Flatness Defects after Stretching: a Numerical Analysis of Leveling

Leveling is a forming process used in the metals industries to correct flatness defects and minimize residual stresses in strips thanks to bending under traction. This paper introduces a shell element model to simulate the sheet conveying in an industrial configuration. It can compute plastic strains and residual stresses through width and thickness. It also predicts the deformed strip after springback and potential buckling phenomena. Two approaches are compared: a whole model of the stretcher and a decomposed one with data transfer to reduce model size and computation time.