Review of Sheet Metal Forming Simulation Progress to Date, Future Developments

Sheet metal forming simulation is a well established application of LS-DYNA. Originally used for trouble shooting, it is now increasingly accepted as a method for testing tooling design prior to manufacture; however, there are further opportunities to apply such methods as early as possible, even in the product design stage. This paper reviews the advances of recent years and presents an example of typical current applications; the tools now offered for die face creation are then discussed. The paper also looks ahead to see how application of these methods might develop and indicates areas for research, in order to achieve the maximum benefit from simulation.