Numerical and Experimental Study on Plate Forming Process using Flexible Die

A flexible forming apparatus is composed a number of punches which have spherical pin tip shape instead of conventional solid die. The flexible forming tool consisted of punch array in a matrix form was proposed as an alternative forming method to substitute the conventional line heating method which use heat source to induce residual stress along specified heating lines. In this study, application of the flexible forming process to the small scale curved plate forming was conducted. Numerical simulations for both solid and flexible die forming process were carried out to compare the shape of the products between flexible and conventional die forming process. In addition, spring-back analysis was conducted to figure out the feasibility of the flexible forming process comparing with the die forming process in view of final configuration of the specimens. Moreover, experiment was also carried out to confirm the formability of the process. Consequently, it was confirmed that the flexible die forming method has capability and feasibility to manufacture the curved plates for shipbuilding.