Lenny Jacquinot and Fabien Nazaret, respectively Modeling & Simulation Manager and CEO of Aurock, share their experience in bringing process simulation to various sheet metal industries that traditionally do not use it.
Aurock has been a forerunner in offering simulation expertise to aerospace companies for their sheet metal forming processes. For the last 15 years, we have supported our customers in a wide range of processes, including stamping, elastoforming, rolling, hot forming, and superplastic forming. Supported by AutoForm and Abaqus simulations, we can carry out a wide range of studies and use our expertise to find solutions. Little by little, we are getting our customers into the habit of systematically using simulation by showing them the benefits of this powerful tool.
Simulating as Early as Possible
We advise our customers to carry out simulation studies as early as possible to ensure part feasibility with safe and reliable production. Methods departments benefit greatly from simulation to validate tooling concepts and find relevant process parameters that match both the part and process constraints. Simulation at this early stage is highly beneficial but very time sensitive; AutoForm is the perfect tool for us here, with rapid data input, fast calculation, and excellent accuracy of results. We can provide results within hours, which enables us to be extremely reactive in supporting our customers very early on.
A Valuable Partner for the Engineering Department
Thanks to simulation, we help our customers design a safe process by monitoring part feasibility and springback, checking geometrical tolerances, or assessing material integrity. Simulation with AutoForm is particularly well-suited to determine practical blanks and tool surfaces, predict springback, and fine-tune stamping parameters. These qualities give us the agility and responsiveness needed at this stage.
Because material data is a crucial input for simulation, we also offer complementary services to create the necessary material cards. We can manage the whole process, from material characterization to defining the material in the simulation software.
Industrialization: A High-Risk Phase
The cost and time associated with industrialization is a major challenge for manufacturing companies. This is a high-risk phase, given the human resources required, the cost of tooling, and the monopolization of production resources for fine-tuning. Simulation is an invaluable aid to limit these risks. Our expertise in finite element simulations allows us to achieve first-hit success on the press for our customers and improve the robustness of production. Of course, we also use it with our own in-house production.
Hastening R&D
Thanks to process simulation, R&D departments can easily check their ideas and innovations through digital validation. It is a key element for innovation and creative design, as well as a great communication tool to share those ideas within the company.
Improving an Existing Process Efficiently
Another positive use of simulation is to find savings by improving existing production lines, sometimes decades old. Expertise is then essential to obtain relevant results quickly by understanding and integrating real production conditions, ensuring the simulation is as close to reality as possible.
At Aurock, we are fully committed to the principle of simulating what can be manufactured and manufacturing what has been simulated. If any drift is observed, we support our customers in investigating the causes of this drift by closely examining the real process, coming to the production site for a full understanding of the situation on the press, and then accurately simulating the existing process to troubleshoot the situation.
A Case Study: From Crack to Part
Figure 1 – Simulation could replicate the problematic process. Photo credit: courtesy of Nimrod Aerostructures
In the example shown in Figure 1, no simulation had been carried out initially. Our customer was experiencing systematic splits on the part about 200 mm before bottom stroke and could not start production. They asked us for process modelling to find a solution: the objective was to adapt the process to produce a good part without milling a new tool.
The initial tool design had a blank holder and a folded preform. After carefully checking all the process information, the material used, and the actual tools at the production site, we set up a simulation that replicated the reality of that tool, reproducing the issue.
We then proposed and evaluated alternatives and found solutions through simulation: the blank holder was removed and two pilots were added to reduce stress. After a promising first simulation with this approach, we improved the preform shape through virtual tryout until we could fully form the part without risk of failure—and, just as importantly, without milling a new tool.
Figure 2 – A practical, process-based solution was found thanks to digital validation, without milling new tools. Photo credit: courtesy of Nimrod Aerostructures
Conclusion
At Aurock, we know that simulating processes as early as possible saves a lot of resources downstream. Paying close attention to the simulation data input is also crucial. Even though it is quick and simple to set up in AutoForm, these data need to faithfully reproduce the actual tool. Our expertise can be summarized in three key steps: identify the correct material laws, determine the actual production conditions, and understand the mechanical phenomena to propose improvement solutions. Our goal is to bring the simulation mindset to our customers for designing all their sheet metal parts and related forming processes, and to offer our expertise to limit industrialization times and ensure high part quality.
