Simulation of sheet metal extrusion processes with Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method

An Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian(ALE) method was employed to simulate the sheet metal extrusion process, aiming at avoiding mesh distortion and improving the computational accuracy. The method was implemented based on MSC/MARC by using a fractional step method, i.e. a Lagrangian step followed by an Euler step. The Lagrangian step was a pure updated Lagrangian calculation and the Euler step was performed using mesh smoothing and remapping scheme. Due to the extreme distortion of deformation domain, it was almost impossible to complete the whole simulation with only one mesh topology. Therefore, global remeshing combined with the ALE method was used in the simulation work. Based on the numerical model of the process, some deformation features of the sheet metal extrusion process, such as distribution of localized equivalent plastic strain, and shrinkage cavity, were revealed. Furthermore, the differences between conventional extrusion and sheet metal extrusion process were also analyzed.