches can be used for piercing operations.

Modelling real contact areas caused by material straining effects in sheet metal forming simulation

Shortened product development processes in automotive industry combined with the upcoming lack of experts do challenge sheet metal part production fundamentally. Tryout time and manufacturing costs of large forming dies today are significantly influenced by their digitally supported engineering. The forming process by such tools is beside other influences is affected by elastic deformations of forming dies and press structure as well as contact areas between die and sheet metal part. In deep drawing such contact areas are influenced by the blank properties and the flange behavior in terms of thickening and thinning. Recent developments in sheet metal forming simulation do consider advanced friction models and structural modeling of die and press components improving simulation accuracy. Nevertheless thinning or thickening of sheet metal results into localized surface pressure distribution during deep drawing. For this reason, it is not sufficient to use the currently common practice of homogeneous surface pressure distribution in sheet metal forming simulation. In this respect, this paper presents a numerical approach for consideration of straining effects in the sheet metal part during forming operation. For this purpose, a systematic process improvement was developed in this paper to identify contact areas via a numeric simulation parameter. Validating the numerical investigation, a rectangle cup die is used, considering major strain. The main results of this contribution for that reason show how simulated contact areas can be estimated by reverse engineering of real forming parts. Hereby straining based contact areas lead to a novel contact area design in process planning, resulting in efficient die tryout.

Topology Optimization of Automotive sheet metal part using Altair Inspire

In an optimization problem, different candidate solutions are compared with each other, and then the best or optimal solution is obtained which means that solution quality is fundamental. Topology optimization is used at the concept stage of design. It deals with the optimal distribution of material within the structure. Altair Inspire software is the industry's most powerful and easy-to-use Generative Design/Topology Optimization and rapid simulation solution for design engineers. In this paper Topology optimization is applied using Altair inspire to optimize the Sheet metal Angle bracket. Different results are conducted the better and final results are fulfilling the goal of the paper which is minimizing the mass of the sheet metal part by 65.9% part and Maximizing the stiffness with Better Results of Von- Miss Stress Analysis, Displacement, and comparison with different load cases. This can lead to reduced costs, development time, material consumption, and product less weight.

Direct Optimization of an Automotive Sheet Metal Part Using ANSYS

Optimization of automotive parts nowadays is mainly used to design lightweight and cost-effective vehicle parts in order to improve the cost and efficiency. In this research, a sheet metal part was taken into consideration and optimized using direct optimization module in ANSYS to evaluate the process. An initial Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was done on the sheet metal part by adding forces and constraints in order to initiate direct optimization. The purpose of the optimization is to minimize the mass of the sheet metal part and maintaining a certain Factor of Safety (FOS) by automatically modifying the sheet thickness and the dimension of the side holes. As a result, the best candidate point with 23% mass reduction was found which complied with FOS value was selected for optimal geometry.