A finite element model for thermomechanical analysis of sheet metal forming

A thermal model based on explicit time integration is developed and implemented into the explicit finite element code DYNA3D to model simultaneous forming and quenching of thin-walled structures. A staggered approach is used for coupling the thermal and mechanical analysis, wherein each analysis is performed with different time step sizes. The implementation includes a thermal shell element with linear temperature approximation in the plane and quadratic in the thickness direction, and contact heat transfer. The material behaviour is described by a temperature-dependent elastic–plastic model with a non-linear isotropic hardening law. Transformation plasticity is included in the model. Examples are presented to validate and evaluate the proposed model. The model is evaluated by comparison with a one-sided forming and quenching experiment