Optimization of the blankholder force distribution with application to the stamping of a car front door panel (Numisheet’99)

New materials such as dual phase steel or aluminium and complex geometries of industrial parts increase the difficulties to obtain a defect free part by stamping. One way of solution is a better regulation of the blankholder pressures. Our work is based on an original idea of Siegert, Haussermann and Haller. The goal is to control the movement of the blank under the blankholder. Thanks to a deformable flexible blankholder, it is possible to create some independent zones. In each zone, a blankholder force can be applied on the sheet, so that a strong force can hold the blank in a zone, and a smaller one can let it move in another zone. The methodology is presented as well as some results dealing with the optimization of the blankholder force considering the drawing of a front door panel (Numisheet’99 benchmark test). The numerical simulations are performed using ABAQUS Explicit. The parameters of the finite element model (mesh density, speed of punch) are set to achieve a good prediction with a minimum sim...