Inverse finite element approach and its application in sheet metal forming

The inverse finite element approach (IFEA) was derived from ideal forming to predict the development blank of sheet metal and the thickness strain distribution according to the geometry of final product. The flange portion of stamping product under blank-holder is a free parameter that is mostly dependent on the shape of the initial flat blank. Based on the IFEA, this paper proposed a node relocation technique to estimate the influence of flange shape and evaluate the final geometry and thickness strain distribution from the prescribed flat blank. The applications of the IFEA cover the backward and forward evaluations: from given product to initial blank and from given initial blank to final product. Those applications make the design of sheet metal forming easy and fast. A door-like product experiment confirmed that the precision of the IFEA satisfied the manufacturing requirement.