Proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, October 20-23, 2007, Alexandria, Egypt, edited

by M. H. Elwany, A. B. Eltawil

A REVIEW OF THE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO THE DEEP DRAWING PROCESS

Abdalla S. Wifi
Department of Mechanical Design and Production Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University Egypt aswifi@yahoo.com

Tamer F. Abdelmaguid Ahmed I. El-Ghandour

Department of Mechanical Design and Production Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University Egypt tabdelmaguid@eng.cu.edu.eg

ABSTRACT
Deep Drawing is an important sheet metal forming process that appears in many industries. Like other sheet metal forming processes, deep drawing is characterized by very complicated deformation affected by the process parameters which include die and punch shapes, blank shape, the blank holding force, material properties and lubrication. Due to the complex functions that describe the process output as related to these parameters, the optimization in the deep drawing process is a challenging task. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the research community to apply optimization techniques to this process. In this paper we present a comprehensive review on the optimization techniques used and identify directions for future research.

The optimization of the deep drawing process is necessary to improve important industrial performance measures such as productivity and cost of goods manufactured. The improvement of such measures can be largely achieved by increasing formability, reducing tool wear and reducing scrap percentage. In order to achieve that, some process parameters need to be controlled such as blank shape, sheet dimensions, blank holding force, lubrication and punch/die design. However, since the beginning of the deep drawing process and up till now, some parameters are usually determined based on experts judgment (Huh and Kim, 2001). Recently, there has been a growing interest in the research community to apply different optimization techniques to the deep drawing process. Optimization techniques provide a systematic method for determining the process parameters to achieve a specific objective. Due to the complex nature of the deep drawing process, closed form equations that are based on theoretical analysis of this process are either difficult to deal with using standard mathematical programming techniques, or may turn to be unsuitable for realistic applications. Therefore, most of the research work concerned with the optimization of the deep drawing process uses either experimentation or finite element simulation to verify the implemented optimization approach. Based on the process parameters considered in the optimization of the deep drawing process, five main lines of research are identified. The first line of research addresses the optimization of the blank holder force to avoid wrinkling and fracture. The second line focuses on the design parameters of the

KEYWORDS
Deep Drawing, Optimization, finite element, sheet metal forming

1. INTRODUCTION
Deep drawing is one of the most essential processes in sheet metal forming. It is widely used in many industrial fields such as automotive and packing industries. According to the DIN standard, DIN 8584, Deep drawing is defined as a tensilecompressive sheet forming process in which a plane blank is formed into a hollow part open on one side (direct drawing) or an open hollow part is formed into another hollow part with a smaller cross-section (re-drawing).

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deep drawing mechanism including the die, the punch and the blank holder. The third line of research is concerned with the selection of the optimum blank shape. The fourth line focuses on studying the type of lubricant and lubrication system used. Lubrication is an important element in the deep drawing process as it helps in reducing the energy consumed and in avoiding fracture. The fifth line studies the minimization of the number of redrawing steps. Another classification is based on the optimization technique implemented. Optimization techniques used in the deep drawing process can be classified into two main categories. The first one, started in the early 1980s, uses rules-of-thumb to determine optimized process parameters that would improve the output of the process. The second one, introduced in the early 1990s, is more systematic as advanced statistical techniques are implemented. These techniques present an optimization methodology in the form of an online algorithm in which search directions are determined and regularly updated as the outcomes of the process are revealed. In both approaches, a real experiment is conducted and/or a simulation software package that implements the finite element method (FEM) is used to examine the benefit from the optimization approach or the proposed selection of process parameters. The objective of this paper is to provide a literature review on the work done in the field of optimization in the deep drawing process. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In section 2, a brief description of the deep drawing process and its related theoretical background is provided. In section 3, a literature review based on the optimization parameters is presented, followed by a review on the optimization techniques in section 4. Finally, in section 5, the concluding remarks and directions for future research are discussed.

load and the contact between the blank and the die/punch must be controlled to avoid failure, which might appear in three main forms. These forms of failure are illustrated in figure 2.
Drawing force Blank holder force

Blank holder

Flange

Die Punch

Figure 1 Elements of the deep drawing process

There are three main types of failure in the deep drawing process, namely wrinkling, fracture, and earing. Wrinkling, which occurs in the flange part before the flow in the die, occurs when the blank holder force has low values. As a result, the compressive stresses can overcome the pressure of the blank holder and result in the buckling phenomenon which appears in the form of wrinkling. Fracture, which occurs in the corner of the drawn part, occurs due to the excessive BHF which prevent the material flow from the flange to the wall of the drawn cup and causes excessive stress in the bottom of the cup until fracture occurs.

2. THE DEEP DRAWING PROCESS

Deep drawing is the process in which a sheet metal blank, circular in most of the cases, is drawn in a hollow cavity, referred to as the die, using a normal force applied by the punch, to produce a hollow shell. A blank holder is used to control and guide the flow of the blank material through applying the blank holder force (BHF). Figure 1 shows the main elements of the deep drawing process. The blank undergoes a tensile stress in the radial direction and a compressive stress in the tangential direction. These stresses in addition to the applied

Figure 2 Types of failure in deep drawing process

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Earing, which appears on the top edge of the drawn cup in the shape of heights and valleys, occurs due to the planner anisotropy and the friction between the sheet and the die. The anisotropy property is that the material has different properties based on the direction. This is usually formed when rolling is applied to the sheets before starting the deep drawing process. As a result, the properties in the rolling direction are not similar to those in the transverse directions (Lange, 1985). The material anisotropy also affects the deep drawing process as it sets a limit on the ratio of the initial blank diameter to the internal diameter of the drawn cup, referred to as the drawing ratio limit. The Forming limit diagram (FLD), shown in figure 3, is an empirical diagram used in determining the safe region in which the deep drawing may be applied to avoid failures. It presents graphically the relation between the minor and the major strains of the material to be formed. This diagram is divided into two zones: 1- Safe zone, 2- Rupture zone. The safe zone is the area where the process state of strain will not cause fracture or wrinkling, on the other hand, these failures would occur if the state of the strain falls in the rupture zone. Based on the strain state of the process, and its location on the diagram, the judgment of safe or unsafe process is decided. Sometimes a safety factor is used to shift the curve down and consequently provide more safety. Many researchers formulate their objective functions based on the FLD by deciding a limit for the parameter they optimize and to use this limit to control their analysis to find the optimal value that insures that the strains fall in the safe zone.

The material starts to flow in the die when the stress exceeds what is called flow stress. The value of the flow stress is determined theoretically by the yield criterion which is a function of the maximum values of the stresses (principle stresses in two perpendicular directions). Many forms of the yield function are used in the deep drawing literature, such as the traditional Von Mises criterion developed in 1913 (Johnson and Mellor, 1973), Hill (1948) and the recent Barlats (1991). In numerical simulation of the deep drawing process, the selection of a suitable yield function that can predict the behavior of the studied material is an important aspect for a successful simulation. The deep drawing could be a single direct process, to produce a final shape directly by drawing a blank into a die, or by re-drawing the product of the first draw. This re-drawing process could be more than single stage, based on the material properties and the final shape dimensions and the final required drawing ratio to be produced.

3. PROCESS PARAMETERS
As stated earlier, the optimization work in the deep drawing process considered different objectives and process control parameters. There are five main lines of research identified. The first one focuses on the determination of the blank holder force. The second one is concerned with the optimal design of the deep drawing mechanism, and the third line deals with the selection of the optimal blank shape design. The fourth one deals with the optimization of the lubrication system, and the fifth line focuses on the minimization of the number of redrawing steps. In the following subsections, each line of research is reviewed in detail.

3.1. Blank holder force

A loose BHF will lead to wrinkling; and on the other hand, an excessive BHF will result in fracture. Therefore, The blank holder force has to be properly determined and controlled. Doege and Sommer (1983) addressed the optimization of the blank holder force in the deep drawing process of rectangular parts. In addition to the blank holder force, they studied the effect of material selection and lubrication on avoiding fracture and wrinkling. Bauer and Mueller (1990) are the first to present a computer-optimized system to control the blank holder force by representing it as a function of the drawing path. Their main objective is to avoid

Figure 3 Illustration of (FLD)

the Forming limit Diagram

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wrinkling. This seminal work motivated further developments for a computer controlled and optimized BHF. Manabe et al (1995) developed a fuzzy control system that can provide a variable blank holder force. Such a variable BHF, which is controlled through a closed loop control system, is shown to be successful in obtaining a uniform wall thickness for a drawn circular cup from an aluminum alloy sheet. They claimed that this fuzzy control system has a great potential to improve dimensional accuracy, reliability and flexibility for various materials, blank sizes and lubricants. Di Lorenzo et al (1999) conducted a study similar to Manabe et al (1995). They proposed a design procedure in order to determine the optimal BHF path in an axisymmetric deep drawing process. They used a closed-loop control system based on the fuzzy reasoning and interfaced it with a FEM code. They indicated that such a fuzzy control system can be implemented in reality using computer controlled hydraulic presses. A comprehensive literature review on the different BHF schemes aiming to improve sheet metal formability was provided by Obermeyer and Majlessi (1998). In their review, they listed many linear and non-linear schemes that deal with the control and/or optimization of variable BHF profiles. Recently, Chengzhi et al (2005) presented an optimization algorithm integrating the finite element method (FEM) and adaptive response surface methodology to determinate the optimal BHFs in deep drawing of aluminum rectangular box. Their results show the significance of this methodology, which is verified through experimental work. Levitysky (2006) developed an optimization strategy for finding the optimum BHF-punch travel scheme which minimizes punch work and avoids the working limits of tearing, wrinkling, and spring-back effect. Optimization code was written in the Python programming language and integrated with the ABAQUS finite element software package. The developed method was successfully applied to cylindrical cup, square pan, and open channel geometries for the determination of optimum linear BHF profiles. However, the use of finite elements to evaluate the optimization objective function is time consuming. Therefore, a less time consuming approach seems to be more reasonable and practical if optimization or process design is the objective (Gharib et al, 2006b). To overcome this, Gharib et al (2006a) and Gharib et al (2006b) developed an

alternative approach for cylindrical cups. In this approach a finite difference incremental approach is merged with a genetic algorithm to search for an optimum BHF linear scheme through the control of process parameters. This approach proves to be a promising prelude to the full scale experimental and/or full 3-D finite element analysis. Chen et al (2007) introduced a new scheme for BHF that they claimed to guide a more realistic finite element simulation of the deep drawing process. In this scheme, the simulation of the blank holding process is based on the blank holder gap (BHG), which is defined as the fixed distance between the blank holder and the die surface. They developed an optimization approach for determining the optimal BHG, and showed how the BHF is correlated with the BHG. Wifi and Mosallam (2007) conducted a comparative study for a selected set of non-conventional blankholding techniques including friction actuated, pulsating, and pliable blank-holding. Their results indicated the complexity and interactive nature of the parameters affecting the performance of various blank-holding techniques. It has been demonstrated that certain combinations of such parameters would lead to the most favorable working conditions leading to a successful cup drawing. They concluded that efforts should be made to develop effective optimization techniques to control these parameters and optimize the BHF schemes. Furthermore, they emphasized that using the finite element method as an evaluation engine of the objective function used in optimization is very powerful, yet very time consuming. They asserted that combining ideas and concepts of different non-conventional techniques seems to be promising and is worth considering for finite element-based assessment.

3.2. Deep drawing mechanism design

The die profile and the blank holding mechanism are the main deep drawing elements that attracted many researchers to improve their design. Improving the design of the deep drawing elements helps in avoiding failure in the produced parts, reducing wear in the die, and generally improving material flow. Conry et al. (1980) studied the optimization of the profile of the die to avoid fracture. They formulated the problem using a mathematical nonlinear programming model. Due to the complexity of that model, they developed an optimization procedure based on regression curve fitting and constrained

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optimization techniques. Ragab and Sommer (1984) studied the optimization of the blank-holding mechanism and its design parameters which include the forming of the holding down plate, the contact conditions on the flange of the drawn component, and the forces acting on it. These parameters are investigated in the case of deep drawing of cylindrical parts through a finite element method. Alexeevich (1992) proposed the use of an elastic element underneath the blank holder to optimize the pressure applied to hold sheet metal blanks during deep drawing. As a result the blank holder deflects and forms the specific contact forces near the internal contour of the blank, while the contact forces near the external contour are not so high. This helps to eliminate wrinkling. Eriksen (1997) studied the relationship between die edge geometry and the maximum wear and the wear distribution over the die edge. He developed a numerical model to represent this relationship, and verified the model using physical experimentation. Based on the developed model, different die edge geometries are examined, including a standard circular edge, an elliptical edge, a tractrix edge and an edge geometry designed especially to make the wear distribution more uniform. His study shows that the maximum wear on a die edge is influenced by the geometry. The findings of Eriksen (1997) were affirmed by a contemporary research conducted by Moshksar and Zamanian (1997). They conducted a series of cupdrawing tests carried out to study the deep drawing of commercial aluminum blanks. The critical die and punch shoulder radii, the limiting blank diameters and the limiting drawing ratios were recorded. Over the ranges of conditions investigated, the drawing process was found to be strongly sensitive to the die and punch-nose radii. The issue of the minimization of die wear by selecting an optimized die profile was readdressed by Jensen et al (1998). They developed a finite-element method and a general optimization technique to re-design the geometry of the die profile of a deep-drawing with respect to minimizing the tool wear. Jurkovic and Jurkovic (2000) used regression analysis to express the drawing force in axisymmetric deep drawing as a function of both the geometry of tool and the tribological conditions of the plastic forming. Such a function is constructed using the results obtained from experiments. The results of performed research indicate that the

mathematical-experimental modelling can be successfully used to define the form of the tool work zone, the parameters of tribological processes and the technological parameters of the deep drawing process. Doege and Elend (2001) devised a new blank holding mechanism in which the blank holder is designed as an elastically deformable thin steel plate, so that deflection is possible and desired. The purpose of this design is to achieve a more homogeneous blank holder pressure. This is done in the new design by allowing the blank holder to adjust itself to the changes in sheet thickness during the deep drawing process. The design parameters of the new mechanism, specifically the blank holder plate thickness and the arrangement of the support elements are determined based on the results of finite element simulations. Choi and Kim (2002) studied the effect of the die shape and the blank thickness as design variables on the difference between the shape of the desired product geometry and the final analysis result after elastic springback. Their objective is to minimize that difference.

3.3. Blank shape design

The selection of an appropriate blank shape and blank mechanical properties helps in reducing scrap and avoiding various types of failure. Iseki and Murota (1986) and Iseki and Sowerby (1995) studied the blank shape design for the deep drawing of nonaxisymmetric cups using finite element simulation. They considered the elimination of earing as the objective. Iseki and Sowerby (1995) studied two cases. The first case considers the calculation of optimum blank shapes when deep drawing square cups. The second case considers the design of a blank such that the finished component is a partially drawn cylindrical cup possessing a square flange of some specified dimensions. They developed an inverse finite-element technique to perform the analysis for calculating the blank shapes. Gea and Ramamurthy (1998) presented a numerical optimization model for square shells in which the objective is to maximize drawability, subject to the constraints that fracture failure and draw-in failure do not occur. The decision variables of that model are the blank design variables that determine the geometry of the blank. Based on that model, they proposed an optimization procedure. They conducted finite element simulation to test the optimization

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procedure on three selected cases. They concluded that, by considering both the drawability and the nonuniformity of the final flange profile, the circular profile can be considered to be the optimal blank shape for square cup drawing. Park et al (1999) proposed a new blank design method combining the ideal forming theory (Chang and Richmond, 1992) with a deformation path iteration method based on finite element analysis. The method consists of two stages: the initial blank design stage and the optimization stage of blank design. The first stage generates a trial blank from the ideal forming theory. Then, an optimum blank of the target shape is obtained with the aid of the deformation path iteration method which has been newly proposed to minimize the shape errors at the optimization stage. Pegada et al (2002) studied the optimization of the blank shape with the objective of minimizing earing. In their analysis, they used the yield function proposed by Barlat (1991) as it is more suitable for three dimensional deformations. They proposed an iterative design algorithm for the optimal selection of blank shape. In the developed algorithm, a numerical simulation is performed after each iteration to check the resulting earing. Earing is numerically evaluated as maximum error, which is defined as the distance between peak and valley on the contour of the cup. Many process parameters are taken into consideration, to perform more realistic simulation. These parameters include friction and blank holder force, as it was not considered in some previous studies as the work of Chung and Richmond (1992). Shim and Son (2001) developed an optimization methodology, referred to as the sensitivity method, to determine the optimal blank shape. The sensitivity method is based on an iterative modification of an undeformed blank shape by moving the nodal positions at the boundary of the blank until the final shape satisfies a target shape. Two finite element simulation runs are conducted at each iteration, which represents a huge computational effort. Shim (2004) proposed a modification of this method. The main difference between the new method and the sensitivity method is that the radius vector, determined by three adjacent boundary nodes during the deformation is used. The direction of the radius vector is utilized as a main parameter for the blank shape modification. The new method requires only a single deformation analysis for each design step and hence reduces the computational effort needed.

Recently, a blank local heat treatment system using laser beams is developed to adjust the mechanical properties of blanks in a restricted area. The produced blanks is referred to as Tailored Heat Treated Blanks (THTB). These blanks are characterized by a distribution of the mechanical properties adapted particularly for the forming conditions amenable to the during deep drawing process. Geiger et al (2004) developed a finite element-based procedure to determine adequate laser parameters for the heat treatment process to enhance the forming limits. Naceur et al (2004b) developed a numerical approach to optimize the shape of the initial blank based on the coupling between the inverse approach used for the forming simulation and an evolutionary algorithm. Experimental results on a square cup show the efficiency and the potential interest of the proposed approach. The main shortcoming of the iterative optimization procedures designed for determining the optimal blank shape design is the large computational time needed. This large computational time results from the large number of iterations of the optimization procedure; while for each iteration, one or more finite element simulation runs are conducted. Hino (2006) developed a new iterative optimization procedure for determining optimal blank shape based on the interaction of high- and low-fidelity simulation models in order to reduce overall computing time. In the iterative optimization procedure, only the corrected low-fidelity model is used. The high-fidelity model, which requires much longer computing time, is used only for the correction of the low-fidelity analysis and validation of the final solution.

3.4. Lubrication system

The lubrication system and the type of lubricant used can significantly affect the process output and the amount of energy consumed. Plevy (1980) studied the minimization of drawing energy consumed in the deep drawing process by reducing the effect of friction. Plevy suggested the use of a solid polymer film lubricating barrier instead of oil lubrication. This lubricating barrier is shown to significantly reduce the drawing energy requirements of pre-coated metal sheet at low tooling clearances. The polymer film has been shown to be equally beneficial in preserving the surface integrity of the coated sheet. Reitzle et al (1983) proposed an optimized lubricant oil

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application method for auto-body parts produced by deep drawing. Bauer and Krebs (1994) investigated the optimum combination of lubricant and sheet surface microstructure experimentally. The experimental results are analyzed statistically to determine the optimum combination of the two parameters.

3.5. Number of redrawing steps

For parts that have geometrical complexities, more than one deep drawing step is required. In this case, the determination of the minimum number of redrawing steps is necessary to reduce production cost. The research work that focused on the minimization of the number of redrawing steps is relatively new. Cao et al (2001) developed an optimization approach based on suitable design rules and inverse finite element for constructing suitable die shapes for the first draw and subsequent drawing steps. The new approach is compared with another one that is based on industrial experience for a selected case from the automotive industry. The new approach was capable of reducing the number of drawing steps from 10 to 6 with lower maximum void volume fraction which is a measure of tearing potential; while the press loads are almost identical. Kim and Hong (2007) studied the minimization of the number of drawing steps for molybdenum which is characterized by high heat and electrical conductivity while maintaining higher mechanical properties at high, as well as low temperatures. However, due to its very low drawability, a multistage process is necessary to make a deep drawn part from the molybdenum sheet. They conducted a parametric study by finite element analysis to evaluate the effect of die design variables. From parametric study results, the design variables of the multi-stage deep drawing process were selected, and based on the selected parameters, a nonlinear process optimization, based on finite element simulation, was conducted to obtain the optimum multi-stage deep drawing process, using a global, as well as a local, optimization algorithms.

(1980) is a good example for that. They formulated a nonlinear mathematical programming model to determine the optimal die profile. This model turned to be very stubborn and complex to be solved analytically. They developed an iterative optimization approach combining regression curve fitting and the techniques for constrained optimization. However, since there is no experimental or simulation verification of this study, there is no assurance for its realistic applicability. Finite element (FE) simulation and analysis provided a fertile environment for improvement and optimization in deep drawing. Furthermore, FE facilitated the implementation of modern and more sophisticated optimization procedures. Bauer and Krebs (1993) were the first to introduce the use of the design of experiments (DOE) technique for the optimization in deep drawing. The DOE is a statistical technique that provides a systematic way of selecting the values of the parameters to be used in conducting either real or FE simulation experiments. The DOE provides statistical tools for analyzing the experimental results and accordingly determining the parameters that have the large effect on the output of the process. This results can provide a good basis for improving the output of the process by controlling the most effective parameters. Browne and Hillery (2003) used the DOE to study the effect of the deep drawing parameters including die geometry, blankholding pressure, top-ram pressure, lubrication, and drawing speed on the punch load and wall thickness variation. Ohata et al (1996) utilized FE simulation for the optimum process design in deep drawing. The optimum process design system is developed by combining both a nonlinear FE analysis code and the nonlinear optimization code. They developed a nonlinear solution algorithm, called sweeping simplex method, to search for the global optimum. They applied this approach to a simple case of two design paramters. and Ohata et al (1998) extended their previous work by considering the case of three design variables. To overcome the complexity in the mathematical models of the deep drawing process, some researchers worked on developing empirical formulas that are based on the FE simulation results. Such empirical formulas are simple to deal with using a suitable optimization algorithm. Tai and Lin (1998) used neural networks to formulate the relationship between the deep drawing process output

4. OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES
Early research work on the optimization in deep drawing utilized simple rule-of-thumb optimization techniques that rely on less rigorous mathematical and analytical tools. The reason for that is due to the complexity of the mathematical models that describe the deep drawing process. The work of Conry et al

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represented by the dimensional error of diameter and cylinder and the process parameters including material thickness, punch diameter, die-cavity diameter and materials-clearance ratio. Based on the developed neural network model, they applied a simulated annealing optimization algorithm to determine the optimal selection of the above mentioned process parameters. Jurkovic and Jurkovic (2000), described in the previous section, used regression analysis to express the drawing force in axisymmetric deep drawing as a function of both the geometry of tool and the tribological conditions of the plastic forming. A simplified efficient finite element method, called the inverse approach (IA), is developed for sheet metal forming processes. The IA is based on the idea of estimating the large elasto-plastic strains in thin metallic panels. It mainly exploits the knowledge of the 3D shape of the final workpiece, and an iterative scheme is used to find the original position of each material point in the initial flat blank after which it is possible to estimate the strains and stresses in the final workpiece. Guo et al (2000) illustrates the applicability of the IA to deep drawing . Lee and Cao (2001) developed an axisymmetric shell element for the multi-step inverse analysis for more accurate prediction of design variables such as the initial blank shape, strain distributions, and intermediate shapes, etc. Naceur et al (2001) used the IA combined with a mathematical programming algorithm to optimize the restraining forces and then to design the drawbeads. Naceur et al (2004a) and Naceur et al (2004b) combined the IA with other optimization techniques. The response surface methodology (RSM) has been recently used for the optimization in deep drawing. The RSM (Box and Wilson, 1951) is an optimization technique that builds on the results obtained by the DOE. It approximates complex design functions, which are usually higher order, using simple first or a second order regression model. Through this approximation, search directions that improve the modeled objective function can be determined. Huh and Kim (2001) used the RSM as an optimization technique to satisfy the objective of obtaining a desired state of strain on the forming limit diagram (FLD). The chosen parameters are the blank holder force and the draw-bead force. Jansson et al (2005) used RSM and space mapping technique to optimize the draw-in of an automotive sheet metal part. The optimization adjusts the draw bead restraining force in the model such that the draw-in in the FE-model

corresponds to the draw-in in the physical process. The conclusion of their study is that space mapping is a very effective and accurate method to use when calibrating the draw-in of a sheet metal process. Zhang et al (2005) pointed out that variability in the deep drawing process may lead to unexpected results which the deterministic models can not predict. They used a general approach to quantify the uncertainties and to incorporate them into RSM model so as to conduct probabilistic based optimization. They applied the probabilistic design model to find the optimal combination of blank holder force and friction coefficient under the presence of variation of material properties. The result shows that by the probabilistic design, the quality index (average defect rates of wrinkling and fracture) improved (reduced) 42% over the traditional deterministic design. The uncertainty and unreliability of the deterministic optimization models used in deep drawing motivated further researchers to apply quality improvement programs such as six sigma (Li et al, 2006).

5. CONCLUSION AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This paper presented a literature review of the optimization in the deep drawing process. It is shown that this area is attracting more researchers due to its importance in improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs. Due to the complex nature of the process, there will be ever growing literature trying to provide more effective optimization techniques. There are many research directions on which this topic can be extended. One direction is the application of modern meta-heuristic search techniques to the different lines of optimization problems presented in this paper. Another direction is the study of more sophisticated optimization models that take into consideration larger number of process parameters and multiple objectives simultaneously.

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