Applications of FE simulation to the development of automotive sheet-metal parts - industry-case studies

FE simulation was applied to concurrent development of automotive sheet-metal parts. The applications were in three stages of the development: part design, process model development and try-out. Considering that some technical problems encountered in FE simulation could not still be overcome using currently available FE codes, a method was developed to obtain results which were more reasonable and to gain forming experiences through numerical trials. The simulation referred to different requirements on quality control. Industrycases which involved deep drawing of an oil pan and stamping of inner and outer panels of an automobile were studied to verify the method.