Sheet Metal Forming

2.810 Fall 2002

Professor Tim Gutowski

Minoan gold pendant of bees encircling the Sun,

showing the use of granulation, from a tomb at Mallia,
17th century BC. In the Archaeological Museum,
Irklion, Crete.

Historical Note;
Sheet metal stamping was developed as a mass
production technology for the production of
bicycles around the 1890s. This technology
played an important role in making the system
of interchangeable parts economical (perhaps
for the first time).

Steps in making Hub

Steps in Sprocket making

Stress Strain diagram

materials selection

Basic Sheet Forming Processes

(from http://www.menet.umn.edu/~klamecki/Forming/mainforming.html)

Shearing

Drawing
Bending

Shear and corner press

Brake press

Finger press

Shearing Operation Force

Requirement
Sheet

Punch

Die

Part or slug

F = 0.7 T L (UTS)
T = Sheet Thickness
L = Total length Sheared
UTS = Ultimate Tensile Strength of material

Yield Criteria

Y/2

max

= (1/2) Y

Tresca

max

= (2/3)1/2 Y
Mises

Schematic of a Blanked
Edge

Bending Force
Requirement
WT 2
F
(UTS )
L

Force
Punch
Workpiece

Die
L

T = Sheet Thickness
W = Total Width
Sheared
(into the page)

L =Span length
UTS = Ultimate Tensile
Strength of material

Engineering Strain during Bending:

e = 1/((2R/T) + 1)
R = Bend radius

Minimum Bend radius:

R = T ((50/r) 1)
r = tensile area reduction
in percent

Stress distribution through the

thickness of the part
Y

Elastic

Y
yY

-Y
Elastic-plastic

-Y
Fully plastic

Springback

Over-bend
Bottom
Stretch

Pure Bending

tension

compression

Bending & Stretching

Stretch Forming

Loading

Wrapping
* source: http://www.cyrilbath.com/sheet_process.html

Pre-stretching

Release

Stretch Forming

Stretch forming

Stretch Forming Force

Requirement
F = (YS + UTS)/2 * A

F = stretch forming force (lbs)

YS = material yield strength (psi)
UTS = ultimate tensile strength of the material (psi)
A = Cross-sectional area of the workpiece (in2)

Example of Force Calculation

Calculate the force required to stretch form a wing span having a
cross-sectional area of .50X120 made from 2219 aluminum alloy
having a yield strength of 36,000 psi and a UTS of 52,000 psi:

F = 88000/2 * 60 = 2,640,000 lbs = 1320 tons

Calculate the force required to shear a 10 diameter, 1/8 thick
blank from mild steel with a UTS of 45,000 psi:

F = 0.7 (.125)((10) 45,000 = 62 tons

Auto body panels

10 - 11 panels
3 to 5 dies each
~$0.5M each
~$20M investment

Tooling for Automotive Stamping

Machines

Material Selection
Material selection is critical in both product and process
design.
Formability is the central material property.
This property must be balanced with other product and
process considerations such as strength, weight, cost, and
corrosion resistance.
Auto
vs.
Aerospace Example
Auto Body Panel

Airplane Body Panel

Progressive stamping
1010 Steel, cold-rolled
temper
.04 sheet, custom order
oversize
Double-sided Zinc clad
Cost ~ $.35-.45/lb
UTS ~ 300 MPa
YS ~ 185 MPa
Elongation ~ 42%

stretch forming
2024 Aluminum, T3
.08 sheet,
mechanically polished
Cost ~ $4.0/lb
UTS ~ 470 MPa
YS ~ 325 MPa
Elongation ~ 20%

Comparison of
representative Parts: Aero
and Auto
Part Description

Forming Process
MATERIAL

Material
Scrap
Material Cost
Per part
LABOR
Set-up Time
Parts/Run
Cycle Time
Total Labor
Labor Rate**
Stretch-Form Labor Cost
FIXED
Equipment
Tools/Dies
TOTAL TRANSFER COST

Auto
Body Panel
54"X54"

Aero
Body Panel
54"X54"

Progressive Stamping

Stretch Forming

1010 Steel, cold-rolled,

.04" sheet, custom order
double-sided Zinc clad
40%
$0.45/lb
$15.75

2024 Aluminum, T3
temper, .08" sheet,
oversize mechanically
polished
20%
$4.00/lb
$105.00

1.5hr
2,000
0.25 min
0.30 min
$20.00/hr
$0.10

1.0hr
30
2.5 min
4.5 min
$20.00/hr
$1.50

$5,000,000
$900,000

$1,000,000
$45,000
(200 manhours labor)
$265

$25

Aerospace Stretch Forming Body Panel Process

Parts
Receive
d
Clad and
Prime
Surfaces

Mylar
Protection
Applied
Chemic
al
Milling

Burr
Edges in
tension
Burr
Edges and
Inspect

Stretch
Formin
g
Han
d
Trim

Index
to
Block

Process Flow for Automobile Door Stamping Operation

Raw
material

Blank material
starting
dimensions

Drawin
g

Pierce

Restrik
e

Flange

Design: Stretch Forming

vs. Stamping

Stretch Forming Advantages over Stamping

Tighter tolerances are possible: as tight as .0005

inches on large aircraft parts
Little problem with either wrinkling or spring back
Large, gently contoured parts from thin sheets

Stretch forming Disadvantages over Stamping

Complex or sharply cornered shapes are difficult or

impossible to form
Material removal blanking, punching, or trimming
requires secondary operations
Requires special preparation of the free edges
prior to forming

Springback

Elastic Springback
Analysis
y

= 1/K
M

M
y

1.

Assume plane sections remain plane:

y = - y/

2.

Assume elastic-plastic behavior for material

=E
E

3. We want to construct the following

Bending Moment M vs. curvature 1/ curve

Loading

MY
EI

EI

1/Y

R1

Springback is measured as
Permanent set is

Unloading

R0
1/R0 1/R1
1/R1

1/
(2)

4. Stress distribution through the thickness of the beam

Y

Elastic

Y
yY

-Y
Elastic-plastic

-Y
Fully plastic

5. M = A y dA

dA
y

dy

Elastic region
M ydA E

y2
EI
dA

(3)

At the onset of plastic behavior

= - y/ E = - h/2 E = -Y

(4)

This occurs at
1/ = 2Y / hE = 1/Y

(5)

Substitution into eqn (3) gives us the moment at

on-set of yield, MY
MY = - EI/Y = EI 2Y / hE = 2IY/h
(6)
After this point, the M vs 1/r curve starts to bend
over. Note from M=0 to M=MY the curve is linear.

In the elastic plastic region

M ybdy 2

h/2

yY

2Yb

2 h/2

y
2

yY

yY

yY

y
Ybydy 2 Ybydy
y
0 Y
3 yY

Y y
b
yY 3

h2
2 2
2
Yb( yY ) yY Yb
4
3
bh
1 yY
M
Y 1

4
3 h / 2
2

(7)

Note at yY=h/2, you get on-set at yield, M = MY

And at yY=0, you get fully plastic moment, M = 3/2 MY

To write this in terms of M vs 1/ rather than M vs yY,

note that the yield curvature (1/Y can be written
as (see
1 eqn
Y (1))

(8)
Y h / 2
Where Y is the strain at yield. Also since the strain
at yY is -Y, we can write
1 Y

(9)
yY
Combining (8) and (9) gives

yY
(1 )Y

h/2
1

(10)

Substitution into (7) gives the result we seek:

3
1 (1 )Y
M M Y 1
2
3 1

(11)

Eqn(11)

Loading

MY
EI

EI
1/Y

Elastic unloading
curve

R1

Unloading
R0

1/

MY
M
(1 )Y

1 1

R1

(12)

Now, eqns (12) and (13) intersect at 1/ = 1/R0

Hence,
MY
(1 )Y

1
1
3
1 (1 )Y

M Y 1

2
3 1 R0

R0 R1

Rewriting and using 1/ = 2Y / hE, we get

1
1
Y
2 Y
3
4 R0

hE
hE
R0 R1

(13)

New developments
Tailored blanks
Binder force control
Segmented dies
Quick exchange of dies
Alternative materials; cost issues

The Shape Control

Concept
desired
shape +
-

shape
error

SHAPE
CONTROLLER

DISCRETE DIE
SURFACE

WORKPIECE

SHAPE
MEASUREMENT

Die Shape
Change

New
Part
Shape

DISCRETE DIE
FORMING PRESS

TRACING CMM
CONTROLLER

Part Error

finished
part

Conventional Tooling

Tool

Pallet
ParkingLot

60 Ton Matched Discrete

Die Press(Robinson et al,
1987)
ToolSetup
Actuators

PressMotion

Passive
Tool
Programmable
Tool

1.6
1.4

50

MAX

1.2

RMS

40

30

0.8
0.6

20

0.4
10

0.2

SYSTEM ERROR THRESHOLD

0
P1

P2

P3
PART CYCLE

P4

RMS Error [x0.001 in.]

60

[x0.001 in.]

MAXIMAL SHAPE ERROR

Cylindrical Part Error

Reduction

Large Scale Tool

6 feet

Stretch Forming with Reconfigurable

Tool @ Northrop Grumman

StampingandTPS:
QuickExchangeofDies
Ref.ShigeoShingo,ARevolutioninManufacturing:
TheSMEDSystemProductivityPress.1985

Simplify,Organize,Standardize,
EliminateAdjustments,
ConvertInternaltoExternalSetUps

Standard fixtures

Alternative materials for

auto body panels

Comparison
Steel

Vs

$0.35/lb
0.03 thick
7.6 lb
40% scrap
$4.25 matl cost
400/hr
5 workers
$18.90/hr (Union)
$0.24 labor cost
$5,000,000 equipment
$900,000 tools
$7.71 unit cost at 100,000 units

Ref John Busch

SMC
$0.65/lb
.0.12 thick
7.0 lb
6% scrap
$4.84 matl cost
40/hr
$12.50/hr (non-Union)
$0.63 labor cost
$1,200,000 eqipment
$250,000 tools
$7.75 unit cost at 100,000 units

Cost comparison between sheet

steel and plastics and
composites for automotive
panels
ref John Busch

Environment
punching Vs machining
hydraulic fluids and lubricants
scrap
energy
painting, cleaning

Steel can production at Toyo

Seikan

See Appendix D; http://itri.loyola.edu/ebm/

Summary
Note on Historical Development
Materials and Basic Mechanics
Aerospace and Automotive Forming
New Developments
Environmental Issues
Solidworks and Metal Forming your
Chassis

Readings
1. Sheet Metal Forming Ch. 16 Kalpakjian (3rd ed.)
2. Economic Criteria for Sensible Selection of Body
Panel Materials John Busch and Jeff Dieffenbach
3. Handout from Shigeo Shingo, The SMED System
4. Steps to Building a Sheet Metal Chassis for your
2.810 Car Using Solidworks, by Eddy Reif
5. Design for Sheetmetal Working, Ch. 9
Boothroyd, Dewhurst and Knight