AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

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ISSN: 2153-649X, doi:10.5251/ajsir.2012.3.6.480.486

Effect of Sheet Thickness and Type of Alloys on the Springback

Phenomenon for Cylindrical Die
Prof. Dr. Hani Aziz Ameen
Dies and Tools Eng. Dept., Technical College- Baghdad
ABSTRACT
In this paper the effect of the springback on the bending operation of different materials are
studied. Dies were designed and constructed in cylindrical shape. Three types of alloys are used;
aluminum alloy 7020 T6, copper alloy and lead alloy. These alloys have different sheet thickness
(2 and 4) mm. Bending was done by using the press of 80 ton. The springback is calculated by
published equation. It can be concluded that, the Aluminum sheets (AA7020 T6) have the biggest
springback factor, the springback factor equal one in lead alloy of 2 mm thickness that indicated
there is no spring back in this sheet. Also concluded that the hardness of the sheet increased, the
springback back factor increased too. Also in the aluminum and copper sheets when the
thickness increased the spring back factor increased while in the lead alloy when the thickness
increased the springback factor decreased.
Keywords: Springback, forming process, aluminum alloy 7020, copper alloy, lead alloy, die
design, bending die.

INTRODUCTION so the metal is with full spring back but if Ri/Rf=1

there is no spring back in the metal.
Accurate estimation of spring back in which
industries is important. Demands in bend angles can The equation above was followed in many scientific
be within a narrow range. Many studies proposed to researches to calculate the amount of spring back.
study spring back in bending. Johnson and Mellor Chan et al., (2006), studied of spring back in the V-
(1973), studied the springback calculated with bending metal forming process with one clamped
equation(1) (edge bend) end and one free end. Spring back
occurs at the die-lip and V-region of the die model.
Different die punch parameters such as punch radius,
punch angle and die-lip radius are varied to study
Where: their effect on spring back. Also, the effect of the
punch displacement on spring back is investigated.
T = Thickness of the plate (mm) The results are analyzed using Abaqus / CAE. The
analysis shows that spring back angle of the valley
E = Modulus of elasticity (N/mm²)
region decreases with increment of punch radius and
Ri = Internal radius curvature (before spring back) punch angle. Thomas Schonbach (2008), presented
(mm) a new method to calculate and compensate spring
back in the early tool design phase. This method
Rf = Real internal radius curvature (after spring back)
enables to get parts inside the tolerances also for
(mm)
these high strength and ultra-high strength steels. In
σy = Yield stress(N/mm²) the first step the forming process itself is optimized
with the help of an accurate implicit solver, the spring
back after forming is calculated with the required
This equation is derived from bending a full plasticity accuracy. Based on this simulation the robustness of
and flexibility beam, and by calculating the internal spring back is analyzed by variation in some input
stresses near the neutral axis and in order to know to parameters, e.g. material properties and lubrication. If
the modulus of elasticity and the yield stress a tensile the spring back is not robust or it is scattering in a
test of a standard sample of the metal must be done. wide range, the forming process must be made
And the amount of the value Ri/Rf depends on the robust first. This can be done by different problem
mechanical properties of the metal which will vary solving method, based on a robust spring back
depending on the value of (σyRi / ET) , if Ri/Rf=zero behavior; the spring back will be compensated by an
 Am. J. Sci. Ind. Res., 2012, 3(6): 480-486

integrated parametric software module. Aurelian which allows for the prediction of the elastic spring
Albut (2008), presents the results obtained by back. Material is considered as elasto-plastic after
numerical simulation regarding spring back yielding and plastic deformation is computed using
phenomenon of a part manufactured from tailor Newton Raphson method. The result obtained by
welded blanks. The final shape of the formed part is FEM is presented graphically. Experiments are
seriously affected by spring back phenomenon. And conducted for different thickness and clearance
tries to prove the important role of the metal sheet between the die and punch and the results are
thickness in the spring back effect. The part has closely scrutinized with the results obtained by finite
different spring back values for each material from element method.
the welded assembly structure. The influence of the
In this paper the design and manufacturing of the
sheet thickness on the tailor welded stripes spring
unconstrained cylindrical bending die is presented.
back is examined by finite element method using
Also to investigate the value of spring back in
Abaqus Standard for forming process and Abaqus
bending process, three materials alloys are used
Explicit for spring back of the obtained part. Hani Aziz
(Aluminum, brass, and lead).
Ameen (2010), presented the novel derivation and
results of spring back of a sheet subjected to Experimental Work: The die and punches designed
combined biaxial moment and axial load. Spring back and manufactured for Unconstrained cylindrical
is a common phenomenon in metal forming caused bending die.
by elastic redistribution of internal stresses during
Specimens for spring back test: Estimating
unloading and it appears clearly in pure bending and
springback value by performing a series of
stretch bending of plates and sheets. Due to the
great importance of calculating accuracy, it is experiments has been the basis of this study . in
necessary to assist the die designer in obtaining order to perform the experiments work. The
specimens must fit the die and punch with a suitable
spring back values easily. An exact analytical solution
clearance. It should be :
for spring back due to bi-stretch bending of plate of
elastic work hardening material is presented (elastic- 1- lead sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of length
linear work hardening and elastic exponential work and 2 mm thickness.
hardening). Two cases are considered. The first is a 2- lead sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of length
circular plate subjected to stretch bending and it was and 4 mm thickness.
found that the final curvature and the spring back
ratio (final curvature to elasto plastic curvature) 3- aluminum sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of
increases with increasing stretch bending. And the length and 2 mm thickness.
second case is that of rectangular plate subjected to
stretch bending where the bending moment in the x- 4- aluminum sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of
direction is kept constant. Jamal H. Mohammad length and 4 mm thickness.
(2010), studied of the effect of backing pad in the U-
bending process. Different backing pad values are 5-copper sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of
used to study their effect on distributions of stresses length and 2 mm thickness.
and strains in work piece. Two examples were
analyzed one without backing pad and another with 6- copper sheet of 70 mm of width and 50 mm of
backing pad to understand the effect of the backing length and 4 mm thickness.
pad on the process. 3D model of U-bending was
used and analyzed by using ANSYS 11 FEM code. Preparation of sheet metal: The sheets is
DILIP KUMAR K. (2010), Described a finite element perpetrated by three stages , casting , rolling and
for bending process of the Aluminum sheet metal trimming as shown in Fig.(1).

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A b c
Fig.(1 ) a. Lead sheet b. Aluminum sheet c. Copper sheet
Chemical composition of the die and punches: and the chemical composition of the die and it’s
The die and the to punches material is (T72301) punches are shown in Table (1).
according to the ASTM standard “A 686 – 92 R99”
Table (1) chemical composition of the die and punches
C Si Mn Ni S P Cr Cu
0.95 - 1.09 0.17 - 0.33 0.17 - 0.33 max max max 0.03 max 0.2 max 0.25
0.25 0.02

Chemical composition of the sheets alloy: The shown in Table(2). And the chemical composition of
chemical composition of the copper sheets alloy aluminum sheets shown in Table(3) while for lead
alloy shown in Table(4).
Table (2) chemical composition of copper alloy
Zn% Pb% Sn% P% Mn% Fe% Ni% Si% Al% S%
0.01 0.02 0.01 0.007 0.002 0.005 0.02 0.006 0.014 0.003
Ag% Co% Cu%
0.005 0.01 99. 5
Table (3) chemical composition of aluminum 7020 alloy

Elements % Standard value Measured value

Si < = 0.35 0.121
Fe < = 0.40 0.290
Cu < = 0.20 0.200
Mn 0.05 - 0.5 0.0764
Mg 1 -1.5 1.25
Cr 0.10 – 0.35 0.228
Zn 4–5 4.56
Ti 0.08 0.0319
Al BALANCE BALANCE

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Table (4) chemical composition of lead alloy

Sb% As% Bi% Cd% Cu% Fe% Mn%
0.002 0.0005 0.005 0.0005 0.003 0.001 0.0005
Ni% Se% Ag% Te% Sn% Zn%
0.001 0.0005 0.002 0.0005 0.001 0.002

Measuring the hardness of the sheets: The Lead 4 34

hardness of the sheets is measured by Rockwell test
Copper 2 56
using steel ball of 1/16 inch diameter for aluminum
and copper , 1/8 inch for lead, At the beginning 10 kgf Copper 4 51
applied on the surface of the sheet to remove the
Oxides of aluminum, lead, copper and impurities and
It can be indicated that the hardness according to the
then 100 kgf applied for Aluminum, copper and 60kgf
table(5) would be ( 72 ,57 and 36) HRB for the
for lead to measure the hardness. The result of the
sheets of aluminum, copper and lead respectively .
test shown in table(5).
The Die shape: In This work the unconstrained
Table (5) the hardness of the sheets
cylindrical bending die and two punches is designed
Material Thickness(mm) Hardness and manufactured, this die designed under standard
(HRB) specification, its consist of one part, normally punch
Aluminum 2 71 and die both are made from carbon tools steel ( A
686-92 R99) according to ASTM standard as shown
Aluminum 4 68 in Fig.(2).
Lead 2 36

Fig.(2) ) unconstrained cylindrical bending die

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Experimental bending device: A press of 80 Ton the specimens as shown in Fig.(3). Fig.(4) illustrated
are used as a experimental bending device to bend the bending process.

Fig.(3) Press device Fig. (4) Experimental work of the die

Effective Parameter on spring back in this study: Procedure of measure the springback factor:
The effective parameter which affect on the 1. Drawing the radius of the die (25mm) on the
springback phenomenon is thickness of the sheet paper and measure the angle of the radius
and type of materials alloys. as shown in Fig.(6).
st
Thickness of sheets and the type of materials are the 2. Drawing the radius of 1 specimen tangent to
most effective parameter that have a big effect on the the die radius as shown in Fig.(6)
springback . 3. Measuring the angle of the specimen and
calculate the springback factor according to
Spring back Testing Method and Procedure: The the equation
steps illustrated the spring back testing are as follows
1- fixing the die and punch in the compression
device. The punch is moved down. .. (2)
2- the punch is now in contact with the sheet and the
sheet is drawn through the opening in the die. nd
4. Repeat the same steps on the 2 to the last
3-the punch proceeds downwards, the outer radius of specimen.
the work piece is reduced.
4- After the load is released and the tools are
removed, different radius is measured between die
radius and sheet radius. This is the value of spring
back, as shown in Fig.(5).

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The die radius 25 mm

The sheet radius

Fig.(5) Different between die radius and sheet radius

Sheet radius
The die radius 25 mm

αf
αi
Fig.(6) the procedure of measure the springback factor

Table(6) springback factors

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
No. Aluminum Copper Lead Springback
The springback is measured experimentally, table(6) sheets sheets
sheets
factor
thickness thickness
illustrated the springback factors for the Aluminum, thickness Ks=
copper and lead alloy with 2 and 4mm thickness .
Fig.(7) shows the value of springback with different 1 2 mm 1.1143
thickness and materials.
2 4 mm 1.0857

3 2 mm 1.0571

4 4 mm 1.0429

5 2 mm 1

6 4 mm 1.0143

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©Springbac
k factor (K)

Fig.(7) springback factor

REFERENCES
CONCLUSIONS W. Johnson and Mellor ( 1973) “Engineering Plasticity” .

In the present work , it can be concluded the W.M.Chan, H.I.Chew, H.P.Lee, B.T.Cheok, "Finite element
following : analysis of Spring-back of V-bending sheet metal
forming processes", J. Mater. Process. Technol.
1. The Aluminum sheets (AA7020 T6) have the vol.172, pp 35–41, 2006.
biggest springback factor . Thomas Schonbach, “New method to calculate and
2. The springback factor equal one in lead alloy compensate spring back” , Mashhad, Iran, 2008.
of 2 mm thickness that indicate there is no
spring back in this sheet.
3. When the hardness of the sheet increase the Aurelian Albut “ The sheet thickness effect on springback
springback back factor (K) increase phenomina” , University of Galati Fascicle
4. In the aluminum and copper sheets when Technologies in machine building , ISSN 1221-4566,
the thickness increase the spring back factor 2008).
increase while in the lead alloy when the Hani Aziz Ameen “effect of the combined biaxial moment
thickness increase the springback factor and axial load on the springback of a sheet”, American
decrease. Journal of Scientific And Industrial Research, 2010.
5. Springback could be predicted effectively by
Jamal H. Mohammad “study the effect of the backing pad
sheet thickness. on the U-bending process using FEM”, 2010.
6. Springback can be minimized by reducing
the diameter of the die. Dilip Kumar K. “thinning and spring back of aluminum sheet
metal during L-bending operation”. International
Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 2
, No.10, P. 5120-5129, 2010.

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