Optimization of the countersinking parameters based on the response surface method

Abstract

The countersinking process is affected by many factors including the tools and the workpiece parameters. Some forming phenomena such as the knife-edge affect the quality of the countersunk hole. Up to now, many kinds of research rely mainly on the experiments which lead to poor quality and difficult control of this process. In this paper, a proposed numerical optimization of the countersinking process is developed to obtain a normalized countersunk hole. This optimisation approach is based on the response surface method (RMS), design of experiments (DOE) and the sequential quadratic programming (SQP). Finite element model is performed with an elastoplastic behaviour for simulating the process. A configuration with an imposed displacement applied to the blank holder is adopted in this study. The comparison between the results of the numerical model and the experiments showed a good agreement.