Modelling the Springback of Sheet Metals at Large Deformations

Sheet metal forming simulations are increasingly replacing traditional build-and-break prototyping because they provide a less expensive and more rapid way to speed up product design time while improving quality and performance. Sheet metal is subjected to stretching, bending and unbending during forming, and an accurate prediction of the formability and springback of the sheet necessitates the use of an appropriate constitutive model. Use of isotropic hardening alone has been identified as a source of inaccurate springback prediction. In order to be able to describe the cyclic hardening behaviour and the Bauschinger effect, a large-deformation elasto-plastic material model with non-linear kinematic hardening is discussed in the present work. The model is derived from a thermodynamical framework and is based on the multiplicative split of the deformation gradient. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)