SELECTED ADVANCES IN SHEET MATERIAL FORMING

Three recent developments made at Rensselaer in sheet material forming processes are briefly reviewed in this paper. These advances represent three broad disciplines of Process Simulation, Forming Processes, and Computer-Aided Measurement Methods. The first development deals with simple and quick computer simulation of 2D sheet forming process without depending on popular finite element analysis methods. An analytical method based on a thin shell theory accounts for bending and unbending effects, and is capable of simulating practical sheet metal forming processes under the plane strain condition. The second area is concerned with innovative methods to improve formability of sheet materials by temperature gradient forming. The drawing limit is increased by such an improved temperature gradient forming process. The third and final area deals with a totally new experimental technique to capture 3D geometry data and measure strain distributions of sheet metal parts using a digital 35mm SLR camera.