Effect of Variable Blank Holder Force on the Springback and Weld-Line Movement During Draw-Bending of Tailor Welded Blanks

Tailor welded blanks (TWBs) manufactured by drawing processes suffer from two major defects; weld-line movement (WLM) and springback. These defects can be reduced by using a counterpunch or controlling the value of the blank holder force and its scheme. This work presents a finite element analysis of the effect of variable blank holder force (VBHF) on springback and WLM of bench mark problem of draw-bending process of a TWB. The proposed VBHF scheme is developed based on the reaction forces predicted in a finite element model for artificially clamped weld-line case. The results obtained by applying VBHF are compared with those obtained using a counterpunch. The use of counterpunch is found to eliminate Vertical WLM in all the considered cases. Whereas side WLM using VBHF is found to be less than that obtained using counterpunch. When compared to the counterpunch technique, the springback values are found to be improved by applying the VBHF schemes.