Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming using Elastic Dies

Simulation of sheet metal forming is one of the major applications of LS-DYNA. Today, a majority of the forming industry is using Finite Element models to design the stamping dies in order to prevent excessive thinning, wrinkling and producing parts within tolerance by compensating for springback deformation. All these simulations are made using the assumption of rigid forming surfaces. Depending on the type of press, tool design and sheet metal part, this assumption could prove to be incorrect which yields a forming result that depends on the elastic deformation of the stamping die and in some cases the entire stamping press. Such deformations are usually compensated during die try-out by manual rework which is costly and time consuming.