The Bending Process

INTENT The intents of this part of the tutorial are to discuss some basic
mechanical concepts used in describing bending of sheet metal and to introduce a
limiting condition on the amount of deformation that can be imposed in bending. A
superficial summary is
- how can deformation be described?
- What is the minimum bend radius that can be produced?

Introduction

Bending is one of the most common metalworking operations. Parts are made by
bending of sheet stock and bending also is a component of more complex sheet metal
forming operations. Bending is the plastic deformation of metals about a linear axis
called the bending axis with little or no change in the surface area. When multiple bends
are made simultaneously using a die, the process is sometimes called forming. What
distinguishes bending is that the bend axes are linear and independent. Independence
means that bending about one axis has no effect on the bending about the other axis. For
example, a blank with four separate tags along the edges of a rectangular section can be
bent into a box by bending each tab separately. In contrast, forming a box or rectangular
pan from a rectangular sheet by using a punch and die is called a drawing operation. The
corners of the pan are formed simultaneously and the deformation around a corner is
determined by both edges and how they interact at the corner. If the axes of deformation
are not linear or are not independent, the process becomes drawing and/or stretching, not
bending.

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 The bending process is used not only to form parts such as angle sections,
flanges, seams, and corrugations, but also to impart stiffness to the part by increasing its
moment of inertia. Often changes in cross section shape can lead to increasing section
stiffness without the addition of material.

The major concerns in bending are spring back, the minimum length of work
piece needed to form a complex shape, the minimum bend radius possible the forces
required. In this tutorial, we first present an overview of the deformation imposed in
bending with an example of the shifting of neutral axis and its effects on bent part
dimensions. We then define the strain imposed in bending since this quantity is needed
to describe the details of the process. With a definition of strain and a material failure
condition we can determine the minimum bend radius. Finally, the problem of spring
back in bending is discussed and strategies to compensate for spring back are presented.

Deformation in the Bending Process

In shearing a part of the blank is held and force applied to the other part of the
blank. We can imagine that if the clearance is increased sufficiently, the result will be
plastic deformation of the metals rather than material shearing and fracture. The figure
at the right illustrates the forces applied during bending in V-dies, wiping dies, and U-
dies. We can also imagine that when the tooling is retracted from the bent work piece
some elastic recovery or spring back will occur. The final part shape will not be the
shape of the blank as it is held in the die. The obvious solution to this spring back
problem is to over bend the work piece. The amount of over bend is the real question
and a process model, which can predict this, is useful.

The tooling used in bending operations results in the metal being deformed in
localized areas only. The localized stresses occur only in the bend radius. The remaining
flat part of the blank is not stressed during bending. The stresses acting in bending are
illustrated in the following figures. The metal on the outside of the bend radius is
stretched or elongated. The metal on the inside is compressed. If blank fracturing occurs
during bending, it will occur at the outside bend surface. A process model, which
describes strain in the bent region and a failure criterion, can be used to predict the
minimum bend radius (maximum strain), which can be produced. Any wrinkling will
occur on the inside surface of the bend. This wrinkling also has to be taken into account
when designing parts and processes but is usually less of a concern than is outside bend

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fracture.

During bending, one area of the blank is usually held stationary by a pressure
plate called a pad. A local region of the blank is bent and the free blank areas move up
or down to create the change in contour. This free metal movement is often called
swinging and is a characteristic common only to bending operations. In design of a
bending die, the swinging action must be predicted so that no obstacles are placed in the
way. Because of this metal movement, the larger area of the blank is usually held
stationary and the smaller blank area is alloowed to move.

Shifting of the Neutral Axis

Because the sheet metal is stressed in tension on one surface and in compression on the
other, a reversal of stresses must occur somewhere in the sheet. Along a certain surface,
or a line in our two dimensional representations, the stress is zero. This line of zero
stress is called the Neutral axis. If the stress is zero then the change of length along the
neutral axis is zero, This important idea is used is used below to define strain in bending.

Before bending, the flat blank has a certain length, and the length of the neutral axis is,
of course, exactly equal to this original blank length. During bending, the outter surface
of the sheet metal is increased in length and the inside surface of the sheet metal is
decreased in length, but the length of the neutral axis remains the same. The neuteral
axis length is used in many bending calculations. However, in cases of large

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deformation (small bend radius) the stress becomes asymmetric about the geometric
center of the blank thickness and so the location of the zero stress point or the neutral
axis location shifts. For the precise blank-size calculations needed to assure accurate part
dimensions, this shifting of the neutral axis must be predicted and taken into account.
When the blank is first being bent, the neutral axis is near the center of the sheet
thickness. As bending progresses, the neutral axis shifts toward the inside, or
compression side, of the bend. Normally, the neutral axis is measured as a certain
distance from the inside surface of the sheet metal at the bend area.

Approximate positions of the neutral axis for various thicknesses are shown above. For

 constant sheet-metal thickness, the neutral axis shifts closer to the inside surface
as the radius of bend is decreased.
 constant bend radius, the neutral axis shifts closer to the inside surface as the
sheet-metal thickness is increased.

Sheet metal thins slightly in the bend area. The inside surface bends tightly on the die
radius and is held to closer tolerances. Therefore, most parts are dimensioned using radii
to the inside surfaces.

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Strain in Bending

Predicting the bending strain is important in bending process design and

operation. Successful bending processes require
- producing plastic strain so that the work piece is permanently deformed,
- strain to be less than the relevant failure strain (usually fracture but inside radius
wrinkling may be of concern),
- estimates of amount of spring back, which depends on the strain, imposed.

The amount of deformation imposed in bending varies across the blank

thickness. For a given blank thickness, t, we expect the strain to vary with bend radius
R. For a given R we expect strain to be larger with larger work piece thickness. R and t
will turn out to be the process parameters in our definition of strain. The ratio R/t is very
useful in describing sheet deformation in bending and appears in most results and
discussions of bending.

Here and in our discussion of spring back we will use a section of sheet which is
L long and is bent to radius Ri in the die and has a radius Rf when it is removed from the
tooling. The sheet thickness, t, is constant in our development of the bending process

model.

We start with our general definition of strain which is a change in length referred
to the length over which the dimensional change takes place.

e = (lf - lo) / lo = (lf/lo) - 1

the length of the neutral axis stays constant and so

we use the neutral axis length for lo in the deformed state
lo = (R + t/2) a
and lf = (R + t) a

e = { [(R + t) a] / [(R + t/2) a] } - 1

e = 1 / { (2R/t) + 1 }

If the neutral axis shifts (toward the inner surface of the bend), then outer surface
and inner surface strains will be different from this value. The difference between the
outer and inner surface strains increases with decreasing R/t ratio, that is, with sharper
bends.

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Question: Given a sheet which is x wide, y long and z thick, what is the outer
surface strain eo when it is bent to radius r?

 a. eo = x / r
 b. eo = y / r
 c. eo = 1 / (( 2r / z + 1)
 d. eo = ( x + y + z ) / r

Question: If the sheet is twice as thick and bent to the same radius, what will be the
outer surface strain?

 a. 2eo
 b. eo / 2
 c. eo2
 d. other

Question: Many automobile and van body panels are fairly flat or shallow with
relatively sharp bends near their edges so that a cross sectional view is as shown.

If the thickness of the panel is

1.5 mm, R1 = 30 mm and R2 = 2 m, what are the strains in the two bend regions?

 a. e1 = .024, e2 = .00038
 b. e1 = .024, e2 = .00038
 c. e1 = .024, e2 = .00038
 d. other

Question: We might expect serious troubles with imposing deformation and with
springback if the bending strain to be produced in a part is of the order of
magnitude as the strain at yield for the work material. Keeping this in mind, what
is the yield strain for the following, realistic, material? Modulus of elasticity = 207
GPa, Yield strength = 550 MPa.

 a. eY = .00027
 b. eY = .00027
 c. eY = .00027
 d. other

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Work piece Length

In order to calculate the length of work piece length needed to form a part by
bending we will use the mid-thickness or centerline length. For large radius bends the
neutral axis position stays approximately at the mid-thickness of the sheet. Large radius
is generally considered to be larger than about 3-4 times the sheet thickness. For tighter
(smaller radius) bends the shift of the neutral axis toward the inside bend surface means
that the work piece centerline length increases - we will need a longer work piece to
form the part. Also, since work material volume is constant in plastic deformation, the
blank gets thinner in this elongated region. There is also a contraction of the sheet width,
but this is usually negligible when the sheet width is at least 10 times the thickness.

The amount of neutral axis shift depends on the radius of the bend. If very
accurate estimates of initial work piece length are needed, the research literature should
be consulted. We will demonstrate the concept by using a commonly accepted rule of
thumb. We'll say that for bend radius R less than about twice the sheet thickness the
neutral axis is at about one-third of the sheet thickness.

For example, let's calculate the lengths of work piece needed to bend the parts shown if
the work piece thickness is 2 mm.

a) For the bend radius of 8 mm, the R/t ratio is 4 and we'll say that the neutral plane is at
the center of the work piece. The length l is the length of a quarter of a circle and the
blank length, L, needed is

L = 5 mm + 7 mm + 1/4 { Pi(diameter) } = 12 mm + 1/4 { Pi [2(R+t/2)] }

L = 12 mm + 1/4 { Pi [2(8+1)] mm } = 26.14 mm

Note that the inside radius is used to specify the part as is conventional.

b) With a bend radius of 2 mm, R/t = 2/2 and we expect a significant shift in neutral
plane position. If we were very concerned about the effect on workpiece length we
would consult sources in the mechanics of materials to find the expected amount of
neutral plane shift. Here we will use the estimate that the neutral axis is at 1/3 the sheet
thickness. The blank length L for the bend over (180-30)° = 150° is then

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 L = 5 mm + 7 mm + 150/360 { Pi [2(2+.33(2))] } = 18.96 mm

Ignoring the neutral axis shift gives

L = 5 mm + 7 mm + 150/360 { Pi [2(2+.5(2))] } = 19.85 mm

This difference in length means not only material and trimming costs to bring the part to
length but also a loss in location of any features produced on the part before bending.

Question: Calculate the length of workpiece needed to form the part shown in part
c of the Figure above. The general procedure is to compare the bend radius with
the sheet thickness for each section and to calculate the section length including a
change in neutral axis position if necessary. Also, calculate the blank length if
neutral axis shifts are ignored.

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

Minimum Bend Radius

We will describe the minimum bend radius in some detail since it is an important
aspect of bending processes and also introduces the idea of a limiting amount of
deformation, which can be imposed, on a material in a process. The limits of possible
deformation or critical deformation states are important in most processing operations.
For example, in a previous section we have mentioned localized deformation as in
necking detracting from product quality.

If we look at the equation for strain in bending: eo = 1/((2R/t) + 1), we see that as
the R/t ratio decreases, the tensile strain at the outer sheet surface increases. When the
strain reaches the work material fracture strain, further bending will cause material
separation. The minimum bend radius is usually determined by outer surface fracture
and we will pursue this idea. However, other situations which depend on part function
may limit bend radius, e.g., wrinkling of the inner bend surface may be of most concern
if it occurs before fracture initiation at the outer surface.

A MINIMUM BEND RADIUS PROCESS MODEL

In developing a description of the minimum bend radius we first introduce the

process and material parameters that are expected to be important. Whatever is not
included at the start cannot appear in the result, so it is necessary to have some
knowledge of the actual process and of material behavior if the resulting model is to
represent reality.

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 We expect that the minimum bend radius to be related to strain imposed and
material ductility. While we have a good definition if strain, the term "ductility" is vague
and so we want a quantitative measure of the amount of deformation that the material
can undergo before fracture. As with most mechanical properties, fracture strain can be
obtained from tensile testing. The idea is that generally useful data can be obtained from
this test and data for many materials is widely available. There may be no need to run
bending tests if tensile test data is available, which is usually the case.

The concept that we will use is that the minimum bend radius is set by the condition

strain at surface of sheet = fracture strain in tensile test

eo = ef

the true strain at fracture, êf = ln (Ao/Af)

we defined the engineering strain in bending, eo = {[1 /
[(2R/t)+1)]}
but we would rather use true strain so let's convert

true strain ê = ln (l/lo)

using e = (l-lo)/lo
in the form l/lo = 1 + e

we get ê = ln(e+1)

ln(eo + 1) = êf
ln{[1 / [(2R/t)+1)]+1} = ln (Ao/Af)
R/t = 1/2 { [Af / (Ao-Af)] - 1 }

For example a particular material the tensile test reduction of area at

fracture is 50%, or the fracture strain is ê = ln (Ao / Af) = ln (2) = .693. This
mateial is formed into a 2 mm thick sheet and we know that some
anisotropy may be introduced into the material during sheet stock forming.
Ignoring this anisotropy, what is the minimum radius to which this sheet
can be bent?
We will not ask for an answer to the complicated problem: what is the effect
of anisotropy on bent part shape?

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 R/t = 1/2 { [Af / (Ao-Af)] - 1 }
2R/t = { 1 / [ (Ao / Af) - 1 ] } - 1 = { 1 / [2 - 1] } - 1 }
R/t = 0
This is a strange result if we do not remember that R was defined as the radius to
the inside bend surface. So, this result means that the material can be bent over
onto itself with out fracture.

This is a useful result if we are concerned with sealing the top of a can to
the can body by forming a seam by bending the edges of the top and body over
each other.

Exercise

The example above was fairly straightforward to solve and interpret. This
is because we are only dealing with one quantity - sheet thickness and ductility
were given and only the bend radius remained in the minimum bend radius
model. More realistic, more complicated problems arise when there are several
quantities that can be manipulated. For example, we might be interested in the
minimum bend radius when we can vary both sheet thickness and material
(material ductility).
In this exercise, you are given the ability to vary sheet thickness, bend radius and
tensile test reduction of area at fracture. You can change any of these parameters
by moving the sliders left and right.
The questions to be answered ... Once these parameters are set, you may answer
the questions and put your answers in the corresponding field. To check if your
answers are right or wrong, click the button " Answer ". You may reset the
program by clicking " Reset " button and do the exercise again.

Question: Let's talk about our clamp type paper clip. Perhaps tensile test
data is available for a material which is close to, but not exactly the same as,
our material. For example, it may be that the material composition is the
same but data for the heat treated material is not available. Rather than
estimating material properties from available data or running a typical
tensile test, we decide to test the material in the condition and shape in
which it will be used.
If the steel sheet stock test specimen is 0.020 inches thick and 2 inches wide
and after fracture in the tenile test it is 0.018 inches thick and 1.800 inches
wide, calculate the fracture strain, êf, and the percentage area reduction, r.

 a. ef = .80, r = 20%
 b. ef = .21, r = 79%
 c. ef = .21, r = 19%
 d. ef = 19, r = 21%

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 Question: What is the minimum bend radius possible for this material?

 a. Rmin = 0.01 inch

 b. Rmin = 0.033 inch
 c. Rmin = 0.054 inch
 d. Rmin = 0.021 inch

Question: Looking at the paper clip, what is the minimum bend radius on
the spring part? What is the minimum radius on the handle part? The
answers depend on the particular clip and the correct answers below are for
a ... paper clip.

 a. Rmin = 0.01 inch

 b. Rmin = 0.033 inch
 c. Rmin = 0.054 inch
 d. Rmin = 0.021 inch

Bending Force Model

The figure shows the bending of the workpiece in a V die. For machine
specification, deflection calculation or to investigate the effects of process
parameters such as lubrication on process performance we need values for the
forces acting. The major force is the punch force P.

At first glance the bending of a sheet metal blank might look like the
simple bending of a rectangular cross section beam. In this view of the process
we expect the bending force to depend on work material strength and the
thickness and length of the blank. What is missing in this simple beam model is
the influence of beam width and so we might move on to using a plate model.
This again brings in material strength and workpiece shape. Even with this,

11
 perhaps mode accurate, model we are missing at least two factors. These are the
large plastic deformation and the effects of process tooling. Process tooling
introduces friction and also the possibility of deformation constraint. Much as in
the hardness test where surface material surrounding the indentation affects the
indentation force, constraint imposed by process tooling on the way that the
blank can deform will influence bending force. We will include the die opening
W, as shown in the figure as the only explicit tooling effect. Other factors are
included in the factor K. The general expression for the Maximum bending
force P is:

P=K*(UTS)*L*T2/W

K is a factor depending on die shape. For a V die K is 1.2 ~ 1.3. For

wiping and U dies, K is, respectively, 2.5 and 2 times the V die value.

The bending force also changes with punch travel. An increase in force is
expected since metals strain harden, but there are other factors which influence
the bending force. The bending force may decrease as the bends is completed
due to geomtrical or shape effects. The force increases sharply as the punch
bottoms in the case of die bending. In air bending or free bending, the force does
not increase again after it begins to decrease near the completion of the bend.

Question: A steel sheet has UTS of 150,000 psi. It is 0.1 inch thick 4 inch
long and bent on a V die with die opening width of 2 inches. What is the
bending forece?

 a. F = 3600 lbs
 b. F = 12000 lbs
 c. R = 600 lbs
 d. F =150000 lbs

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 Question: If we double both the length and thickness of the sheet, the force
will change by

 a. 2x
 b. 4x
 c. 1/2 x
 d. 8x

Bending Direction with respect to Blank Anisotropy

Cold rolling of sheets produces anisotropy because of alignment of

impurities, inclusions, and voids and this is called mechanical fibering. We can
think of a directional line in the sheet along the direction of rolling as the rolling
direction . The question that naturally arises is how to orient the bend with
respect to this material/processing direction. When metal is bent parallel to this
direction, cracking sometimes occurs due to the material structure, see the figure.
To avoid this, bendd liness should be perpendicular to the rolling direction.

Question: Does the tendency toward cracking

 a. decrease
 b. increase
 c. stay the same

as the angle between the bending direction and rolling direction is increased?

Springback and Compensation

Let's try to motivate the discussion of springback by considering the

following questions.

Question: If a sheet of Al of thickness X is bent to a radius of R what is

strain at the sheet surface?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

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 Question: What is the yield strain of typical Al alloy? You might remember
that for some material stress-strain curves there is a smooth transition from
the elastic to the plastic deformation regions. In such cases, sometimes a line
offset from, and parallel to the elastic line is drawn and the yield strength is
then defined as the easy-to-see intersection of this offset line and the stress-
strain curve. This is call the .2% offset yield strength.

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

Question: Remembering that unloading occurs parallel to the elastic portion

of the stress-strain curve, compare the amount of elastic recovery to the
yield strain when the the load needed to produce the uniaxial tensile
deformations specified below is released. The material is elastic-linearly
strain hardening. The modulus of elasticity is 29,000,000 psi, yield strength
is 45,000 psi and slope of the plastic part of the stress-strain curve is 0.002
psi. That is, the material stress- strain behavior in tension is
stress = Eê for elastic deformation
stress = E(ê at yield) + 0.002 (ê - .002) in the plastic deformation range
Springback is what percentage of the strain under load for

a)applied stress of

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

b)applied stress of

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

The questions above are intended to point out four issues:

1) springback or elastic recovery occurs when the part is removed from the die,
2) the amount of springback may be a substantial portion of the intended
deformation,
3) the amount of amount of springback depends on the strain or stress that the
material is subjected to and on the elastic modulus of the material,
4) a process model which predicts the amount of springback is useful since then
the amount of overbending to compensate for springback can be calculated.

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Description of Stress/Strain in Bent Sheet

The Figure shows the stresses acting as a sheet is bent. The largest tensile
stress occurs in the outside surface region of the sheet. The tensile stress
decreases toward the center of the sheet thickness and becomes zero at the
neutral axis. Compressive stress increases from the neutral axis toward the inside
of the bend. The maximum stress should be less than the ultimate strength of the
material to avoid localization of deformation and fracture.

Even with large plastic deformation in bending, the center region of the
sheet remains elastic and so on unloading elastic recovery occurs. That is, when
the die opens, the elastic band tries to return to its original flat condition. The
plastic zones prevent full recovery but some slight return does occur. This
movement of the part is known as springback. There is also some elastic
recovery in the plastically deformed material.

Springback factor

There are two tasks lying before us if we want to understand and

compensate for springback. One is obtaining or developing a predictive model of
the amount of springback. The other, which we start with, is defining a quantity

15
 to describe the amount of spring back. A quantity characterizing spring back is
the spring back factor, Ks.

In the section above on the definition of strain in bending we defined the

angles ai and af as the bend angle in the die and the bend angle fot the final part
configuration. It seems logical to define the amount of spring back in terms of
these two angles. Let's use

K s = af / a i

Now that we have decided on the quantities to use, we need a relation

between them. This needed relationship is provided by the neutral axis length.
For extreme (small) bend radius there is a shift in neutral axis position. We will
ignore this factor since springback is of most concern when bend radius is large,
elastic region size is large and elastic recovery is relatively large. We know that
the neutral axis length is constant and with no shift in the neutral axis position
we know the center of curvature to neutral axis distance. We set the in-die and
out-of-die neutral axis lengths equal to each other

(Ri + t/2) ai = (Rf + t/2) af

and so

Ks = af / ai = (Ri + t/2) / (Rf + t/2)

We note from this expression that Ks depends only on the R/t ratio. Ks =
1 indicates no springback, and Ks = 0 indicates complete elastic recovery.

Question: A 0.5 inches, 90° bend is to be made in a 0.060 inches thick, 10

inches long stainless steel sheet. If the springback factor for this material is
0.5, by how much must the sheet be overbent to get the desired bend radius?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.

16
PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR AMOUNT OF SPRINGBACK

On reading the previous question two questions may arise.

1. What are typical tolerances in bent parts and how do the magnitudes of them
compare to over bend allowances?
2. Where did the value for spring back factor come from?
The tolerance attainable depends on the particular material, material shape and
dimensions and the process tooling. Since there are so many variables, which
complicate the issue and we are interested in generally useful results, we will not
consider the first question in detail. The second question has two answers. Spring
back can be measured and so tests with different materials and amounts of
deformation can be run to get empirical results. The second way to answer the
question is to use a model(which has been experimentally validated) which
predicts the amount of spring back.

By now we probably expect the amount of spring back to depend on the

material modulus of elasticity and the stress to which the material has been
subjected. That is, as in the tensile test analogy above, the unloading line is
parallel to the elastic line and so the amount of elastic recovery will then depend
on the slope of the unloading line and the height of the point on the stress-strain
curve from which unloading occurs. When this idea is carried over into the real
three-dimensional case, or even two-dimensional idealizations, there are several
complicating factors. Most notably, blank size and shape and the bend radius
affect spring back behavior. A widely-used spring back model is presented
below. Before going onto to it, it might be useful to try to deduce the form of the
model by doing the following exercise.

Spring back is usually expressed in terms of initial (in-die) and final bend
radii and we will use

Ri / Rf

as the process output.

Exercise

In the following bending exercise, you are free to chang any of the
corresponding parameters by moving its slider left and right. Then you can
bend the sheet by clicking the button " Bend ". After that sheet is bent 90
degree and springback to a centain degree. Three questions are asked about
this springback. You may put your answers into the corresponding answer
boxs. To check if you are right or wrong you may click the button " Answer
" to see the corret answers.

17
 To see the model represented in the exercise, CLICK.

The cubic term is probably unexpected. The cubic term is usually small
compared to the other terms. Even the simplified version of the model without
the cubic term is not easy to interpret. We offer some general results which are
observed and are implications of the model.

Some variables and their effects on spring back are as follows:

 Harder sheet metals have greater degrees of spring back due to their high yield
strengths and the resulting larger elastic bands in the bends.
 A sharper or smaller bend radius reduces spring back by creating a larger plastic
zone. However, DtThe higher stresses in the outside surface can lead to fracture.
 Thicker sheets have less spring back because more plastic deformation occurs for
the same die radius.

Compensation

Springback must be compensated for in bending operations, otherwise

the operation won't yield parts of the desired dimensions and shape. Several
methods are used to overcome or counteract the effects of springback:

 Overbending Overbending of the formed area is one means of compensation. In

practice a 2% addition to the angle of the bend is sufficient allowance for
springback in steel parts. Care must be exercised in applying this allowance,
however, because thin steel tends to springback more than thicker steel. The
springback model presented above explicitly includes sheet thickness.

Flanges with a curved surface require greater stress to bend the metal and
do not spring back as much as straight-line bends. This is an example of the type
of bending influencing or constraining the deformation process. Bending process
models including such effects are few and far between since the deformation
process is complex and there are so many specific cases that generally useful
results are not available from these very specific cases. Knowledge and

18
 experience gained through trial and error seem to be the best guides for
estimating needed overbends.

 Bottoming or setting Large, short-time loading or impact type loading applied

at the bottom of the bend produces high compressive stresses that set or hold the
bend. A bead is placed on the punch at the bend area as shown in the Figure to
produce local deformation. A problem with this form of handling springback is
that the deformation is not well controlled. Variations in the bead, the blank
thickness and die and punch geometries produce different degrees of
deformation.
 Stretch bending can be used to control springback and is also a way to
introduce additional plastic deformation into the blank. This addition of plastic
deformation may be necessary if small strain is to be produced in the formed
sheet. As illustrated above in the calculations of strain in large radius bends, the
strain may be of the order of the yield point strain and so the part may almost
completely spring back. This leaves us with a flat sheet. A way around this
problem is to stretch the sheet into the plastic deformation region and then add
the part shape strain. This idea is discussed in more detail in the Drawing section
of this tutorial. The same concept can be used to control springback in bending.

In stretch bending the sheet is first stretched so that the blank is stressed
past the yield strength. The sheet is then forced over the punch to obtain the
desired contour. This prestressing before bending results in very little
springback. Only relatively large radii are bent by this method, since the
imposition of small strain is a problem and because the stress added in bending
to sharp radii would take the prestressed metal beyond its ultimate tensile
strength.

19
SHEARING PROCESS

INTENT: This short description of the shearing process and the presentation of a simple
process model has two intents. One is to describe certain aspects of the process. The
process is described in overview. The other intent is to introduce some aspects of
process modeling. The first steps in process modeling are process description and
deciding on the variables to be included in the model. These steps are emphasized here
and an available process model used. More involved process models and process model
development are considered as the tutorial proceeds to other sheet metal forming
process.

Introduction

Before a sheet metal part is formed, the workpiece or blank that will be formed
into the final part is removed from sheet metal stock. This is usually done by a shearing
process. The shearing process involves cutting sheet metal by subjecting a narrow region
of it to shear stresses imposed by two cutting edges, see Figure 1. The shearing is carried
out by placing the sheet stock on a tool plate or die, labeled 1, and clamping it with
another plate, 2. A clamping force Q holds the workpiece. On lowering the punch, 3, a
material deformation zone develops in the punch-die clearance zone. Intense
deformation of the workpiece between the punch and die occurs and the workpiece is
separated. The punch force, F, changes during the process as the workpiece is deformed,
strain hardened and finally separates. We can imagine the force increasing as punch-
work contact increases and the work material deforms and then a decrease in force as the
material separates into two pieces. We might be interested in the punch force profile or
only the peak force. For example, maximum machine deflection or power required will
depend on the maximum force. Process design such as setting the clearance to obtain
acceptable edge characteristics for a particular material and blank shape probably
requires knowledge of how the sheared edge is formed and the forces acting over the
entire deformation process.

20
 Process model are quantitative, and so predictive, relationships between the
controllable process parameters and the process outputs. The process outputs or
dependent variables of interest are the punch force and the geometric characteristics of
the workpiece edge; the position and accuracy of edge location and the shape of the
sheared edge. The process parameters or independent variables which determine punch
force and edge characteristics are the material, its heat treatment state, workpiece
thickness, die and punch shape and the die-punch spacing or clearance. Examples of
useful process models are, punch force as a function of material, workpiece thickness,
and clearance and sheared edge roughness as a function of work material, thickness, and
clearance.

A useful process model describes the process or part characteristic of interest in

terms of the important process parameters. The idea is to find or develop a process
model, which includes those factors needed to describe the process output of interest
while not including factors which have only secondary effects but complicate the
development or use of the model. Serious study of the actual process is needed before
the relevant process characteristics can be identified and the less important process
parameters eliminated from consideration.

21
 Shearing Operations

There are various shearing operations. They can be classified as follows: (See Figure 2 )

 Punching; in which the slug removed from the blank is not used to form the part, also
called piercing.
 Blanking; in which the slug is the blank to be further processed.
 Die cutting; which consists of the following operations used to produce more complex
blanks which might be the final part:
o Perforation, or punching a number of holes in a sheet;
o Parting, or shearing the sheet into two or more pieces;
o Notching, or removing pieces of various shapes from the edges;
o Lancing, or leaving a tab without removing any material

Mechanism of Shearing

Metallographic studies (polishing and etching metal sections to highlight

microstructure) of the macro and microstructure of parts resulting from shearing
processes have shown that in the shearing zone the material undergoes important
structural changes and is work-hardened. Shearing includes three successive phases:

 The elastic phase during which sheet metal is compressed across and slightly deformed
between the punch and die, the stress and deformation in the material do not exceed the
elastic limits;
 The plastic phase in which the punch penetrates into the material to a certain depth,
pressing it into the hollow of the cutting plate with bending and stretching of material in
the clearance region. The deformation of the material becomes permanent and the stress
exceeds the yield strength of the work material and increases steadily with further punch
motion. At the end of this phase, the stress in the material close to the cutting edges
reaches a value corresponding to the material shear strength.
 The fracture phase during which the strain in the material reaches the fracture limit,
micro cracks appear which turn into macro cracks, and separation of the parts of work
piece occurs. The cracks in the material start from the cutting edges and propagate along
the slip planes until complete separation of the part from the sheet occurs. The punch
advances further, pushing the separated part through the bore of the cutting plate.

The punch travel required to complete the shearing process depends on the
maximum shear strain that the material can undergo before fracture. Thus a brittle metal,
or one that is highly cold worked, requires much less travel of the punch to complete
shearing than does a ductile material.

Observation of the sheared surface shows two distinct regions. A bright one
which results from the contact and rubbing of the sheared edge against the walls of the
die or punch, corresponding to the plastic phase of deformation. A rough region further
down or away from the cutting edges, which is caused by fracture of the material. The
ratio of the bright to rough areas on the sheared edge increases with ductility of the sheet

22
 metal; it decreases with increasing material thickness and clearance between the punch
and die. We expect plastic deformation to require more energy than fracture and so the
larger the sheared region the higher the force. While fracture will require less force to
separate the material, it is an uncontrolled process and so results in less desirable edge
shape and poor edge location accuracy.

Major Factors in Shearing Process

The quality and accuracy of shearing can be affected by punch force, clearance
between the punch and the die, mechanical properties of the sheet metal, speed of the
punch, thickness of the sheet, state of the cutting edges and and lubrication.

 Clearance is the most important factor determining the shape and quality of the sheared
edge. When clearance increase, the zone of deformation becomes larger and the edges
become rougher. The material is pulled into the clearance area, and the edges of the
sheared zone become more and more rounded.
 Punch force, the resultant force F (Figure 1) is applied at a small distance A from the
cutting edge, producing a moment M = F*A. This causes the sheet metal to rotate and
deformation to penetrate into the clearance between the cutting edges. Although the
material is clamped by force Q, it will bend in the shear zone at a small angle of 5 - 10
degrees and the lateral force F1 reaches relatively high values.
 Punch speed determines the strain rate and the width of the deformation zone. Higher
speeds result in a narrower deformation zone and a smoother sheared surface.

A Simple Punch Force Model

We start our discussion of process modeling with a simple model of punch force.
The model that we will end up with has proven to be useful for estimating punch force.
The general plan of model development is,
- to first qualitatively describe the process, or more specifically, describe the aspects of
the process that are of interest, and let's call this our physical model,
- then to describe this physical process quantitatively, to get a mathematical model,
- and finally to gather the data necessary and demonstrate use of the model, say by doing
an example problem.
Remember, this is the start of our discussion of process modeling so our approach will
be simple in the details included so as to emphasize the model development plan or
scheme.

Physical process: If we look closely at a sheared edge we will see the two different
deformation zones described above. A plastically deformed region and a fractured
region will be seen. So, let's say the processes we want to describe as leading to the
punch force are plastic deformation and fracture. These processes and the relevant
material properties used to describe them are covered in the Material Behavior section,
which started this tutorial. Further, we are probably most interested in the maximum
punch force since this quantity places limits on the shearing processes that can be

23
performed using a given machine and also is useful for specifying machine capacity
needed for a given shearing operation.

Punch force model: We know that the force acting to cause a stress is the force divided
by the area over which it acts. We also know that material strengths define certain
material states. Let's start our punch force model development by defining the maximum
punch force, F, as stress times area.

F = sA

Now we need to worry about details. A easy worry to allay is the area. Realizing
that there are two areas (plastic deformation and fracture zones) over which different
stresses act, we define a sheared area as the product of the sheared length and the
thickness of the sheared layer. For example, for a circular punch the sheared length is
approximately the length of the punch periphery or the punch circumference. We'll call
the sheared length L, the thickness of the plastic deformation region tp and the fractured
region thickness tf.

A = L tp + L tf = L (tp + tf)

tp + tf = workpiece thickness = t

The stresses acting over these areas are less obvious. At first glance we might
think that the stress acting in the plastic deformation region is the material shear yield
strength, but this ignores strain hardening. The ultimate strength is another candidate
since it describes the deformation state at which strain localization occurs (in a tensile
test) and this situation leads rapidly to fracture. We'll use some fraction, k p, of the
ultimate tensile strength, UTS, of the work material. The fracture stress, s f, is less
problematic and we will use it. The punch force is then

F = kp UTS L tp + sf L tf

The plastic deformation layer thickness and fracture layer thickness are portions
of the workpiece thickness and let's call the fractions kpt and kft, so that

F = kp UTS L kpt t + sf L kft t

With the next step and the hint that we will probably have to rely on
experimental results to determine k, you should see where this is heading. Our next step
is to say that the fracture strength can be described as a fraction, kf, of the UTS. Then

F = kp UTS L kpt t + kf UTS L kft t

or

F = {kp kpt + kf kft} UTS L t

24
and as long as we are going to rely on experiments for values for the k's let's combine all
the k's and get our final punch force model,

F = K UTS L t = K UTS (sheared length) (plate thickness)

The factor K includes all the effects not explicitly included (UTS, sheet thickness,
sheared length) in the model. Some of these other factors are,

 the work-hardening of the material during deformation;

 the non-homogeneity of the material;
 the non-uniformity of the thickness of the sheet metal during shearing;
 the value of the clearance;
 the state of the cutting edges of tools;

Exercises Related to Punch force

Let's get a value for K and then calculate punch force.

Measured Punch Force - Determination of K

Question 1: If you want to make a beverage can, you need to cut off a piece of
aluminum sheet first. Assume its UTS is 43,500 psi, thickness is 1/32 inch and
cutting length is 3 inches, What's the required punch force?

 a. P = 43500 psi
 b. P = 2855 psi
 c. P = 1210 psi
 d. P = 4078 psi

Question 2: Which material property do you expect to be most important in

determining the force required to shear sheet stock?

 a. Young's Modulus
 b. Toughness which is area under the stress - strain curve
 c. UTS
 d. Strain to fracture in tensile test.

Clearance

The punch-die or shear edge-table clearance is an important quantity since it

affects the size and shape of the deformation zone and so plays a role in determining
shearing force and cut edge characteristics. The appropriate value of clearance mainly
depends on the thickness of the sheet stock and on the strength and strain hardening
behavior of the work material. Other factors such as the shape and state of the punch and
die and shearing speed also need to be considered when specifying clearance since these
also affect the formation of the deformation zone.

25
 The problem can be stated simply - how do I set the process parameters so that a
deformation zone forms which produces a high quality sheared edge? The answer to this
question is not simple. First, a definition of what constitutes a "high quality" sheared
edge is needed. Then two very difficult questions arise.
1. What is the relationship between shear zone shape and size and sheared edge
characteristics?
2. How do process parameters affect shear zone characteristics?
Our intent here is not to develop, or even describe, such a detailed process model. A
qualitative overview of some concepts related to setting a value for clearance is
provided.

Exercises Related to Clearance

First let's get a feel for realistic values for clearance by doing this exercise.

CLICK

From this exercise you noticed that for some combinations of sheet thickness and
material strength result in the sheet not being sheared. If the clearance is increased
incrementally, shearing occurs at some value of clearance with a rough edge being
produced. With increasing clearance the process becomes more smooth giving a
relatively clean sheared edge. With further increase in clearance, the cut edge becomes
rougher and more ragged with burr formation. If the clearance becomes very large,
bending rather than shearing occurs. Bending is an important sheet metal froming
process and is considered in some detail further on in this tutorial.

Experimental studies have shown that the best results are given for a value of
clearance which can be estimated by :

j= k*g

Where j is the clearance, g is the thickness of the sheet metal and k is a coefficient
whose value depends on the hardness of the material:

 ---for soft materials: k= 0.02 ... 0.06;

 ---for hard materials: k= 0.06 ... 0.09;

Question 3: Steel sheet with thickness of 1 mm is to be used to make a flat

spring. The first step is in the production process is blanking. What is the
recommanded clearance for shearing this material?

o a. between 0.0 ~ 0.05 mm

o b. between 0.06 ~ 0.16 mm
o c. between 0.1 ~ .5 mm
o d. between 0 ~ 1.0 mm

26
The Drawing Process

INTENT: We will study aspects of the drawing process for several reasons. First, it is a
widely used process and so is worth knowing about. From the process analysis and
process modeling point of view we will introduce some new aspects of material and
process behavior. Topics which have not been covered in the ealier parts of this tutorial
include:
- a process in which biaxial loading of the workpiece is important,
- concepts of allowable deformation and material failure described in terms of two
strains,
- an application in which blank anisotropy is important.

Introduction

In "drawing or "deep drawing", flat sheets are formed into cylindrical or box
shaped parts by a punch that presses the blank into a die cavity. The configuration of the
process is shown in the Figure and we can imagine the advancing punch pulling or
drawing the workpiece into the die. Typical parts produced are beverage cans, pots and
pans, containers of all shapes and sizes and automobile body panels.

Many drawn parts are cup-like and many aspects of drawing more general
shapes can be see in cup drawing. The basic parameters in deep drawing a cylindrical
cup are shown in the Figure. A circular blank, with a diameter Do and thickness to,is
placed over a die opening with a corner radius of Rd. The blank is held in place with a
blank holder, or hold-down ring, which applies the binder or blank hold down force,
BHF. A punch, with diameter Dp and a corner radius Rp, moves downward forming a
cup.

Several process characteristics are easily seen and some of these are: - when the punch is
retracted from the die, spring back of the part is expected,
- the primary loading imposed on the wall of the forming part is tension,
- with tensile loading, strain localization leading to material failure may be a problem.
Questions that occur are:

27
- What limits does this kind of process and loading impose on parts that can be made?
- How can we predict failure in this complex loading situation?
- Why is there a "blank holder"?
- What are the effects of friction on the process and on part characteristics?

Metal drawing refers to those operations, which exert tensile and associated compressive
stresses over a large area of the blank or forming part. Unlike bending operations in
which metal is plastically worked in a relatively small area, drawing operations impose
plastic deformation over large areas. Not only are large areas of the forming work piece
being deformed, but the stress states are different in different regions of the part and
complicated stress states arise in complex parts. Underlying process or tool design
(specifying processing conditions and punch and die shapes) is the ability to describe the
strain and stress fields produced in different regions of part as functions of punch, die
and blank shapes. There is also the need to be able to predict material failure and spring
back.

Stress States Acting

As the punch advances the deforming blank assumes the shape of the punch and
eventually the shape of the space between the punch and die. Depending on the part the
work material may be forced to deform in a complex way. As a starting point we can
consider what appear to be three regions undergoing different types of deformation:
- the flat portion of the blank which has not yet entered the die cavity, i.e., the flange,
- the portion of the blank being drawn into the die cavity, i.e., the wall region,
- the region of contact between the blank and the punch bottom.
As the cup is being formed the flange region is subjected to a tensile stress due to the
punch pulling the blank into the die cavity. As the bank moves into the die the flange
diameter or peripheral length is decreased. A compressive stress acts in the tangential or
hoop direction. This compressive tangential stress can lead to wrinkling of the flange
and so a hold down plate or binder is used. The blank hold down force, BHF, can
prevent flange wrinkling but also gives rise to a friction force, which restrains blank
flow into the die.

28
 An element in the forming cup wall is subjected to longitudinal and tangential or
hoop tensile stresses. The tensile hoop stress is caused by the cup being held tightly on
the punch because of its contraction due to the tensile stresses in the cup wall. We can
infer a complicated stress state at the die shoulder region as the compressive hoop stress
in the flange changes to a tensile stress in the tangential direction in the cup wall.

The stress state in the contact region between the bottom of the punch and the
cup is of less concern since deformation is less extreme and failure less likely there.
However, this is not always the case. Complex shapes may be imposed on can bottoms
to increase can strength. The domed shape on the bottom of aluminum beverage cans is
accompanied by a raised ridge.

Question: Estimate the radius of curvature of the sharpest radius on the bottom of
an aluminum beverage can and calculate the strain imposed in making this bend.
Assume that the process to form the bend is simple bending (bending along a
straight line) and that the blank thickness is 0.006 inches. The order of magnitude
of the strain is

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

An Example of a Processing Window

If we consider the interaction of the process variables and the stress state in the
forming cup wall we can see an example of what is called a processing window. The
process parameter or independent variable of interest here is the blank hold down force.
The process behavior or dependent variable of interest is failure of the wall of the cup
being formed. We'll plot cup failure height along the vertical direction in a graph that we
want to use to describe the process. BHF is plotted along the horizontal axis.

Flange wrinkling occurs as the cup height increases during drawing. If BHF is
increased a deeper cup can be drawn before flange wrinkling occurs and a safe forming
zone is separated from a wrinkling failure zone by an increasing slope line as shown in
the Figure. Increasing BHF increases the size of the safe forming zone. However, as the
cup is being formed the stress acting in the cup wall increases and at some cup height
the wall will fail by fracture or tearing. As BHF is increased, the force restraining the
flow of work material into the die increases, the punch force needed to draw the cup into
the die increases, the tensile stress in the cup wall increases and the wall tends to failure.
This behavior is represented by the decreasing slope line on the graph and the area
above this line is a region of work piece failure by fracture. For a given cup height, h 1,
there is a window of allowable blank hold down force, BHF1 - BHF2. We'll see this
general idea again below when we define a region of strain space describing material
forming limits in terms of applied strain.

29
Pure Drawing

In pure drawing the blank can flow freely into the die cavity. Binder or holddown force
does not exert significant restraint on the flow of the work material.

At first contact with the blank, the punch forces the sheet metal to bend to the
radius of the die shoulder and to the punch radius. This bending deformation continues
with punch advance as more of the blank is pulled into the die cavity and the part wall
forms. No appreciable deformation occurs under the bottom of the punch. As the punch
advances, the flange area decreases and compressive stresses develop as described
above leading to buckling or wrinkling problems. Tensile stresses act in the walls of the
part as it is being drawn. Wall failure will be by tearing.

30
 There is not a great deal of control over the deforming blank. For example, in
cup drawing the punch diameter has to be less than the die cavity diameter. So, the cup
is conical as it is being formed and only in the ideal case will it be cylindrical when it is
fully formed. That is, we shouldn't expect an ideal result - a perfectly cylindrical,
uniform wall thickness can - from the relatively unconstrained deformation process
imposed on the wall by the punch drawing the blank into the die cavity. There is a
relatively large portion of the forming part in the wall section and little direct control can
be exerted over this deformation region. Parts which do not require high accuracy
features or very uniform wall thickness can be made by pure drawing

Ironing

To form unifrom wall thickness cans the ironing process is used. In this process
the punch draws a pre-formed can through a draw ring. The space between the punch
and draw ring or die is less that the initial cup wall thickness and so the wall becomes
thinner and the cup height increases. Close tolerance cans require high precision tooling
and little allowable tool wear.

Question: In manufacture of aluminum beverage cans several ironing operations

may be required. If in one of these steps a 2.989 inches diameter punch and 3.000
inches diameter ironing ring are used to iron a can with initial wall thickness of
0.007 inches, what is the strain imposed on the work material in the longitudinal
direction?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

Stretch Forming

The initial stage of pure drawing involves primarily bending of the blank near
die and punch shoulders. In contrast to pure drawing processes, some sheet-metal
forming processes include large, imposed stretching of the work material. Stretching
involves restraining blank motion so that the work material is plastically deformed over
its entire area. An example in which stretching is necessary is in the forming of large
radius or shallow parts. As pointed out in an earlier section of this tutorial, the strains
imposed in shallow parts may be of the order of the strain at yield. In the extreme case
the part may completely spring on removal from the die. By stretching the sheet into the
plastic zone and then imposing the part shape shallow parts can be formed. Sheet metal
forming processes can include differing amounts of drawing and stretching. > In pure
stretch forming, the blank flange is securely clamped by the binder and/or with draws
beads (draw beads are described below). The blank is prevented from flowing freely into
the die cavity. A punch is forced into the center of blank and deformation occurs in the
area initially within the die opening as shown in the Figure.

31
Force Requiremented for Drawing

The drawing force can be calculated fairly accurately using available formulas.
A simple, useful model follows.

In most drawing operations the metal is worked close to its ultimate strength. For
this reason the ultimate strength. of the material is commonly used as the basis for
estimating force or pressure requirements. In fact, a rough estimate of the force required
for drawing a part is the force required to " pull its bottom out" . The force required to
do this is equal the cross section area of the metal in the side wall of the part multiplied
by the ultimate tensile strength of the material. The force is then

F = (circumference) (wall thickness) (UTS)

and for a cylindrical cup this is

F = Pi x D x T x UTS

where D is the diameter of the shell, T is the wall thickness of the shell and UTS is the
ultimate tensile strength of the material. If non-circular cross sections are approximated
by an "effective diameter" this formula can be applied for drawn parts of all shapes.

Question: A cylindrical cup of diameter 6 cm and 1.5 mm wall thickness is to be

drawn from a material with ultimate tensile strength of 120 MPa. What is the
maximum drawing force required?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

Question: A rectangular cross section cup which is 3 cm by 6 cm is drawn from 1.5

mm thick, 120 MPa utimate tensile strength sheet metal. If the process is to be
approximated with a cylindrical cup drawn from the same work material, what is
the cup effective diameter for the drawing force to be the same as in the rectangular cup
case?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

32
Drawbeads

A general statement of the drawing process design and operation problem is,
produce the desired local strain at all points on a piece of sheet metal. What makes this
problem difficult is, amoung other issues;
- in real parts the shape (strain) may change greatly over very small distances,
- material properties and surface characteristics change during the forming process,
- often the deforming region of the workpiece is removed from the area of process
control action, e.g., in deep drawing the deformation in the relatively free part wall is
controlled in part by binder pressure.
The extreme case of controlling blank deformation is clamping the blank periphery and
performing a stretching operation. Less drastic is controlling the BHF to restrain
workflow into the die.

A little thought about drawing real parts quickly leads to the conclusion that
producing complex shapes calls for changing amounts of work flow constraint around
the die periphery and over the punch stroke. An example is offered by the simple case of
drawing a rectangular pan, say the oil pan for an automotive engine which is rectangular
in cross section shape and probably has two different levels or pan depths. As drawing
starts the rectangular blank is pulled into the die cavity and the primary blank
deformation is bending around the die and punch shoulders. As drawing precedes it is
easier to draw the sides of the rectangular blank into the die than it is to draw in the
corner regions. The developing corner requires a more complex deformation than
forming the straight wall. We probably want to control material flow into the die, e.g., to
produce uniform deformation and part properties. To do this we will have to exert more
material flow restraint in some regions of the die that in other regions, e.g., more
restraint along the straight sides than at the corners. In addition to different material flow
constraints around the die we may want to vary constraint with punch position. When
drawing the two level oil pan less constraint may be desirable near the end of the punch
stoke since drawing force is high and wall tearing is a concern.

A complicated way to address the need for locally varying workflow restraint is to build
a segmented binder in which the BHF exerted by each segment can be independently
controlled. A simpler solution is to build local structures on the flange region of the die.
A protrusion on the die face will restrain blank motion since the work piece will have to
flow over it. The bending of the work piece, and a small amount of increased friction,
offers some control over the way that the blank flows into the die. The Figure is
intended to show such a protrusion or draw bead. Effective die design requires
specifying the best height, length, radius and location of the draw bead for a part.

The state of the technology seems to be the beginnings of implementing active binder
control. In some advanced applications BHF is varied during the punch stroke. At the
research level (and a in very few industrial implementations) work is proceeding in
applying segmented binders so that BHF can be varied around the die as well as along
punch stroke. The use of controllable height, or active, draw beads is only just starting in
research level work.

33
An Exercise

Drawing process design and operation is complicated since there are many
variables, which enter into determining workpiece deformation, and their effects vary
during the process. Not only are there many processes but also they may be nonlinear.
The following exercise is intended to point out some process variables and how they
affect the process. We'll consider two cases.
1. In one case we have a two-dimensional drawing process, e.g., an idealization of the
center region of the corner section of a rectangular pan. The goal is to set values of BHF
and coefficient of friction so that neither wrinkling nor tearing of the forming part
occurs. We realize that punch force varies with punch position and that coefficient of
friction is not a truly controllable variable. However, friction exists and has to be taken
into account in process design. This exercise is related to the idea of a processing
window, which was discussed above.
2. The second case is more complicated. It includes setting draw bead height. What we
have simulated here is a region on the straight side of a rectangular blank, which is near
the corner. So, we have to worry about wrinkling at the corner and so apply a BHF and
also want to restrain the straight section and so need a draw bead of some height. We'll
ask two questions, both related to drawing the pan without wall tearing. The questions
are:
if the minimum draw bead height is 2 mm, what is the useful range of draw bead
heights? i.e., what is the maximum draw bead height for no tearing.
what is the maximum useful BHF as a function of die-blank coefficient of friction?

Factors Which Affect Work Material and Process

The intent of this tutorial is to provide an appreciation of some of the

engineering science concepts used in quantitatively describing sheet metal forming.
With this view, the die is a rigid structure over which the work piece is formed. This is
not to say that the die need not be considered in mechanical analyses, but rather that at
the start of modeling the process the die is a fixed, given element of the process. Die
design, construction and use are separate, extensive fields of study, which will not be
considered here. Such issues as die shape to achieve a specified part shape, material
selection and heat treatment, die setup and die maintenance are disciplines onto
themselves.

There are some material and process related factors, which directly affect the
workpiece deformation process. Work material condition and properties are important in
determining work material deformation behavior. This is especially true of cold rolled
steel, because cold rolling work hardens the metal and increases its tensile strength. This
hardening effect must be properly controlled to permit drawing. Also, cold working can
produce deformation textures and if there are directional differences in material
deformation, material anisotropy results. Lubricants also affect the deformation process.

34
Annealing

To prepare metal for drawing, annealing processes are employed. Annealing

consists of holding the material at elevated temperature to remove the effects of work
hardening. Work hardening produces a stronger, less ductile material. A work-worked
metal contains strain energy in the deformed crystal structure. Structural rearrangement
to lower the strain energy occurs at increasing rates as the temperature is increased.
Annealing process design involves specifying time at temperature.

Lubricants

Lubricants reduce friction between tooling and the blank. Reduced friction force
means smaller drawing forces and usually better part surface finish. The lower forces
result in lower tooling wear.

Lubricants can have unwanted effects. If the binder is used to control wrinkling
and for imposing restraint on the flow of the work material into the die cavity,
lubrication decreases the workflow restrain force. Trapped pockets of lubricant can
results in local deformation of the part surface and decreasing surface quality. We know
that in plastic deformation material volume remains constant and so stretching material
in forming creates new surface area. This new surface area is very active (not covered
with oxide and other layers) and chemically reacts with lubricants. Lubricant selection
must recognize such subtle effects. Lubricants can be applied in many ways. These
range from spraying the blank as it enters the press to applying lubricant on the sheet
stock as it exits rolling or annealing processes.

Sheet stock can be subjected to surface treatments to improve mechanical

properties and lubricant action. Surface hardness can be changes by local heating.
Intentionally producing uneven surfaces, at very small scale, can aid in retaining
lubricant on the surface during working.

Anisotropy

A major problem can be envisioned if we consider making a symmetric part

from an asymmetric or an isotropic material. Let's consider the drawing of a cylindrical
cup. If the blank is isotropic (deformation behavior the same in all directions), then we
expect the cylindrical punch moving into the cylindrical die to produce a symmetric,
cylindrical cup. Now, let's imagine that the blank is not isotopic. Say the sheet stock that
we will use has been made by rolling and a rolling texture has been produced in it.
Using the Figure to illustrate this idea we say that the deformation behavior along the
rolling direction, 1, is different than along the perpendicular direction, 2. Let's make this
more quantitative by

We would like to have a description of material an isotropic behavior so that we

can assess the effects of anisotropy. The issue is slightly more complex than simply
defining material anisotropy. What we really want is a description of possible an

35
isotropic behavior in the particular process in which we are interested. That is, we ought
to be interested in the material itself and also in its behavior in a particular process. We
will define a material anisotropy before moving on to our real concern of isotropic
behavior in a process.

The ratio of width (w) to thickness (t) strain is :

where R is known as the normal anisotropy of the sheet metal (also known as
plastic anisotropy or strain ratio). R equal to one indicates that the width and thickness
strains are equal each other, that is the material is isotropic.

Rolled sheets generally have planar anisotropy. Thus the R value of a specimen
cut from a rolled sheet will depend on its orientation with respect to the rolling direction
of the sheet. In this case, an average R value is calculated as follows:

R= (Ro+2R45+R90)/4

where the subscript 0, 45, 90 refer to angular orientation ( in degree of the test specimen
with respect to the rolling direction of the sheet. Thus an isotropic material has an R
value of 1. Hexagonal closed-packed metals usually have high R value. R value depends
on the grain size of the sheet metal. For cold-rolled steels, for example, R increase as
grain size increases. For hot-rolled sheet metal, R is approximately1, because the texture
developed has a random orientation. R is also related to the average modulus of
elasticity. High value of R is associated with a high value of material modulus of
elasticity.

36
The planar anisotropy of a sheet *R , can also be defined in terms of directional R
values as follows:

*R=(Ro-2R45+R90)/2

which is the difference between the average of the R values in the 0 and 90 directions to
rolling and the R value at 45 degree.

Planar anisotropy causes ears to form in drawing, producing a wavy edge. The
number of ears produced may be two, four, or six. The height of the ears increases with
increasing *R. When *R=0, no ears form. Ears are objectionable because they have to be
trimmed off , wasting material.

Draw ability is thus enhanced with a high R and a low *R. Generally, however,
sheet metals with a high R also have a high *R. Attempts are being made to develop
textures in sheet metals to improve draw ability. The controlling parameters in
processing metals have been found to be: alloying elements, additives, processing
temperatures, annealing cycles after processing, thickness reduction in rolling, and cross
rolling (biaxial) of plates in processing them into sheets.

The Drawing Process

INTENT: We will study aspects of the drawing process for several reasons. First, it is a
widely used process and so is worth knowing about. From the process analysis and
process modeling point of view we will introduce some new aspects of material and
process behavior. Topics which have not been covered in the ealier parts of this tutorial
include:
- a process in which biaxial loading of the workpiece is important,
- concepts of allowable deformation and material failure described in terms of two
strains,
- an application in which blank anisotropy is important.

37
Introduction

In "drawing or "deep drawing", flat sheets are formed into cylindrical or box
shaped parts by a punch that presses the blank into a die cavity. The configuration of the
process is shown in the Figure and we can imagine the advancing punch pulling or
drawing the work piece into the die. Typical parts produced are beverage cans, pots and
pans, containers of all shapes and sizes and automobile body panels.

Many drawn parts are cup-like and many aspects of drawing more general shapes can be
seeing in cup drawing. The basic parameters in deep drawing a cylindrical cup are
shown in the Figure. A circular blank, with a diameter Do and thickness to, is placed over
a die opening with a corner radius of Rd. The blank is held in place with a blank holder,
or hold-down ring, which applies the binder or blank hold down force, BHF. A punch,
with diameter Dp and a corner radius Rp, moves downward forming a cup.

Several process characteristics are easily seen and some of these are: - when the punch is
retracted from the die, spring back of the part is expected,
- the primary loading imposed on the wall of the forming part is tension,
- with tensile loading, strain localization leading to material failure may be a problem.
Questions that occur are:
- what limits does this kind of process and loading impose on parts that can be made?
- how can we predict failure in this complex loading situation?
- why is there a "blank holder"?
- what are the effects of friction on the process and on part characteristics?

Metal drawing refers to those operations, which exert tensile and associated
compressive stresses over a large area of the blank or forming part. Unlike bending
operations in which metal is plastically worked in a relatively small area, drawing
operations impose plastic deformation over large areas. Not only are large areas of the
forming work piece being deformed, but the stress states are different in different
regions of the part and complicated stress states arise in complex parts. Underlying
process or tool design (specifying processing conditions and punch and die shapes) is
the ability to describe the strain and stress fields produced in different regions of part as
functions of punch, die and blank shapes. There is also the need to be able to predict
material failure and spring back.

38
Stress States Acting

As the punch advances the deforming blank assumes the shape of the punch and
eventually the shape of the space between the punch and die. Depending on the part the
work material may be forced to deform in a complex way. As a starting point we can
consider what appear to be three regions undergoing different types of deformation:
- the flat portion of the blank which has not yet entered the die cavity, i.e., the flange,
- the portion of the blank being drawn into the die cavity, i.e., the wall region,
- the region of contact between the blank and the punch bottom.
As the cup is being formed the flange region is subjected to a tensile stress due to the
punch pulling the blank into the die cavity. As the bank moves into the die the flange
diameter or peripheral length is decreased. A compressive stress acts in the tangential or
hoop direction. This compressive tangential stress can lead to wrinkling of the flange
and so a hold down plate or binder is used. The blank hold down force, BHF, can
prevent flange wrinkling but also gives rise to a friction force, which restrains blank
flow into the die.

An element in the forming cup wall is subjected to longitudinal and tangential or

hoop tensile stresses. The tensile hoop stress is caused by the cup being held tightly on
the punch because of its contraction due to the tensile stresses in the cup wall. We can
infer a complicated stress state at the die shoulder region as the compressive hoop stress
in the flange changes to a tensile stress in the tangential direction in the cup wall.

The stress state in the contact region between the bottom of the punch and the
cup is of less concern since deformation is less extreme and failure less likely there.
However, this is not always the case. Complex shapes may be imposed on can bottoms
to increase can strength. The domed shape on the bottom of aluminum beverage cans is
accompanied by a raised ridge.

Question: Estimate the radius of curvature of the sharpest radius on the bottom of
an aluminum beverage can and calculate the strain imposed in making this bend.
Assume that the process to form the bend is simple bending (bending along a
straight line) and that the blank thickness is 0.006 inches. The order of magnitude
of the strain is

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

An Example of a Processing Window

If we consider the interaction of the process variables and the stress state in the
forming cup wall we can see an example of what is called a processing window. The
process parameter or independent variable of interest here is the blank hold down force.

39
The process behavior or dependent variable of interest is failure of the wall of the cup
being formed. We'll plot cup failure height along the vertical direction in a graph that we
want to use to describe the process. BHF is plotted along the horizontal axis.

Flange wrinkling occurs as the cup height increases during drawing. If BHF is
increased a deeper cup can be drawn before flange wrinkling occurs and a safe forming
zone is separated from a wrinkling failure zone by an increasing slope line as shown in
the Figure. Increasing BHF increases the size of the safe forming zone. However, as the
cup is being formed the stress acting in the cup wall increases and at some cup height
the wall will fail by fracture or tearing. As BHF is increased, the force restraining the
flow of work material into the die increases, the punch force needed to draw the cup into
the die increases, the tensile stress in the cup wall increases and the wall tends to failure.
This behavior is represented by the decreasing slope line on the graph and the area
above this line is a region of work piece failure by fracture. For a given cup height, h 1,
there is a window of allowable blank hold down force, BHF1 - BHF2. We'll see this
general idea again below when we define a region of strain space describing material
forming limits in terms of applied strain.

Pure Drawing

In pure drawing the blank can flow freely into the die cavity. Binder or holddown force
does not exert significant restraint on the flow of the work material.

At first contact with the blank, the punch forces the sheet metal to bend to the
radius of the die shoulder and to the punch radius. This bending deformation continues
with punch advance as more of the blank is pulled into the die cavity and the part wall

40
forms. No appreciable deformation occurs under the bottom of the punch. As the punch
advances, the flange area decreases and compressive stresses develop as described
above leading to buckling or wrinkling problems. Tensile stresses act in the walls of the
part as it is being drawn. Wall failure will be by tearing.

There is not a great deal of control over the deforming blank. For example, in
cup drawing the punch diameter has to be less than the die cavity diameter. So, the cup
is conical as it is being formed and only in the ideal case will it be cylindrical when it is
fully formed. That is, we shouldn't expect an ideal result - a perfectly cylindrical,
uniform wall thickness can - from the relatively unconstrained deformation process
imposed on the wall by the punch drawing the blank into the die cavity. There is a
relatively large portion of the forming part in the wall section and little direct control can
be exerted over this deformation region. Parts which do not require high accuracy
features or very uniform wall thickness can be made by pure drawing

Ironing

To form uniform wall thickness cans the ironing process is used. In this process
the punch draws a pre-formed can through a draw ring. The space between the punch
and draw ring or die is less that the initial cup wall thickness and so the wall becomes
thinner and the cup height increases. Close tolerance cans require high precision tooling
and little allowable tool wear.

Question: In manufacture of aluminum beverage cans several ironing operations

may be required. If in one of these steps a 2.989 inches diameter punch and 3.000
inches diameter ironing ring are used to iron a can with initial wall thickness of
0.007 inches, what is the strain imposed on the work material in the longitudinal
direction?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

41
Stretch Forming

The initial stage of pure drawing involves primarily bending of the blank near
die and punch shoulders. In contrast to pure drawing processes, some sheet-metal
forming processes include large, imposed stretching of the work material. Stretching
involves restraining blank motion so that the work material is plastically deformed over
its entire area. An example in which stretching is necessary is in the forming of large
radius or shallow parts. As pointed out in an earlier section of this tutorial, the strains
imposed in shallow parts may be of the order of the strain at yield. In the extreme case
the part may completely spring on removal from the die. Stretching the sheet into the
plastic zone and then imposing the part shape can form shallow parts. Sheet metal
forming processes can include differing amounts of drawing and stretching. > In pure
stretch forming, the blank flange is securely clamped by the binder and/or with draws
beads (draw beads are described below). The blank is prevented from flowing freely into
the die cavity. A punch is forced into the center of blank and deformation occurs in the
area initially within the die opening as shown in the Figure.

Force Requirement for Drawing

The drawing force can be calculated fairly accurately using available formulas.
A simple, useful model follows.

In most drawing operations the metal is worked close to its ultimate strength. For
this reason the ultimate strength. of the material is commonly used as the basis for
estimating force or pressure requirements. In fact, a rough estimate of the force required
for drawing a part is the force required to " pull its bottom out" . The force required to
do this is equal the cross section area of the metal in the side wall of the part multiplied
by the ultimate tensile strength of the material. The force is then

F = (circumference) (wall thickness) (UTS)

and for a cylindrical cup this is

F = Pi x D x T x UTS

where D is the diameter of the shell, T is the wall thickness of the shell and UTS is the
ultimate tensile strength of the material. If non-circular cross sections are approximated
by an "effective diameter" this formula can be applied for drawn parts of all shapes.

Question: A cylindrical cup of diameter 6 cm and 1.5 mm wall thickness is to be

drawn from a material with ultimate tensile strength of 120 MPa. What is the
maximum drawing force required?

 a.
 b.
 c.

42
  d.
 e.

Question: A rectangular cross section cup which is 3 cm by 6 cm is drawn from 1.5

mm thick, 120 MPa utimate tensile strength sheet metal. If the process is to be
approximated with a cylindrical cup drawn from the same work material, what is
the cup effective diameter for the drawing force to be the same as in the
rectangular cup case?

 a.
 b.
 c.
 d.
 e.

Drawbeads

A general statement of the drawing process design and operation problem is,
produce the desired local strain at all points on a piece of sheet metal. What makes this
problem difficult is, amoung other issues;
- in real parts the shape (strain) may change greatly over very small distances,
- material properties and surface characteristics change during the forming process,
- often the deforming region of the workpiece is removed from the area of process
control action, e.g., in deep drawing the deformation in the relatively free part wall is
controlled in part by binder pressure.
The extreme case of controlling blank deformation is clamping the blank periphery and
performing a stretching operation. Less drastic is controlling the BHF to restrain work
flow into the die.

A little thought about drawing real parts quickly leads to the conclusion that
producing complex shapes calls for changing amounts of work flow constraint around
the die periphery and over the punch stroke. An example is offered by the simple case of
drawing a rectangular pan, say the oil pan for an automotive engine which is rectangular
in cross section shape and probably has two different levels or pan depths. As drawing
starts the rectangular blank is pulled into the die cavity and the primary blank
deformation is bending around the die and punch shoulders. As drawing proceeds it is
easier to draw the sides of the rectangular blank into the die than it is to draw in the
corner regions. The developing corner requires a more complex deformation than
forming the straight wall. We probably want to control material flow into the die, e.g., to
produce uniform deformation and part properties. To do this we will have to exert more
material flow restraint in some regions of the die that in other regions, e.g., more
restraint along the straight sides than at the corners. In addition to different material flow
constraint around the die we may want to vary constraint with punch position. When
drawing the two level oil pan less constraint may be desirable near the end of the punch
stoke since drawing force is high and wall tearing is a concern.

43
 A complicated way to address the need for locally varying workflow restraint is
to build a segmented binder in which the BHF exerted by each segment can be
independently controlled. A simpler solution is to build local structures on the flange
region of the die. A protrusion on the die face will restrain blank motion since the work
piece will have to flow over it. The bending of the work piece, and a small amount of
increased friction, offers some control over the way that the blank flows into the die.
The Figure is intended to show such a protrusion or draw bead. Effective die design
requires specifying the best height, length, radius and location of the draw bead for a
part.

The state of the technology seems to be the beginnings of implementing active

binder control. In some advanced applications BHF is varied during the punch stroke. At
the research level (and a in very few industrial implementations) work is proceeding in
applying segmented binders so that BHF can be varied around the die as well as along
punch stroke. The use of controllable height, or active, draw beads is only just starting in
research level work.

An Exercise

Drawing process design and operation is complicated since there are many
variables, which enter into determining work piece deformation, and their effects vary
during the process. Not only are there many processes but they may be nonlinear. The
following exercise is intended to point out some process variables and how they affect
the process. We'll consider two cases.
1. In one case we have a two-dimensional drawing process, e.g., an idealization of the
center region of the corner section of a rectangular pan. The goal is to set values of BHF
and coefficient of friction so that neither wrinkling nor tearing of the forming part
occurs. We realize that punch force varies with punch position and that coefficient of
friction is not a truly controllable variable. However, friction exists and has to be taken
into account in process design. This exercise is related to the idea of a processing
window which was discussed above.
2. The second case is more complicated. It includes setting drawbead height. What we
have simulated here is a region on the straight side of a rectangular blank which is near
the corner. So, we have to worry about wrinkling at the corner and so apply a BHF and
also want to restrain the straight section and so need a draw bead of some height. We'll
ask two questions, both related to drawing the pan without wall tearing. The questions
are:
if the minimum draw bead height is 2 mm, what is the useful range of draw bead
heights? i.e., what is the maximum draw bead height for no tearing.
what is the maximum useful BHF as a function of die-blank coefficient of friction?

Factors Which Affect Work Material and Process

The intent of this tutorial is to provide an appreciation of some of the

engineering science concepts used in quantitatively describing sheet metal forming.
With this view, the die is a rigid structure over which the work piece is formed. This is

44
not to say that the die need not be considered in mechanical analyses, but rather that at
the start of modeling the process the die is a fixed, given element of the process. Die
design, construction and use are separate, extensive fields of study, which will not be
considered here. Such issues as die shape to achieve a specified part shape, material
selection and heat treatment, die setup and die maintenance are disciplines onto
themselves.

There are some material and process related factors which directly affect the
work piece deformation process. Work material condition and properties are important
in determining work material deformation behavior. This is especially true of cold rolled
steel, because cold rolling work hardens the metal and increase its tensile strength. This
hardening effect must be properly controlled to permit drawing. Also, cold working can
produce deformation textures and if there are directional differences in material
deformation, material anisotropy results. Lubricants also affect the deformation process.

Annealing

To prepare metal for drawing, annealing processes are employed. Annealing

consists of holding the material at elevated temperature to remove the effects of work
hardening. Work hardening produces a stronger, less ductile material. A work-worked
metal contains strain energy in the deformed crystal structure. Structural rearrangement
to lower the strain energy occurs at increasing rates as the temperature is increased.
Annealing process design involves specifying time at temperature.

Lubricants

Lubricants reduce friction between tooling and the blank. Reduced friction force
means smaller drawing forces and usually better part surface finish. The lower forces
result in lower tooling wear.

Lubricants can have unwanted effects. If the binder is used to control wrinkling
and for imposing restraint on the flow of the work material into the die cavity,
lubrication decreases the workflow restrain force. Trapped pockets of lubricant can
results in local deformation of the part surface and decreasing surface quality. We know
that in plastic deformation material volume remains constant and so stretching material
in forming creates new surface area. This new surface area is very active (not covered
with oxide and other layers) and chemically reacts with lubricants. Lubricant selection
must recognize such subtle effects. Lubricants can be applied in many ways. These
range from spraying the blank as it enters the press to applying lubricant on the sheet
stock as it exits rolling or annealing processes.

Sheet stock can be subjected to surface treatments to improve mechanical

properties and lubricant action. Surface hardness can be changes by local heating.
Intentionally producing uneven surfaces, at very small scale, can aid in retaining
lubricant on the surface during working.

45
Anisotropy

A major problem can be envisioned if we consider making a symmetric part

from an asymmetric or an isotropic material. Let's consider the drawing of a cylindrical
cup. If the blank is isotropic (deformation behavior the same in all directions), then we
expect the cylindrical punch moving into the cylindrical die to produce a symmetric,
cylindrical cup. Now, let's imagine that the blank is not isotopic. Say the sheet stock that
we will use has been made by rolling and a rolling texture has been produced in it.
Using the Figure to illustrate this idea we say that the deformation behavior along the
rolling direction, 1, is different than along the perpendicular direction, 2. Let's make this
more quantitative by

We would like to have a description of material anisotropic behavior so that we

can assess the effects of anisotropy. The issue is slightly more complex than simply
defining material anisotropy. What we really want is a description of possible
anisotropic behavior in the particular process in which we are interested. That is, we
ought to be interested in the material itself and also in its behavior in a particular
process. We will define a material anisotropy before moving on to our real concern of
isotropic behavior in a process.

The ratio of width (w) to thickness (t) strain is :

where R is known as the normal anisotropy of the sheet metal (also known as plastic
anisotropy or strain ratio). R equal to one indicates that the width and thickness strains
are equal each other, that is the material is isotropic.

46
 Rolled sheets generally have planar anisotropy. Thus the R value of a specimen
cut from a rolled sheet will depend on its orientation with respect to the rolling direction
of the sheet. In this case, an average R value is calculated as follows:

R= (Ro+2R45+R90)/4

where the subscript 0, 45, 90 refer to angular orientation ( in degree of the test
specimen with respect to the rolling direction of the sheet. Thus an isotropic material has
an R value of 1. Hexagonal closed-packed metals usually have high R value. R value
depends on the grain size of the sheet metal. For cold-rolled steels, for example, R
increase as grain size increases. For hot-rolled sheet metal, R is approximately1, because
the texture developed has a random orientation. R is also related to the average modulus
of elasticity. High value of R is associated with a high value of material modulus of
elasticity.

The planar anisotropy of a sheet *R , can also be defined in terms of directional

R values as follows:

*R=(Ro-2R45+R90)/2

which is the difference between the average of the R values in the 0 and 90 directions to
rolling and the R value at 45 degree.

Planar anisotropy causes ears to form in drawing, producing a wavy edge. The
number of ears produced may be two, four, or six. The height of the ears increases with
increasing *R. When *R=0, no ears form. Ears are objectionable because they have to be
trimmed off , wasting material.

Draw ability is thus enhanced with a high R and a low *R. Generally, however, sheet
metals with a high R also have a high *R. Attempts are being made to develop textures
in sheet metals to improve draw ability. The controlling parameters in processing metals
have been found to be: alloying elements, additives, processing temperatures, annealing
cycles after processing, thickness reduction in rolling, and cross rolling (biaxial) of
plates in processing them into sheets.

47