In this paper a methodology is proposed to predict the ductile damage in the sheet metal blanking process using a coupled thermo mechanical finite element method. A constitutive material model combined with the ductile fracture criteria was used. The effect of material softening due to the heat generated during plastic work in a specimen was considered in blanking simulations. To verify the validity of the proposed model several blanking simulations are performed and the results compared with those obtained from an experimental study. The interaction of fracture initiation and temperature distribution in the sheet metal during the process was studied. The effect of velocity and the clearance on the product shape was examined. It was seen at high punch speeds the viscous and thermal effects have significant effects on product quality. Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: cleaned_up_revisedmanuscript.doc Click here to view linked References

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