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Over the past two decades, various finite element formulations and solution techniques for metal forming analysis have been developed. Most finite element codes for bulk metal forming used in the industry today are based on static implicit solution schemes wherein a non-linear system of equations is solved iteratively for each time increment. For simple 2D problems, static implicit analysis models are generally known to be more accurate and efficient than dynamic explicit analysis models. However, for complex 3D forming problems, the static implicit procedures encounter a number of inherent difficulties especially in incremental forming processes such as ring rolling in which several surface nodes repeatedly make contact with and separate from the dies. Static implicit finite element formulations require a very long computational time for the analysis of ring rolling. Several solution techniques have been developed to reduce the computational time of static implicit finite element analysis, namely the dual mesh technique, Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) technique, etc. The dynamic explicit method on the other hand appears to be very effective in analyzing complex incremental forming problems. In this paper, a comparison of the analysis results obtained using dynamic explicit finite element method and static implicit method using a dual mesh approach is presented. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At The Timken Company, finite element modeling has been utilized successfully to design, improve and optimize metal forming processes in many areas from steel making processes for long products and tubes, and forming and shaping of discrete parts. It is very challenging to apply the finite element modeling to most incremental forming processes due to continuously changing contact conditions between workpiece and forming tools. This paper illustrates the use of different finite element formulations for the analysis of various incremental forming processes. Each finite element analysis (FEA) program has its own advantages and disadvantages in the areas of computational time and accuracy of results, so the selection of proper program to analyze a certain process is quite significant. Unique applications of FEA programs to assist the design of tooling and process parameters of several forming processes at The Timken Company are discussed. The analysis results of several cases were compared with available in-plant data and excellent agreement was observed. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]