Numerical simulation and analysis on the deep drawing of LPG bottles

Deep drawing is one of the most used sheet metal forming processes in the production of automotive components, LPG bottles and household goods, among others. The formability of a blank depends on the process parameters such as blank holder force, lubrication, punch and die radii, die-punch clearance, in addition to material properties and thickness of the sheet metal. This paper presents a numerical study made on the deep drawing of LPG bottles. In particular, the application of both variable blank holder forces and contact friction conditions at specific location during deep drawing are considered. The numerical simulations were carried out with DD31MP FE code. A variable blank holder force strategy was applied and the numerical results were compared with results from other blank holder force schemes. It is evident that the proposed variable blank holder force scheme reduces the blank thinning when compared to other schemes; the friction coefficient also has a significant influence on the stress-strain distribution. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.