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Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000
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18th International Conference on Sheet Metal, SHEMET 2019
18th International Conference on Sheet Metal, SHEMET 2019
Enhanced springback prediction for bending of high-strength spring
Enhanced springback prediction for bending of high-strength spring
steel using
Manufacturing material
Engineering dataInternational
Society from an Conference
inverse modelling approach
2017, MESIC 2017, 28-30 June
steel using material data from an inverse modelling
2017, Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain
approach
Chris Mertin*, Thomas Stellmacher, Roman Schmitz, Gerhard Hirt
Chris Mertin*, Thomas Stellmacher, Roman Schmitz, Gerhard Hirt
Costing models
Institute offor
Metal capacity optimization
Forming, RWTH Aachen in10, Industry
University, Intzestraße 4.0: Trade-off
52072 Aachen, Germany
Institute of Metal Forming, RWTH Aachen University, Intzestraße 10, 52072 Aachen, Germany
between used capacity and operational efficiency
Abstract A. Santana , P. Afonso , A. Zanin , R. Wernke
a a,* b b

Abstract a
University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Springs for electrical components made frombUnochapecó, strip materials and flatChapecó,
89809-000 wires are SC, produced
Brazil using stamping and forming technologies.
Springs for electrical
The process design ofcomponents
multi-stage made fromand
stamping strip materials
bending and flatiswires
processes are produced
still based on expertusing stampingand
knowledge andexperimental
forming technologies.
tests. The
The processof
complexity design of multi-stage
the forming processes stamping
and theand bending processes
high-strength materialsisused
still for
based on expert
springs makeknowledge and experimental
the FE simulation tests. Thea
of those processes
complexity
challenging of theFor
task. forming processes prediction
the springback and the high-strength materials
in FEM, however, anused for springs
accurate makeof
description thethe
FEelasto-plastic
simulation ofmaterial
those processes
behavioura
challenging
is mandatory.
Abstract task. For process
Under the springback
conditions prediction
such asinbending
FEM, however,
of spring an accurate
steel, description
the locally of the
occurring elasto-plastic
strains are manymaterial behaviour
times higher than
is mandatory.
the Under process
ultimate elongation conditions
of approx. suchcan
2 % that as bending of spring
be determined in steel,
tensilethe locally
test. occurring
For those strainsstandard
materials, are manyteststimesfailhigher than
to receive
the ultimate
enhanced
Under elongation
thematerial
concept dataof of "Industry
such approx. 2%
as the influence that of
4.0", canplastic
be determined
production deformation in on
processes tensile
the test.
be For
willYoung’s those to
modulus.
pushed materials,
The goalstandard tests
of this work
be increasingly isfail
to to receive
determine
interconnected,
enhanced
the
information material
elasto-plastic
based data
onsuch
material as the
a parameters
real time influence of plastic
of high-strength
basis and, deformation
spring
necessarily, steel
much on more
the Young’s
(X10CrNi18-8) modulus.
using
efficient. InanthisThe
inverse goal of this
modelling
context, work is
approach
capacity to determine
by means
optimization
theaelasto-plastic material parameters of high-strength spring steel (X10CrNi18-8) using an inverse modelling approachofby means
goes beyond the traditional aim of capacity maximization, contributing also for organization’s profitability andLudwik-
of 3-point bending test. The inverse approach is used for determining the Young’s modulus and hardening parameters value.
of a 3-point bending
Hollomon’s test. Theofinverse
law for bending approach
high-strength is used
spring forFurthermore,
steel. determining the thisYoung’s modulus
work focuses andunloading
on the hardeningatparameters
the end of the of Ludwik-
bending
Indeed, lean management and continuous improvement approaches suggest capacity optimization instead of
Hollomon’sand
experiment law its
foreffect
bending onofthehigh-strength
elastic material spring steel. Furthermore,
parameters. The results thisdemonstrate
work focuses onthe
that the inversely
unloadingdetermined
at the end ofmaterial
the bending
data
maximization.
experiment and Theeffect
its study on of
the capacity
elastic optimization
material and The
parameters. costing
resultsmodels is an important
demonstrate that the research
inversely topic that
determined deserves
material data
show lower scattering compared to material data from tensile test. Furthermore, material data of high-strength spring steel from
contributions
showinverse
the from both
lower scattering
modelling the practical
compared
approach to anddata
material
significantly theoretical
enhances perspectives.
from tensile
the This paper
test. Furthermore,
springback prediction presents
material
under data ofand
bending discusses aspring
high-strength
conditions mathematical
compared steeltofrom
FE
model for capacity
the inverse
simulations modelling
using management
approach
material data from based
tensile on
significantly different the
test.enhances costing modelsprediction
springback (ABC and TDABC).
under bendingAconditions
generic modelcompared has tobeenFE
developed
simulations and
using it material
was useddata to analyze
from tensile idletest.
capacity and to design strategies towards the maximization of organization’s
value.
© 2018The trade-offPublished
The Authors. capacitybymaximization
Elsevier B.V. vs operational efficiency is highlighted and it is shown that capacity
© 2018
2019 The
The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
B.V.
optimization
©
This is an open might
accesshide
Authors. operational
Published
article by Elsevier
under the CCinefficiency.
BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This
© is an
2017 The open accessPublished
Authors. article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection
Selection and
and peer-review
peer-review underby
under Elsevier
responsibility
responsibility B.V.of
of the
the organizing
organizing committee
committee of of SHEMET
SHEMET 2019. 2019.
Selection andunder
Peer-review peer-review under of
responsibility responsibility
the scientificofcommittee
the organizing
of thecommittee
Manufacturingof SHEMET 2019.Society International Conference
Engineering
2017.
Keywords: Inverse modelling; Parameter identification; Finite Element Method; Bending; Spring steel
Keywords: Inverse modelling; Parameter identification; Finite Element Method; Bending; Spring steel
Keywords: Cost Models; ABC; TDABC; Capacity Management; Idle Capacity; Operational Efficiency

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-241-80-25151; fax: +49-241-80-22112.
* The
Corresponding
E-mail author.
address:
cost Tel.: +49-241-80-25151;
mertin@ibf.rwth-aachen.de
of idle capacity is a fundamentalfax:information
+49-241-80-22112.
for companies and their management of extreme importance
E-mail address: mertin@ibf.rwth-aachen.de
in modern production systems. In general, it is defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
2351-9789 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
in several ways: tons of production, available hours of manufacturing, etc. The management of the idle capacity
2351-9789 © 2018
This is an open Thearticle
access Authors. Published
under by Elsevier B.V.
the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
* Paulo
This is anAfonso. Tel.:article
+351 253
openpeer-review
access 510
under the761;
CC fax: +351 253license
BY-NC-ND 604 741
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and under responsibility of the organizing committee of SHEMET 2019.
E-mail address: psafonso@dps.uminho.pt
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of SHEMET 2019.

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review
2351-9789 © under
2019responsibility
The Authors. of the scientificbycommittee
Published Elsevier of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of SHEMET 2019.
10.1016/j.promfg.2019.02.120
154 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160
2 Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

1. Introduction

Clamps and springs for electrical components made from high-strength strip materials and flat wires are produced
using stamping and forming technologies [1]. The design of stamping and bending parts and the production processes
are based on expert knowledge and experimental tests. Short product life cycles and increasing variation diversity
require an adaption of conventional, experience-based development processes. Small product dimensions, a limited
production space, high cycle rates and the usage of high-strength spring steels make the FE simulation of those
processes a challenging task. In tensile tests, the used materials show brittle behaviour in terms of high yield stress
and low ultimate elongation. In order to predict springback in the FEM, elastic properties have to be described
accurately. In tensile test, wide spreading of the determined Young’s modulus may occur. Ulibarri et al. [2]
determined the Young’s modulus of a nickel base alloy in tensile test using different ranges of data and measuring
equipment. The results fluctuate between 133 GPa and 184 GPa, which would significantly affect the springback
prediction in the FEM. Besides the initial Young’s modulus, various authors investigated the effect of plastic strain
on the Young’s modulus. Münstermann et al. [3] investigated the dependence of the Young’s modulus on plastic
deformation of four different steels in tensile tests with pre-strained specimens. They measured a reduction of the
initial Young’s modulus of up to 11.3 %. Argandoña et al. [4] and Kim et al. [5] used a cyclic loading-unloading
tensile test to evaluate the Young’s modulus degradation with increasing plastic strain of high-strength steels. A
reduction of the Young’s moduli of more than 25 % was measured at true strain of lower than 0.1.
Besides conventional standard tests, inverse modelling is used to determine elasto-plastic material data for the
FEM. Inverse modelling of material data describes an approach, which optimises input parameters iteratively by
minimising a cost function, e.g. least squares. The material parameters are determined by a combination of
experimental tests, FE simulations and an optimisation algorithm. The material data are adapted iteratively in the FE
model until a numerically determined quantity meets the one from experiments. The main advantage of inverse
modelling is, that material data can be determined under similar load conditions compared to manufacturing processes.
Ghouati and Gelin [6] used tensile tests, bulge tests and cross die tests to optimise material data for Voce’s law
combined with Hill’s yield surface. They used the least square method combined with the Levenberg-Marquardt
algorithm. The inversely determined parameters show good accordance to those from standard tests. Kajberg and
Lindkvist [7] used the least square method to determine inversely material data for large strains in tensile test. The
estimated material behaviour is validated by comparison to low strain region from tensile test. Antonelli et al. [8] used
an air-bending test to prepare elasto-plastic material data of different steels. Mendiguren et al. [9] inversely determined
material parameters by means of Ludwik-Hollomon’s law in v-bending test for titanium and a high-strength steel. The
least square method was used combined with the Nelder and Mead optimisation algorithm. FE simulations with
material data from the inverse approach enhance the prediction of the bending force.
This work focuses on material data determination from high-strength spring steels in form of flat wire using an
inverse modelling approach in 3-point bending. The inverse approach is used to optimise elasto-plastic material
parameters during forming as well as during unloading by minimising iteratively the deviation of the measured and
simulated bending force. In order to simulate complex, multi-stage stamping and bending processes, the parts
geometry is an important criterion [10]. The inversely determined material data are verified by comparison of the
bending angle and the part angle after springback. Further factors affecting the springback in spring production are
discussed in [10].

2. Material and methods

2.1. Material

The used material is a flat wire made from high-strength spring steel (X10CrNi18-8). The flat wire has a width of
4.8 mm and a thickness of 0.5 mm. In tensile tests, the ultimate elongation is 1.8 % to 2.4 %, the tensile strength is
between 1850 MPa to 1950 MPa. The material shows a distinct elastic behaviour of approx. 0.8 %. The Young’s
moduli of 10 specimens determined in tensile tests show values between 169 GPa and 192 GPa while the mean value
is 181 GPa. Furthermore, the dependency of the Young’s modulus on plastic deformation is investigated in cyclic
 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160 155
Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 3

loading-unloading tensile tests. Within the given uncertainty of the results from the tensile tests, the Young’s modulus
shows a reduction of approx. 10 % reaching the ultimate elongation (Fig. 1a).

2.2. 3-point bending experiment and FE model

The 3-point bending tests for small specimens are performed on a servo-hydraulic testing machine (Fig. 1b). The
force is measured vertically to the specimen surface with an accuracy of ±1 N. The punch has a radius of 1 mm and
moves at constant speed of 1 mm/sec, while the accuracy of the displacement measurement is ±0.01 mm. In order to
reduce the effect of friction, the die consists of ball bearings with a radius of 5.5 mm. For the inverse modelling
approach, an experimental set-up of a die width of 20 mm and a tool path of 6.8 mm is used. Further die widths and
tool paths are used to verify the results of the inverse modelling approach.

(a) 185 (b)

Young‘s modulus in GPa

180 Load cell

175
Punch
170
crack Specimen
165 Ball bearings
160
0.00
0,00 0.01
0,01 0.02
0,02 0.03
0,03
Die width
True strain φ

Fig. 1. (a) Tensile test: influence of plastic strain on the Young’s modulus of spring steel; (b) 3-point bending test for small specimens.

The 3-point bending test is modelled with the FE code LS-DYNA. The actual sheet thickness and width are
measured and considered in the FE model. Based on convergence analysis, the sheet is discretised using fully-
integrated shell elements with 9 integration points through thickness. This element type is accurate in springback
prediction [11]. The tools are considered as rigid. The punch displacement from experiments describes the punch
displacement in the FE model. The implicit solver is used for both bending and unloading.

3. Inverse modelling approach

For the inverse modelling approach, the FE model of the 3-point bending test is coupled with an optimisation
algorithm based on Matlab®. As a cost function c(p) the least square method (1) combined with the Levenberg-
Marquardt algorithm is used. Physical limits of the material parameters are defined to stabilise the results. The inverse
approach is used for both the determination of elastic and plastic material parameters.

n
c( p )
  (F
i 1
i
exp
 Fi num ( p))2 (1)

𝐹𝐹 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 - measured bending force, 𝐹𝐹 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 - simulated bending force, p - target vector, n - number of reference values
from force measurement.

The elastic material behaviour is mainly described by the Young’s modulus. Sensitivity analyses show that the
effect of the Poisson ratio on the bending results is negligible. The Poisson ratio is set to a value of 0.3 for steels. The
plastic material behaviour is described using the Ludwik-Hollomon law (2) and assuming the von Mises yield
criterion. The effect of plastic strain on the elastic material behaviour is investigated using the inverse approach.
4156 ChrisChris Mertin
Mertin et al. /Manufacturing
/ Procedia Procedia Manufacturing
00 (2018) 29 (2019) 153–160
000–000

 (
)  0  K n (2)

σ - yield stress, φ - true strain, K - material constant, n - hardening parameter.

Based on preliminary work [12], the elastic and plastic material data are determined stepwise during the loading
phase of the 3-point bending experiment. In order to determine the Young’s modulus E’ under bending load,
experimental data up to a process time of 0.8 sec are used, where linear-elastic deformation occurs. After elastic
loading, the plastic deformation starts at a punch displacement of approx. 1 mm. The plastic material data of Ludwik-
Hollomon law σ0, K and n are determined using the complete loading phase of the 3-point bending test. For both
elastic and plastic material data, different start values for the material parameters are used to ensure robust results.
Finally, the Young’s modulus E'unloading is determined using the force values during unloading of the 3-point bending
test. Here, the whole bending test is simulated with the Young’s modulus E'unloading . As a start value for the optimisation
the Young’s modulus E’ determined during loading is used. The assumption of an overall lower Young’s modulus for
loading and unloading under bending conditions is discussed critically. The target vectors p are defined as:

pelastic   E '  , p plastic   0 , K , n , punloading   Eunloading

'
 (3)

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Inverse modelling of elasto-plastic material data

First FE simulations of the bending test are performed using material data from tensile tests. Both approaches with
a constant Young’s modulus as well as the dependency of the Young’s modulus on plastic deformation (Fig. 1a) are
taken into account. Fig. 2a shows a comparison between the measured bending force and those from FE simulations.
Regardless the assumption of the elastic properties, the numerically determined bending force is about 10 % higher
than the bending force from experiments. Another deficit is shown during unloading. The bending force from FE
models starts at a higher absolute value and crosses the experimentally determined bending force during unloading.

(a) 140 7 (b)

Unloading
Punch displacement in mm

120 6 Thickness
Bending force in N

100 5
Bending angle
80 4 αBending
60 Force (experiment) 3
40 Force (FEM, E const.) 2
20 Force (FEM, E var.) 1
Displacement
0 0
Angle after
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time in sec springback α*
Time in sec
Fig. 2. (a) Comparison of the bending force from experiments and those from FE simulations using a constant Young’s modulus and FE simulations
with a consideration of plastic strain affecting the Young’s modulus; (b) schematic view of the bending angle and the angle after springback.

Besides deficits in the numerically determined bending force using material data from tensile tests, the angle after
springback α* (Fig. 2b) differs from the one from experiments. In experiments with the given set-up, the part angle
after springback α*Exp is 61.1°. FE models with a constant Young’s modulus result in an angle α*FEM,Econst. of 65.8°,
while the numerically determined angle α*FEM,Evar. is 64.1° taking into account the influence of plastic strain on the
Young’s modulus. In tensile test, the reduction of the Young’s modulus with increasing deformation was measured
for true strain of up to 0.012. The development of this relationship beyond the ultimate elongation is unknown. FE
 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160 157
Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 5

models of the bending process show, that the locally occurring true strain reaches values of up to 0.25. Regardless the
material data, the FE models insufficiently describe springback.
In order to optimise the quality of the FE models, the inverse modelling approach in 3-point bending is used. First,
the elastic behaviour by means of the Young’s modulus is optimised. For the optimisation, different start values of the
parameter of the target vector pelastic are chosen. Regardless the start value, the optimisation of the Young’s modulus
in 3-point bending during forming E’ leads to a value of approx. 171 GPa (Fig. 3a). In total, up to 16 iterations are
required. The cost function c(pelastic) already reaches a value in the range of its final value after 7 iterations. Using 8
different experimental set-ups by means of a variation of the die width and tool path, the inverse modelling approach
leads to values of the Young’s modulus E’ between 170 GPa and 184 GPa, with a mean value of 175 GPa (Fig 3b).
The maximum value of 184 GPa seems to represent a spike. The scattering of the Young’s modulus determination
using the inverse approach is lower compared to the results from tensile tests (section 2.1).

(a) 210 1,00

1.00 (b) 190

Normalised cost function c(pelastic)

Young‘s modulus E' in GPa

Young‘s modulus E' in GPa

E‘ Single test
190 c(pelastic) 0.75
0,75 Mean value
180
170 0.50
0,50
170
150 0.25
0,25

130 0.00
0,00 160
0 4 8 12 16 8 Achsentitel
experiments
Iteration i

Fig. 3. Inverse modelling of the Young’s modulus E’ in 3-point bending: (a) development of the Young’s modulus E’ and the corresponding cost
function c(pelastic) using different start values; (b) investigations on the reproducibility and scattering of the results from 8 experiments.

Second, the plastic material data from Ludwik-Hollomon’s law are evaluated inversely using the complete forming
phase. The Young’s modulus E’ is used for FE simulations. Fig. 4a shows the development of the Ludwik-Hollomon’s
parameters σ0, K and n and the corresponding cost function c(pplastic). 11 iterations are necessary for the inverse
determination of the target vector pplastic. The cost function c(pplastic) reaches a value in the range of its final value after
8 iterations. Based on the chosen start values (cf. table 1, number 4), the value of the cost function is reduced by
approx. 95 %. Fig. 4b shows the corresponding force-time curves from different iterations.

(a) n σ0 in MPa
σ0 C(pplastic) (b)
K in MPa
K
0.16 1300 n 800
0,16 150
i=1 Start
Bending force in N

c(pplastic)
0.14 1200 600
0,14 i=8
100
0.12 1100 200
0,12
50 Final values
0.10 1000 100
0,1 Iteration i
Experiment
0.08 900 00,08 0
0 4 8 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Iteration i Time in sec

Fig. 4. Inverse modelling of Ludwik-Hollomon’s parameters: (a) development of the plastic material parameters σ0, K and n and the corresponding
cost function c(pplastic); (b) force-time curves from FE models at different iterations and with the inversely determined parameters.
158 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160
6 Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

Furthermore, the influence of the start values of the target vector pplastic on the results of the inverse modelling
approach is investigated. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm converges quickly to the result, but shows a
dependency of the start values. In order to ensure robust results, table 1 shows five widely spread combinations of
start values and the corresponding inversely determined material parameters of the target vector pplastic.

Table 1. Influence of the start values of the target vector pplastic on the results from the inverse modelling approach.
Material parameter Cost function
Number Values
σ0 in MPa K in MPa n c(pplastic)

Start value 500 500 0.50 18931

1
Inversely determined value 1489 762 0.3857 57
Start value 900 900 0.20 1791
2
Inversely determined value 1059 990 0.1205 35
Start value 1145 980 0.115 143
3
Inversely determined value 1090 968 0.1340 37
Start value 1250 1000 0.10 793
4
Inversely determined value 1123 933 0.1333 37
Start value 1600 1200 0.05 9129
5
Inversely determined value 1257 988 0.2337 89

Starting conditions number 2, 3 and 4 show the best results with a value of the cost function c(pplastic) of 35 to 37.
Number 1 and 5 converge in higher values of 57 and 89. Here, the cost function seems to be converged in a local
minimum. The start values of number 1 and 5 show significant higher values in the cost function compared to number
2 to 4. Despite different start values, starting conditions 2, 3 and 4 converge in similar final values of the Ludwik-
Hollomon’s material parameters. Probably, a global optimum is found. Fig. 5a shows the flow curves at the beginning
and end of the inverse modelling using start values from number 2, 3 and 4. Different start values represent different
starting flow curves (dashed lines). Within the relevant range of the plastic strain of up to 0.2, the difference of the
inversely determined flow curves is marginal (solid lines). Fig. 5b shows the corresponding bending force-time curves
from FE simulations with the start values (dashed lines) and those from FE simulations with the inversely determined
parameters from starting conditions 2, 3 and 4 (solid lines). FE simulations using the inversely determined parameters
from starting conditions number 2 to 4 meet the experimentally measured bending force, regardless the start values.

(a) 2250 (b) 160

Flow stress in MPa

Bending force in N

2000
120 Start values
1750
Final values
1500 80
Number 2
1250 Number 3
40
1000 Number 4
750 0
0.00
0,00 0,05 0,10 0.15
0.05 0.10 0,15 0.20
0,20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
True strain φ Time in sec

Fig. 5. Influence of the start values of the target vector pplastic (starting conditions number 2, 3 and 4 from table 1) on the results of the inverse
modelling approach: (a) flow curves; (b) force-time curves.

Finally, the elastic properties are again optimised using the unloading phase of the 3-point bending test. The inverse
modelling of the target vector punloading is similar to the inverse modelling of the Young’s modulus during forming.
The inversely optimised Young’s modulus E’ is used as a start value. Similar to the Young’s modulus determination
 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160 159
Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 7

during forming, the cost function c(punloading) required approx. 8 iterations until the results converge in a value of
E'unloading of 152 GPa. Fig. 6 shows a comparison of the bending force from experiment, the bending force from FE
simulations using the inversely determined parameters during loading and the bending force from FE simulations with
the Young’s modulus E'unloading for both loading and unloading. The overall lower Young’s modulus E'unloading slightly
shifts the force-time curve to the right. The maximum bending force is reduced by 0.5 N. Using the Young’s modulus
E'unloading , the prediction of the bending force during unloading in the FE models is significantly enhanced. Within 5
different experimental set-ups by means of varying tool paths and die widths, the inverse modelling of the Young’s
modulus E'unloading leads to values between 149 GPa and 155 GPa, with a mean value of 152 GPa.

140 100
120
Bending force in N

100 80
80 60
60 FE model (E‘) 40
40 FE model (Eunloading
‘ )
20 Experiment 20
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 7 8 9
Time in sec
Time in sec
Fig. 6. Force-time curves from 3-point bending tests: comparison of the experimental bending force and the bending force from FE simulations
using the inversely determined material data during loading as well as the bending force from FE simulations including a consideration of the
unloading phase by means of the Young’s modulus E'unloading .

4.2. Influence of the material data on the part angle

The comprehensive goal is to prepare material data for complex, multi-stage stamping and bending processes. To
evaluate the quality of the FE models, the part geometry is an important criterion. The described investigations
showed, that material data of high-strength spring steel from tensile tests insufficiently describe the part geometry in
the FE models of the 3-point bending test. Depending on the assumption of the elastic properties, the deviation of the
part angle of the presented experiment is between 3° and 4.7°. Material data from the inverse approach without a
consideration of the unloading phase have no positive effect on the quality of the FE models with respect to the part
geometry. FE simulations with material data from the inverse approach and the Young’s modulus E'unloading of 152
GPa significantly enhance the quality of the FE models. The deviation compared to experiments is reduced to 1.1°.
Besides the geometry after springback, FE models have to describe the geometry under bending load. Fig. 7 shows
a comparison of the measured and simulated bending angles (a) and the part angles after springback (b). In the FE
model, the bending angle under load is with 97.9° slightly lower than the bending angle from experiments with 98.7°.
(a) Bending angle αbending (b) Part angle after springback α*
FE model Experiment FE model Experiment
αbending,FEM = 98.1° αbending,exp. = 98.7° α*FEM = 62.2° α*exp. = 61.1°

½ α*

½ αbending

Fig. 7. Validation of the inversely determined material parameters in 3-point bending test: (a) angle under load; (b) parts angle after springback.
160 Chris Mertin et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 29 (2019) 153–160
8 Chris Mertin / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

5. Conclusion

Material data from tensile tests of high-strength spring steels in form of flat wire showed deficits in FE simulations
of bending processes regarding the bending force and parts geometry. The locally occurring strains under bending
conditions are many times higher than the ultimate elongation in tensile test. Thus, for high-strength spring steels, the
influence of plastic deformation on the Young’s modulus could only be determined in low strain area in tensile test
(cf. Fig. 1a). The development of this relationship beyond the ultimate elongation is unknown. In order to determine
elasto-plastic material behaviour of those materials, an inverse modelling approach in 3-point bending was introduced.
The material parameters for the elastic and plastic behaviour are determined separately. First, the Young’s modulus
is determined during the elastic loading. Second, the plastic material data of Ludwik-Hollomon’s law are identified
inversely. In order to find a global optimum of the cost function and thus a robust result, widely spread start values
for the material parameters are used. Finally, the unloading phase of the 3-point bending experiment is used to optimise
the elastic properties concerning the influence of plastic strain on the Young’s modulus. A Young’s modulus of
152 GPa for both forming and unloading simulation (16 % reduction compared to the initial value of 181 GPa
determined in tensile tests) significantly enhances the prediction of the part geometry after springback while the
geometry under load is only slightly affected. Overall, the scattering of the results in terms of elasto-plastic material
properties from the inverse approach in 3-point bending is considerably lower than the scattering from tensile tests.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully would like to thank the Phoenix Feinbau GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) for the support of the
depicted research.

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