A Realistic Friction Model for Computer Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Processes

Abstract

A realistic model for friction in lubricated sheet-metal forming which takes account of the different lubrication regimes which may occur at the sheet/tooling interface is developed. Friction is expressed in terms of internal interface variables (mean lubricant film thickness, sheet roughness and tooling roughness) in addition to the more traditional external variables (interface pressure, sliding speed and strain rate). The new model has been coupled to an existing finite element membrane analysis of axisymmetric stretch forming. Numerical results using the coupled codes showed excellent agreement with measured strain distributions over a range of operating conditions. Computational times with the refined friction model were typically increased by about 10 percent compared to those with a simple Amontons-Coulomb constant friction coefficient model.