Ahmed Ktari*, Zied Antar, Nader Haddar and Khaled Elleuch
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 26, no. 1, pp.123-128, 2012

Abstract : Sheet metal bending processes are some of the most commonly used industrial manufacturing operations. The development and optimization of these processes are time consuming and costly. Therefore, finite element simulations may aid the design and quality assurance of sheet metal products. In the present study, a commercial finite element package was used to analyze the three-roller bending of a steel sheet. A two-dimensional finite element model of this process was built under the ABAQUS/Explicit environment based on the solution of several key techniques, such as contact boundary condition treatment, material property definition, meshing technique, and so on. Maps with desired curvature radii were established by varying the distance between the two bottom rollers and the position of the upper one. The developed maps made the rolling process easier and less time consuming. An industrial experiment using optimized numerical results was carried out to validate the numerical model. Residual stress and equivalent plastic strain distributions were also studied. The numerical spring back phenomenon was compared with analytical results.

Keyword : Cylindrical bending; Finite elements analysis; Residual stress; Spring back