Finite element simulation of the warm deep drawing process in forming a circular cup from magnesium alloy sheet

In recent years, due to its low density and high strength, the use of magnesium alloy in sheet metal forming has been of interest to many researchers. Because of the low formability of magnesium alloy at room temperature, warm forming has been developed in order to produce parts of a magnesium alloy sheet. In this paper, the warm deep drawing process of a circular cup from a magnesium alloy AZ31B sheet was simulated using the nite element software ABAQUS/Standard. Simulation results obtained from this study agree well with experimental results and show that the limit drawing ratio increases with an increase in forming temperature. Maximum LDR was obtained as 2.5 at the forming temperature of 200C. Simulation results indicate that heat transfer plays an important role in increasing formability. By comparing isothermal and non-isothermal warm deep drawing, the heat transfer eect and location of sheet failure have been investigated. The eects of friction coecient and punch speed on the limit drawing ratio were also studied. As a result, increase in the friction coecient leads to an increase in the punch force and a decrease in the limit drawing ratio. Results also show that the maximum friction coecient to produce acceptable parts increases with an increase in the forming temperature. In addition, results indicate that an increase in punch speed leads to a decrease in the drawing ratio limit.