Finite element simulation of the dynamic behaviour of deep drawn components with accurate thickness description

In this paper we consider the simulation of the dynamic behaviour of deep drawn components by means of the finite element method (FEM). The deep drawing process involves high deformations which result in an irregular thickness distribution in the manufactured component. The thickness variation therefore has to be taken into account in the dynamic FEM simulation, since a reference model based on the initial thickness of the blank material often fails to accurately represent the dynamic properties of the final component. In order to properly account for this variation, two approaches are considered in this paper: the first one consists in simulating the forming procedure with the FEM and subsequently using the resulting geometry for the dynamic analysis. The second approach consists in the generation of an FEM model for the dynamic analysis starting from laser scan measurements on the manufactured component. Both approaches are analysed in detail and are validated with experimental measurements. It is found that the framework based on surface measurements provides slightly more accurate results but the purely numerical procedure is still a useful and faster methodology to obtain engineering accuracy.