Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2016) 85:2589–2596

DOI 10.1007/s00170-015-8127-6

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Analysis of bending mechanism and spring-back characteristics

in the offset Z-bending process
Sutasn Thipprakmas 1 & Pakkawat Komolruji 1

Received: 12 July 2015 / Accepted: 12 November 2015 / Published online: 20 November 2015
# Springer-Verlag London 2015

Abstract The Z-bending process has rarely been investigated Abbreviations

because Z-shaped parts can be fabricated by applying two t Workpiece thickness
bending steps through V-bending processes. In recent years, μ Friction coefficient
the Z-bending process has been increasingly applied to reduce θ Bend angle
the number of processing steps and fabrication time. However, l Workpiece length
the number of studies on this process is still lacking, which RIn-d Inner die radius
means there is still difficulty with die and process designs RIn-p Inner punch radius
when attempting to control the spring-back/spring-forward ROut-d Outer die radius
characteristics. In this study, to solve these problems, the off- ROut-p Outer punch radius
set Z-bending process was examined using the finite element Wl Web length
method (FEM) and laboratory experiments. Based on the BS Bending stroke
stress distribution analysis, the bending mechanism was inves- SG Spring-forward
tigated and clearly identified by analyzing changes in the
stress distribution; the analysis showed that the theories of
V-bending processes could not be used for the offset Z- 1 Introduction
bending process. This study also suggests that for the offset
Z-bending process, in which the punch is moveable and the To fabricate curved shapes in sheet metal parts, a bending
die is fixed, the amount of spring-back should not be equal to process is commonly applied. A sheet metal is formed into a
each other. In addition, the effects of the bend angle on the desired shape using a bending die. Most bending dies are
spring-back/spring-forward characteristics were investigated designed to perform a single bending operation, which is clas-
and clearly identified by analyzing the changes in the stress sified according to their design shape, which could be L-, V-,
distribution. Based on the laboratory experiments, the FEM U-, or Z-bent shaped parts. The shape of bent parts is also
simulation results showed good agreement in terms of both dictated by the type of bending die used. In the past, many
the bend angles and bending forces. studies have focused on improving the quality of bent parts by
performing experiments and using the finite element method
(FEM) [1–18]. Because Z-shaped parts can be fabricated by
Keywords Spring-back . Spring-forward . Bending . applying two bending steps though V-bending processes,
Z-shape . Offset . Finite element method most studies have investigated the V-bending process
[11–18]. Furthermore, in the past, the designs of the Z-
bending die and process were done based on V-bending the-
* Sutasn Thipprakmas ories. For these reasons, the Z-bending process has rarely been
sutasn.thi@kmutt.ac.th investigated in the past. In recent years, to satisfy green
manufacturing, the offset Z-bending process, which uses the
1
Department of Tool and Materials Engineering, King Mongkut’s offset punch and die set and can make two bends at the same
University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand 10140 time on a press machine [19, 20], has been the focus to
2590 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2016) 85:2589–2596

decrease energy consumption by reducing the number of pro-

cessing steps and fabrication time. In addition, by applying
this technique, the second bend will not interfere with the first
bend and a bend angle of less than 90° bend can be fabricated
[19, 20]. However, there is a lack of research on the offset Z- Movement
ROut-p
bending process [19]. This lack of research means that a basic direction
database with its information is insufficient to design a suit- θ2
able bending die to control the spring-back characteristics; RIn-p
Workpiece θ1 Punch
also, the already large energy consumption and the number
of wasted parts increase during the trial-and-error phase.
ROut-d l
Therefore, understanding the bending mechanism and RIn-d t
spring-back characteristics is necessary. In the present re- Die
Wl
search, the offset Z-bending process was examined using
FEM and laboratory experiments. On the basis of the material
flow and stress distribution analyses, the bending mechanism Fig. 1 FEM simulation model
was investigated and clearly identified by analyzing the
changes in the stress distribution. Unlike the V-bending pro- plastic properties of the workpiece are assumed to be isotropic
cess, in which the only spring-forward characteristic is gener- and described by the von Mises yield function. As shown in
ated in the leg, the results showed that the spring-back and Table 1, the workpiece material was aluminum A1100-O (JIS)
spring-forward characteristics are generated in the web and and its properties were taken from tensile test data. The speci-
create an unbalanced stress distribution on each bend angle men details for the tensile test are shown in Fig. 2 The
side. These results suggest that in theories for the offset Z- elastoplastic, power-exponent, isotropic hardening model was
bending process, in which the punch is moveable and the die used, and the constitutive equation was determined from the
is fixed, the amount of spring-back should not be equal to each stress-strain curve. The strength coefficient and the strain hard-
other. Therefore, the V-bending theory cannot be used for ening exponent values were 153.5 MPa and 0.20, respectively.
offset Z-bending die and process designs and an understand- In addition, the other material properties are given in Table 1,
ing of the bending mechanism based on the material flow and where E, ν, and σu denote Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio,
stress distribution is necessary. In addition, the effects of the and the ultimate tensile stress, respectively. Additionally, the
bend angle on the spring-back characteristics were investigat- process parameter conditions are listed in Table 1.
ed and clearly identified by analyzing the changes in the stress
distribution. To verify the accuracy of the FEM simulation 2.2 Experimental procedure
results, laboratory experiments were performed. The FEM
simulation results showed good agreement with the experi- To validate the FEM simulation results, laboratory experi-
mental results in terms of both the bend angles and bending ments were performed. As per experiments from past studies
forces. [10–14], a 5-ton universal tensile testing machine (Lloyd In-
struments Ltd.) was used as the press machine. Figure 3 shows
the offset Z-die used for the experiments. In the experiments, a
2 FEM simulation and experimental procedures profile projector (Mitutoyo model PJ-A3000) was used for the
bend angle measurement after unloading. The obtained bend
2.1 FEM simulation procedure angles were inspected based on five samples from each bend-
ing condition. The amount of spring-back was calculated, and
In the present study, the model of the offset Z-bending process the average spring-back values with the standard deviation
that was investigated is shown in Fig. 1. A two-dimensional (SD) are reported. The observed bend angle and bending force
plane strain with a thickness of 3 mm was applied. As per past were recorded and compared with those analyzed by the FEM
studies [10–14], the punch and die were set as rigid types and simulation.
the workpiece material was set as an elastoplastic type with
rectangular elements; approximately 10,000 elements were
used. The two-dimensional, implicit, quasi-static finite element 3 Results and discussions
method of a commercial analytical code, DEFORM-2D, was
used for the FEM simulation. In this FEM model, the used 3.1 Analysis of the bending mechanism
solution algorithm is based on the Newton-Raphson iteration.
The adaptive remeshing technique was applied to prevent di- Figure 4 shows the stress distribution analysis during the
vergence due to excessive deformation of the elements. The bending phase. With the initial bending stroke of 4.6 mm,