CAE Based Die Face Engineering Development to Contribute to the Revitalization of the Tool & Die Industry

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools have emerged as one of the most important engineering tools in various industries, due to its flexibility and accuracy in prediction. Nowadays, CAE tools are widely used in the sheet metal forming industry to predict the forming feasibility of a wide variety of complex components, ranging from aerospace and automotive components to household products. As the demand of CAE based formability accelerates, the need for a robust and streamlined die face engineering tool becomes more crucial, especially in the early stage when the tooling layout is not available, but a product design decision must be made.Ability to generate blank, binder and addendum surfaces with an appropriate layout of Drawbead, Punch Opening Line, Trim Line are the primary features and functions of a CAE based die face engineering tool. Once the die face layout is ready, a formability study should be followed to verify the die face layout is adequate to produce a formable part. If successful, the established die face surface should be exported back to the CAD/CAM environment to speed up the tooling and manufacturing design process with confidence that this particular part is formable with this given die face. With a CAE tool as described above, the tool & die industry will be greatly impacted as the processes will enable the bypass of hardware try-out and shorten the overall vehicle production timing. The trend has shown that OEMs and first tiers will source to low cost producers in the world which will have a negative impact to the traditional tool & die makers in the developed countries. CAE based tool as described should be adopted, along with many other solutions, in order to maintain efficiency of producing high quality product and meeting time-to-market requirements. This paper will describe how a CAE based die face engineering (DFE) tool could be further developed to enable the traditional tool & die makers to meet the challenge ahead.

Sheet Metal Forming Simulation

“…Long before the implementation of CAE in tooling design, CAD systems were adopted to create die geometries, which often result in poor die design and cause many unforeseen problems during tooling tryout (Tang et al, 2005a). Long before the implementation of CAE in tooling design, CAD systems were adopted to create die geometries, which often result in poor die design and cause many unforeseen problems during tooling tryout (Tang et al, 2005a).…”

Integrated Process Simulation and Die-Design in Sheet Metal Forming

“…The competitions also drive the industry to use more new designs, new materials, and new forming processes. These trends in automotive stamping can be summarized as follows [13]. − Increasing part size and shape complexity such as whole body side panels, and multiple attached parts formed in one die to improve productivity and reduce die cost.…”