Simulation of metal forming processes including impact on product performance

Abstract: This thesis deals with finite element simulation of manufacturing processes. The aim of the research was to improve the product development process by providing engineers with methods and tools to enable efficient manufacturing simulations . The focus of the work is forming processes such as rail manufacturing and sheet metal forming. Efforts have been made to develop and improve the methods used in manufacturing simulations as well as to integrate different tools to enable for example optimization or life-length analysis. In papers A-C rail manufacturing has been investigated. The rail manufacturing process has been simulated in order to determine the residual stresses in the rail. An element formulation has been developed in order to make these simulations possible within a reasonable computational time. The results from the manufacturing simulations have been used in fatigue analysis in order to determine the residual stresses influence on lifelength. Paper D and E deals with sheet metal forming. A simulation tool to find the optimal geometry, within given conditions, of a press formed product has been developed and tested. A strategy to find material data by inverse modelling of a simple experiment is presented. An ivestigation on how the material model and parameters influence the result from a full scale forming simulation has also been made.