Finite element simulation of the complete sheet metal blanking cycle: Effect of blanking clearance on force curve and cut edge quality

Sheet metal blanking process is a manufacturing process that is widely used in in sheet metal forming and particularly in the electronics and automotive industries. The outcome and quality of the blanked parts are affected by various parameters such as the blanking clearance, the sheet metal mechanical properties and the wear of tools. However, experimental campaigns to assess the effects of these parameters on the process outcome can be prohibitively expensive for the industry. As a result, numerical simulation of the blanking process is becoming increasingly important to gain insight into the process and study these effects.The present paper provides a novel finite element (FE) simulation procedure to predict the complete blanking cycle including sheet metal cutting, sheet metal springback, punch penetration in die, and stripping phases. A blanking force curve showing the punch force at all phases can thus be obtained. The commercial finite element code ABAQUS® has been chosen to develop this procedure using ABAQUS/Explicit® code for the cutting phase and ABAQUS/Standard® code for the remaining phases. Based on this procedure, the influence of the blanking clearance on the punch force-displacement curve and on the cut edge quality has been studied. The obtained results have been compared to previous literature results and experimental findings.