Coupled Thermal-Mechanical Analysis of Hot Metal Forming Processes

Summary A numerical model able to perform the coupled thermal mechanical analysis of metal forming processes is proposed. The model allows to obtain the simultaneous solution of the mechanical and thermal problems avoiding staggered procedures. The proposed approach is a further development of the LP finite element code based on the linearization of the yield surface which allows a non iterative solution procedure; this feature has been saved since the thermal balance is taken into account through a further set of linear constraints of the LP problem.