Detection of strain localization in numerical simulation of sheet metal forming

This paper presents an investigation on the detection of strain localization in numerical simulation of sheet metal forming. Two methods to determine the onset of localized necking have been compared. The first criterion, newly implemented in this work, is based on the analysis of the through-thickness thinning (through-thickness strain) and its first time derivative in the most strained zone. The limit strain in the second method, studied in the authors' earlier works, is determined by the maximum of the strain acceleration. The limit strains have been determined for different specimens undergoing deformation at different strain paths covering the whole range of the strain paths typical for sheet forming processes. This has allowed to construct numerical forming limit curves (FLCs). The numerical FLCs have been compared with the experimental one. Mesh sensitivity analysis for these criteria has been performed for the selected specimens. It has been shown that the numerical FLC obtained with the new criterion predicts formability limits close to the experimental results so this method can be used as a potential alternative tool to determine formability in standard finite element simulations of sheet forming processes.