Experimental and Numerical Studies of Edge Rounding Process in HSLA Steels Sheet Metal

Abstract:

Blanking of sheet-metal is an important forming process in the automotive industry for the manufacture of mechanical components. The final component shape, obtained at the end of bending or deep-drawing processes, often has sharp edges due to the blanking operation. Edge Rounding by Punching (E.R.P.) of safety components is necessary to avoid cutting the belt material. In addition to removing the sharp edges, the punching results in work hardening of the material in the rounded zones which results in an increase in the local resistance of the material. In this study, a High Strength Low Alloy steel (HSLA S500MC) is tested with the aim of analysing the residuals fields in the chaining of blanking and edge rounding processes. The mechanical behaviour of the sheet material is investigated by means of tensile tests and Vickers micro-hardness measurements. Numerical simulations are performed using a ductile damage criterion. The experimental residual stress fields are characterised and compared to numerical results, in view of predicting the in-service behaviour of the component. Specimens with rounded edges are compared to specimens that were not submitted to the rounding operation. It is shown that (E.R.P.) improves the component resistance, therefore justifying the use of this process in the manufacture of automotive safety components.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volumes 554-557)
• Pages: 1400-1407
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.554-557.1400
• Online since: June 2013
• Authors: Mohamed Achouri, Eric Gildemyn, Guenael Germain, Philippe dal Santo, Alain Potiron
• Keywords: Edge Rounding by Punching, Numerical Simulation, Residual Stress, Vickers Micro-Hardness

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