Numerical Modeling of Aluminum Forgings; Issues of Material Failure and Element Formulation

The increased use of castings, forgings and thick extrusions in vehicle structures has led to the need for modeling certain parts with solid elements in crash simulations. Since the geometries of the considered parts are typically highly complex, using tetrahedral elements seems to be the practical solution. In the LS-DYNA simulation software, a multitude of different tetra element formulations are available however there is some uncertainty whether these elements can be used with confidence in a simulation for accurate fracture prediction based on a stress state dependent failure model.