The Optimization of Servo Press Method for Sheet Metal Forming

Recently in the field of sheet metal forming, servo press, which can control the speed and position of the tool using a servo motor, is attractive method. Development process of servo press method is accelerated as the capacity of servo motor become bigger. In the future, it’s expected as a great alternative plan to replace conventional press method in order to improve quality, increase productivity, maintain integrity of tools, and reduce energy consumption. Motion control in servo press method has to be effectively optimized depending on the shape and characteristics of the material. However, in the industrial field, the controls of motion relied on experience or intuition of most skilled worker, so the workers can’t avoid many trials and errors to find the optimized motion. We try to implement the servo press method using a finite element analysis with LS-DYNA in order to shorten the trials and errors [1]. And furthermore, we try to find optimal motion with LS-OPT [2]. The front side member model of Numisheet 2011 BM03 was chosen for the analysis. We carefully consider stress relaxation and time scaling in order to implement servo press method. Then, we try to compare the following three cases to look into utility of optimized motion for the formability and productivity. Conventional press method Conventional press method controlled by speed Servo press method Finally, we hope that the application of LS-OPT could be effectively used for the optimization of servo press method.