Computer aided engineering for sheet metal forming: definition of a springback quality function

This paper presents an original formulation for the evaluation of springback occurrence after sheet metal stamping. Its aim consists of defining an objective function able to globally describe springback, according to specific changes in process or design variables. This formulation is based on modal analysis principles and it is applied on Finite Element simulations of a stamping process. It has been developed in the general context of design for quality of sheet metal components. The reasons why such global index is required are presented by means of a general state of the art about Computer Aided Engineering methods for optimizing stamped parts. Then the basic requirements for its definition are given together with the proposed formulation. Finally, after an overview of its potentialities, given by the analysis of some case studies, conclusion on its adoption and possible improvements are discussed.