Numerical simulation of three-dimensional bulk forming processes by the element-free Galerkin method.

A new approach for simulating three-dimensional (3D) bulk metal forming processes is proposed by combining element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) with the flow theory of 3D rigid-plastic/viscoplastic mechanics. Different from the conventional rigid-plastic FEM, the velocity field is constructed by the moving least-squares (MLS) approximation. Special emphasis is placed on the treatments of essential boundary conditions, incompressibility constraint and friction boundaries. The stiffness equation for the analysis of 3D bulk metal forming using EFGM is derived and its key algorithms are given. To test the validity of the proposed meshless approach, a typical 3D upsetting forming process is analyzed and the numerical results are compared with those obtained by commercialized rigid-plastic FEM software Deform^3D. As results show, when handling 3D plastic deformations, the proposed approach eliminates the need of expensive meshing and remeshing procedures unavoidable in conventional FEM, and still provides results that are in good agreement with finite element predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]