International Journal of Modern Manufacturing Technologies

ISSN 20673604, Vol. IV, No. 2 / 2012

NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF SHEET THICKNESS

VARIATION IN DEEP DRAWING PROCESSES
Tahir Altinbalik, Aysun Tonka
1

Trakya University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Mechanical Engineering Department, Campus of Prof. Dr.
Ahmet KARADENZ, 22180, Edirne, Turkey
Corresponding author: Tahir Altnbalk, tahira@trakya.edu.tr

Abstract: In the present work, an attempt is made to obtain

FEM solution of sheet thickness variation and its
experimental verification in deep drawing processes. A
commercial steel sheet was chosen as a test material which
in widespread used in automotive and kitchenware
industry. Firstly, the forming limit tests were performed to
construct the FLD. Then, different blank holder forces
applied with gas springs and double-acting press was
created by using them. FEM simulations were carried out a
commercial software programme called AUTOFORM. A
good agreement was found between the measured and the
predicted values of the thickness variations.
Key words: Deep Drawing, FLD, FEM, AUTOFORM.

1. INTRODUCTION
Sheet metal forming is a technique by which most
body parts are produced in automobile industries. In
sheet metal forming, a thin blank sheet is subjected to
plastic deformation using forming tools to confirm to
a designed shape. During the process, the blank sheet
is likely to develop defects if the process parameters
are not selected properly. Therefore, it is important to
optimize the process parameters to avoid defects in
the parts and to minimize production cost.
Optimization of the process parameters for instance
die radius, blank holder force, coefficient of friction,
etc. can concluded according to their degree of
importance on the sheet metal forming characteristic.
Deep drawing is one of the major industrial sheet
metal forming processes. It is used to manufacture a
variety of products such as pans food containers,
kitchen sinks and automotive fuel tanks are
manufactured by means of the deep drawing process.
In this process, a round sheet-metal blank is firstly
positioned over a circular die and is held in place
through the instrumentality of a blankholder during
forming to prevent wrinkling of the blank during the
process. After that a circular punch moves downward
and forces the sheet-metal blank into the die cavity so
as to a cup is latest formed. The resulting hollow
component has a wall thickness nominally the same
as the blank. The design and control of a deep
drawing process depends not only on the workpiece
material, but also on the condition of the tool-

workpiece interface, the mechanics of plastic

deformation, the equipment used and the control of
metal flow (Moshksar, 1997). When the drawing
process continuous, sheet-metal components are
essential to control the flow of metal between the die
and the blank holder in order to prevent the
occurrence of failures such as tears and wrinkles in
the drawn part. While insufcient metal flow makes
tears or splits. Excessive metal flow is going to cause
wrinkles in the part either. Prediction of the forming
results, for example determination of the punching
force, blank holder forces and the thickness
distribution of the sheet metal will decrease the cost
of production and time be formed. The blank holder
is an important factor for controling the metal flow
with predefined blank holder force (BHF). When the
BHF is too low or too high, there are some situations
likely to occur. Such as when the BHF is too low
wrinkle can be seen or when the BHF is too high
fracture can be seen. It seems that wrinkle is the main
factor pf restrictive for forming when the BHF is too
low. Furthermore when the BHF is too high it seems
that fracture is the main factor of restrictive for
forming, either.
There have been many attempts (Zeng and
Mahdavian, 1998; Wang and Cao, 2000) to obtain the
minimum blank holding pressure that prevents
wrinkling. Yu and Johnson (1982) studied the effect
of blank holder pressure on the buckling behavior of
the flange. Agrawal (2007) studied to predict the
minimum blank holding pressure required to avoid
wrinkling in the flange region during deep drawing
process. The influence of drawing temperature and
blank holder force (BHF) on sheet formability was
investigated by Chang et al (2007). Padmanabhan et
al (2007) aimed to determination of the effect of these
three important process parameters, namely blank
holder force, die radius and friction coefficient, on
the thickness variation of the part. Last three decades,
the numerical simulation techniques have found so
important solutions in studying for many of scientific
problems and engineering processes including metal
forming operations as well with extensive progreses
in hardware and software. Many researchers studied

10
the deep drawing process by means of the finiteelement (FE) method. Triantafyllidis and Needleman
(1980) investigated the effect of blank holder
stiffness on wrinkling behavior using elasto-plastic
FEA. Shulkin et al (2000) designed and built an
eight-point BHF control system with a flexible blank
holder as a part of an experimental viscous pressure
forming (VPF) machine. FEM simulations of
hydroforming with a multi-point BHF control and an
elastic blank holder were conducted to fine-tune the
control system as well as to predict the forming loads.
Sheng et al(2004) aimed to determine a feasible BHF
profile in a single FEM simulation. He selected two
conical cup geometries to verify the proposed
adaptive simulation method. Qun et al (2007)
proposed a new strategy to optimize the variable
blank holder force (BHF) and determine the drawing
limit under the constant and variable BHF by using
FEM. The effect of controlling blank holder motion
by a newly proposed algorithm on deep-drawability
was investigated by Yagami et al (2007) for a circular
cup deep- drawing process of a thin sheet metal.
Finite element (FE) simulations of the deep drawing
process were also conducted to investigate the effect
of the method on fracture damage reduction. Savas
and Secgin (2007) aimed to increase deep drawing
ratio and to decrease blank holder forces. For this
purpose they prepared five kinds of blank holder and
die shapes by giving an angle to die and blank holder.
ABAQUS software has been used by Kumar (2007)
to simulate the deep drawing of circular blanks into
axisymmetric cylindrical cups. An acceptable range
of blank holding force and the tearing zone were
identified with the help of the numerical simulation
for high strength stainless steel SS304. He also
suggested a range of safe blank holding force as 2080kN for drawing defect free cylindrical cups.
On the other hand, thickness distribution is one of the
quality criteria in sheet metal formed parts. The
thickness is unequal distributed in the part after deep
drawing. Usually, the thickness is uniform at the
bottom of the punch, minimum at the punch radius
and vertical surface and more at the flange area. The
occurrence of thickness variation may cause stress
concentration to acceleration of damage mechanism
in the leading part. So, failure in deep drawn parts
usually occurs by thinning, therefore, it is important
to determine the variation of thickness. Yossifon and
Tirosh (1991) carried out a comprehensive
experimental and analytical investigation on the
behavior of the sheet blank materials, the properties
investigated including strain hardening and
anisotropy, the effect of friction and changes in metal
sheet thickness. Hu et al (1998) predicted the
thickness variations by the simulations along the
circumferential and radial directions by using in an
commercial elastoplastic finite element code named
ABAQUS. Different methods of analysis such as
analytical, numerical and experimental techniques

were employed to estimate the required drawing force

by Saniee and Monazeran (2003). In their study, the
numerical simulations were conducted using the
finite-element (FE) method. In these simulations, the
effects of the element type on the forming load and
the variation of thickness strain were studied.
Padmanabhan (2007) aimed to determination of the
effect of three important process parameters, namely
blank holder force, die radius and friction coefficient,
on the thickness variation of the part. The influences
of the BHF on wall thickness during deep drawing of
the aluminum alloy sheet material has been
investigated through FEM simulation setup and the
experiments by Demirci et al (2008). Based on the
Demircis study the distribution of wall thicknesses
obtained by means of experiments and FEM showed
a good agreement.
In this research, DIN EN 10130-99 (IF) steel sheet
with low carbon and high quality formability and a
thickness of 1 mm. has been used as a test material
for axisymmetric deep drawing process. Previously
determined three different blank holder forces applied
to blank holder with gas springs and single-acting
press was used instead of double-acting press. In this
study, blank holder force how to effect the cup
thinning was researched and it was simulated with a
commercial software program called AUTOFORM.
Thinning of the values obtained from experimental
results were compared with the result of simulation.
2. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
2.1. Material
As explained above, DIN EN 10130-99(IF) (Turkish
grade ERDEMIR 7116) was chosen as test material
for good deep drawing formability. This material can
be used in automotive industry, white goods,
kitchenware, radiator and air-condition equipments
and durable consumer goods. Also it can be used
when toughness, ductility and strength requested.
Mechanical properties obtained from uniaxial tension
test which performed on the INSTRON 8501
Universal Test Machine and chemical composition of
material is shown in Table 1 and Table 2
respectively.
Table 1. Results obtained from the tensile test applied to
samples
Material

Yield
Strength
(MPa)

Tensile
Strength
(MPa)

Fracture
Elongation (%)

DIN EN
10130-99

164

290

44

Table 2. Chemical composition of IF in wt%

Material
DIN EN
10130-99

Mn

Ti

0.04

0.012

0.009

0.2

0.1

2.2. Determination the Formability of Sheet Metal

As it is known the formability of sheet metals is
limited by localized necking or non-uniform strains
that may occur within a small region in the plane of
the sheet. The amount of strain that a sheet metal can
tolerate just before localized necking is called limit
strain. On this basis, forming limit diagrams (FLD)
which has been a widely accepted criterion for
fracture prediction in the sheet metal forming
represent limiting major and minor available
principal strains in the plane of the deformed sheet
that can be achieved. According to literature
(Moshksar and Mansorzadeh, 2003) FLD were
introduced by Keeler and Goodwin in 1960. Different
factors such as strain hardening exponent, anisotropy
constant, tool geometry, friction effect, strain rate
sensitivity, grain size influence the FLDs
(Stachowicz, 1989). A number of researhers
investigated and detailed for the determination of the
FLDs by means of different parameters and some of
them supported with FE analysis (Brunet, 1998;

11
Zimniak, 2000; Butuc, 2003 and Kim, 2011).
In the presented study, in addition to basic
mechanical properties, the forming limit tests were
also performed to construct the forming limit
diagram. To this end, the program, its called
ARAMIS-v.6.2.0-3 was used. The sheet metal was
cut as different width and specific sizes and it has
created a scholastic distribution so that deformation
could be measured optically. To determine the FLD,
stretching test were carried out for sheet specimens
with using a semi-sepherical punch. Forming limit
diagrams were obtained with 10 different circle
sample, which has different width, strain and stress,
shown in Fig.1. The final report was taken any stage
of the program and is seen on the Fig.2. As known, in
the FLD, the higher the forming limit curve the beter
is the formability. As seen in Fig.3. the specimens
represent quite higher curve and this means that the
material used the presented study is not easy to
fracture and has good formability.

Fig.1. Deformed shapes of arc-shaped specimens obtained from the punch-stretch test.

Fig.2. Final report of an any stage of the experiments

12

Fig.3. Static FLDs of steel sheets contructed on the basis of static punch-stretch test.

2.3. Equipment and Tool Set-up

Deep drawing experiments were carried out on a 125
metric ton capacity hydraulic press. Experimental setup is shown in Figure 4a-4d. The punch has an outer
diameter of 57.5 mm whilist the die ring has an outer
diameter of 115 mm, an inner diameter of 59.7 mm
and 40 mm in height. So upper limit of drawing
ratios was reached as 2.0. The die entrance radius
was machined as 12 mm. Deep drawing force was
calculated as 52 kN and blank holder force was
calculated as 15.5 kN (Tonka, 2009). When the draw
ratio is higher, punch force and stresses increases.
Thats why the max draw ratio is chosen in order to
identify max thinning rates. Blanks were cut as
diameter 115mm.
Thiruvarudchelvan et al (1999) explained in details
that, in recent years three methods of applying the
blankholding force in an inherently automatic manner
in deep drawing have been introduced, developed and
investigated experimentally and theoretically These
are; 1) Friction-actuated blank holding, 2) The
method using a short-stroke device, in which
applicable to the common deep drawing of cylindrical
cups at draw ratios of about 2.0 and, 3) The blankholding force being generated as in 2 before, but
differing in that the hydraulic pressure also augments
the drawing process, thereby enabling larger drawing
ratios of about 3.5. In this study a single-acting press
was used but with gas springs, was created a doubleacting press effect. When the gas springs were
jammed in different stroke the force was increasing
on the location, where the gas springs pressing. 4 gas
springs were used in this deep-drawn, they were
called HR700-63. In this die-set, blank holder force
obtained blank pressing force from these gas springs
and Boyle- Mariotte principle was used to find this
blank pressing force (Tonka 2009). Firstly, gas
springs were worked at 45 mm stroke. Total blank
holder force was calculated 23 kN, when the relevant

equations and graphs were used. Correspondingly,

when 30 mm stroke was used 17 kN, 10 mm stroke
was used 12,5 kN blank holder forces were obtained.
Three different blank holder forces were chosen in
these tests. Total height was reached in 8 steps, when
different blank holder forces used for every 5 mm
stroke. There was no automatic stroke adjustment
unit in that pres, which the tests were done. Thats
why 7 distance circular parts were used which having
5 mm thick. The circular part were used to obtain
parts in the with different depth, between 5-40 mm.
Three-dimensional measuring device used for
measurement and thickness variation was measured
from eight different points.
2.4. Autoform Solution
Numerical simulations and solid modeling programs
are used commonly recently, to find optimum die
surface before manufacturing to reduce of cost. One
of those is Autoform which was used in this study. It
reduces the number of training for die testing and
surface. This program based on practical experience,
industrial knowledge and expertise in sheet metal
forming. It can find different solution for every step
in the process to analyze and optimize. It is integrated
and complete solution also has special functions for
them. Thickness, % thinning, wrinkling can be
showed, as well as, it can be used to take loads on the
die elements, such as punch and forces.
In this study, when autoform simulation program is
running, part and die elements position and stroke,
the friction coefficient between sheet and die, finite
elements with specific characteristics, material
characteristics and unfold contour were entered as
input values. Elasticity modules, poisson ratio,
specific gravity, the values of anisotropy coefficients
were entered as material data. In this way deep
drawing force and values of wall thinning were
obtained.

13

a)

c)

b)

d)

Fig. 4. Deep drawing experimental rig a) Schematic representation of tools b)Tooling assembly c)Lower die with blank
before the drawing d) After deep drawing.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the presented study, the thickness variations of IF
steel in deep drawing process was investigated as
theoretically and experimentally in limit drawing
ratio of 2.0 and with three different blank holder

forces. To measure the thickness changes after the

deep drawing experiments an optical micrometer was
used and thicknesses were measured in 5 mm ranges.
Fig. 5 shows the points along the cup wall at which
measurements
were
taken
for
thickness.

Fig.5. Schematic representation of thickness measurement line

The thickness variations predicted by the Autoform

simulation and obtained from experiments for a cup
drawn to a depth of 40 mm and a blankholder force of
12.5 kN are shown in Fig.6a and6b as comparable.
As shown in the figures, there is a decrease in
thickness from the top to bottom for 10 mm drawn
depth and the thickness variation is only 2%. From
this point on the thickness was fixed until 30 mm

depth and the rate of thinning increased %4 on the

deep part of cup. As known during deep drawing of
cups wall thinning occurs at the bottom of the cup
and thickening occurs near the top of the cup section
and at the flange. However there was no thickness
variation observed top of the cup section and at the
flange against the other studies. Autoform program
gaves thickness increase on the first 5 mm. The

14
thickness decrease showed %6 on the mid of the part
and %7 on the deep of the part. The average value for

thickness is 5% greater for the predicted values for

12.5 kN blankholder force.

a)

b)
Fig. 6. a) Autoform solution of wall thinning values for BHF=12.5 kN
b) Drawn cup and comparable thickness distribution of the cup wall for BHF=12.5 kN

thickness increase was shown as %4 but after on the

mid of part the thickness decrease was shown as %7
and on the deep of part was as %6. Values of wall
thining in Autoform are more than measurements.
The
difference
is
max
around
%4.

The results of the experiment and Autoform solution

are shown in Fig. 7a and 7b for 17 KN blank holder
force. In the tests the thickness decrease reached until
%8 for the first 10 mm but the value shown as %4 on
the mid of part and as %2 on the deep of the part. On
the other hand, according to Autoform result, the

a)

15

b)
Fig. 7. a) Autoform solution of wall thinning values for BHF=17 kN
b) Drawn cup and comparable thickness distribution of the cup wall for BHF=17 kN

Results obtained from Autoform and measured from

experiments for 23kN blankholder force are shown in
Fig.8a and 8b. In these tests, in the depth of first 10
mm, thickness dicrease is %9, then between mid and

deep of the part is fixed, %4. Autoform gave more

than these values and the difference is about %3. So,
it can be said that Autoform can be used safely such
operations.

a)

b)
Fig. 8. a) Autoform solution of wall thinning values for BHF=23 kN
b) Drawn cup and comparable thickness distribution of the cup wall for BHF=23 kN

Thats why for the present die set Autoform was used
to obtain the max. blank holder force which tearing

occurred.200 kN was obtained and presented in Fig.9.

16

Fig. 9. Determination of max. BHF by using the AUTOFORM

Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the Technical University
of Liberec and Mr. Jiri Sobotka for the FLD tests.
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Received: April 16, 2012 / Accepted: December 5, 2012 /

Paper available online: December 8, 2012 International
Journal of Modern Manufacturing Technologies.