Finite element analysis of springback in bending of aluminium sheets

Bending is one of the processes frequently applied during manufacture of aluminium components. The bending operation involves springback, which is defined as elastic recovery of the part during unloading. In manufacturing industry, it is still a practical problem to predict the final geometry of the part after springback and to design appropriate tooling in order to compensate for springback. In this paper, commercially available finite-element analysis (FEA) software is used to analyse bending and springback of different aluminium materials of different thickness. The amount of springback, the total equivalent plastic strains and the equivalent von Mises stresses are presented. The FEA results are compared with empirical data.