An integrated analysis and design method for metal forming processes

Metal forming is a major manufacturing technique. The metal forming processes are aimed at obtaining a desired geometry and mechanical properties. In recent years, the need for improvements in process analysis, design and control exists throughout the metal forming community due to increased competition. The objective of this dissertation research is to develop an integrated analysis and design method based on a comprehensive understanding of the metal forming mechanism for a systematic approach to metal forming processes through a utilization of the recent advances in upper bound element technique, parametric study, modern computation capability, neural networks, existing techniques and interdisciplinary knowledge, as well as their synthesis in a well-organized design methodology. The motivation behind this dissertation is the demand for efficiently comprehensive analysis, robust design and optimum control of metal forming processes.; The integrated analysis method was developed based on the Upper Bound Element Technique (UBET) and integrates the UBET with the temperature module, the material modeling techniques and the optimization technique to take into account the effects of temperature and heat generation/transfer during metal forming processes. The integrated design method was developed for the robust design through a synthetic utilization of existing techniques, interdisciplinary knowledge and the integrated analysis method, as well as their synthesis in a well-planned manner. The integrated design method considers the design of the whole process as opposed to a single parameter optimization. The integrated analysis and design method has been successfully applied to the case studies. The significant advantages of the integrated analysis method is its computation efficiency, while maintaining a fairly high degree of accuracy and the wide prediction capability. In addition, a new strategy for the on-line control of metal forming processes was proposed based on neural networks to realize the on-line learning and real-time optimizing control of metal forming processes. The strategy of off-line pretune and on-line learning makes itself distinguished from traditional control methods.; The integrated analysis and design method for metal forming processes developed in this research are generic and can be directly or with a little modification applied to other forming processes. The advantages of the method are in its integration and generality as an analysis and design tool. This research has provided a means for analyzing the metal forming processes and achieving the desired product with optimal process design. The integrated analysis and design method will result in significant improvement in the areas of process-analysis methods, process-design methods and process-control strategies for metal forming processes.