Analysis of the Contact Length During Micrometal Forming to Establish Its Efficient Measurement Method

In microsheet metal forming, the lengths of the contact zones between blank and die are important parameters to describe the contact behavior, but they can hardly be detected experimentally. Thus, a finite element simulation enables access to these zones and especially, their length. This length and its development during a metal forming process are analyzed in this work to establish its efficient measurement method. The part at the die called drawing edge is defined as a deformable body with material properties. Since every node of such a body can report pressure, the contact length is the product of the number of n – 1 nodes under contact pressure with the equidistant distance of l_E = 1 μm between each node. It is shown, that with this method the direct determination of the contact zones position and length is enabled. Additionally, the simulative results show that the contact length is influenced by the geometrical conditions of the punch and die.