Numerical study of the micro-formability of thin metallic materials: virtual micro-forming limit diagrams

This paper presents the determination of virtual micro-forming limit diagrams from two types of numerical simulations based on the finite element method: one with modelling of the full tool for microdeep drawing and a thin blank with geometric imperfections, based on a defined roughness; and a second called “reduced simulation” where different deformation paths were simulated with appropriate boundary conditions by introducing the same type of geometric imperfections on aluminium 1050A (99.5%). A new test for detecting the onset of necking, called the “change of slope” criterion has been defined. Several methods based on histograms to represent the distributions of major and minor strains, have been used to determine the strain at the onset of necking. The numerical micro-forming limit diagrams (MFLD) were then compared to one obtained experimentally.