International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Design and Development of Sheet Metal Draw Component

Using CAE Technology
Y. N. Dhulugade1, P. N. Gore2
1

PG Student, Mechanical Dept. DKTE Societys Textile and Engineering institute, Ichalkaranji. India.
1
Senior Engineer Design & Development, Dies and fixtures, Adventtooltech Pvt. Ltd. Pune, India.
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, DKTE Societys Textile and Engineering institute, Ichalkaranji. India
Abstract Achieving high standard quality products in
almost no time with great economy in industry demands
for a technology that helps exceed the engineering
requirement of products. This paper highlights development
of draw component and the changes made in product design
due to manufacturing and assembly reasons considering the
design intent; and also the advantages of using various CAE
softwares used in designing draw tools. It helps reducing the
complete product development cycle as compared to what
happens with conventional methods. Lesser effort and ease
to model the complete setup and important features with
different design parameters, improved the product
development without compromising quality. Thorough
attempt is aimed for design sheet metal draw die using the
latest technology to make it time and cost effective, identifying
the problem areas through analysis results and Based on the
analysis prepare the query report and suggest revisions/
modifications in the product design. Finally, work out the best
die design to produce defect-free components based on the
inputs received. Thus using the CAE software one can design
economical die because the design changes, modifications and
challenges can be observed and solved in the initial phase of
the design only. Otherwise without these efforts the die design
and the processing could end up as a costly and complicated
assignment.

Fig.1(a) Schematic illustration of the deep drawing process on a

circular sheet-metal blank. (b) Variables in deep drawing of a
cylindrical cup [10].

II. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Tool development for form component is very costly
process and it will take lot of time if we go conventionally.
So we can use latest technology such as crash analysis
during the design phase so that problem areas in forming
can be easily pointed out through analysis results which
will make our work, time and cost effective. And based on
analysis report tool designer can suggest revisions/
modifications in the product design which will help tool
designer to design a tool which will produce defect free
components based on the inputs received. Without these
efforts the die design and the processing could end up as
costly and complicated assignment. [1, 5]
As shown in fig. 2, draw Component may face
challenges such as, Wrinkling, Tearing, Thinning, Springback.

Keywords- Design Intent, economy, FEM simulation,

Product Design, sheet metal draw die.

I. INTRODUCTION
The sheet metal deep drawn technology is one of the
most challenging processes in manufacturing. Drawing
operation is the process forming a flat piece of material into
a hollow shape by means of punch which causes the blank
to flow into the die cavity (refer figure 1). The depth of the
draw may be shallow, moderate or deep, various
geometries and sizes are made by drawing operation, two
extreme examples being bottle caps and automobile panels.
Typical defects that occur due to incorrect flow of material
into the die during the stamping process are wrinkling
caused by excessive compression, tearing or splitting
caused by excessive tension, and spring back caused by
elastic recovery of the material. [6, 7]

Fig.2 Draw component challenges

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
While the die designer attempts to design a draw die, the
process for drawing entails the use of hydraulic press since
the rate of deformation has to be controlled throughout the
operation of draw. The draw die should be built to tackle
the problem of wrinkling especially prominent at the top
corners; tearing along the sides of the corner and the
bottom area; while thinning is associated along the corner
edges prone to uneven flow. And the problem of spring
back may occur due to elastic recovery of material. The
rejection amounts to a loss of man hours of the hydraulic
press, skilled labor, special material (DD or EDD quality
for draw) and other resources directly or indirectly
associated with the process.

After determining process sequences and process

parameters the forming dies are designed using
sophisticated CAD systems. However still we dont have
any evidence whether the designed tool will provide the
right component and as it is die goes for tri-out and
automatically it consumes time and cost and it will effects
on the final cost of the die.
If the die tri-out goes well and component received
matching to the requirements, the die will go for
production, on the other hand if die tri-out fails and
component showing some splitting and wrinkles, die set
needs to be reworked. It means firstly rework the die
construction by changing the die parameters such as draw
radii drawing clearance etc. even if the problem not solved
we have to think for new die design and process planning.
In some of the cases the development team goes to the
product design stage to modify the product parameters so
more we go back the design and development costs are
increasing indirectly. [5]

A. Necking Failures
Necking failures such as shown in Figure 3 are preceded
by localized thinning that may not be visible in the part. [6]

2. Conventional Practices for die design and development

As shown in following schematic (diagram 4) in
previous days the method used for process planning and die
designing will becoming costly due to some reasons.
Initially the process planning is done when the final
product design received from the product designer and after
that tool is designed, die construction is made and finally
tool is shifted for tri-out this is what conventional method
of die design for a particular product. If everything goes
well and if the drawn parts matching to the required part
then the die is sent to production. On the other hand if triout fails and part showing undesirable results then
development team goes for die reworking and if problem
not solved after die rework, new die design or new process
planning is required, in some cases product design is also
changed and in all this activities the lead time go on
increasing as well as cost and time. All this happens
because problem observed at the last stage of the
development. [5]

Fig.3 Necking failure of component

B. Material Quality Issues

When drawing operations fail, often the material is
immediately blamed. The logic is that if the vendor can
supply some material that will run it should be possible to
do so consistently. Material formability properties do vary
from lot-to-lot, and even within the same coil.
Proper deep drawing material should be selected while
going for good quality products and error free deep
drawing operation. [6]
1. Why The Problem Is So Important
Stamping industry applies CAD techniques both in the
process planning and die design already for many years.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Schematic diag.4

Solution for the problem:

Decreasing the lead time for product development along
with the cost and time is the real challenge to the industry
but it can be achieved with the latest CAE techniques such
as simulation. The schematic diagram for process planning
and die design using these techniques is shown below in
schematic diag. 5
Efficient use of simulation techniques from the earliest
stage of product development to give feedback from each
step to make the necessary corrections and improvement
3.

when it takes the least cost, with this approach stamping

defects can be minimized or eliminated before die
construction and try-out. If any correction or redesign is
needed it can be done immediately, in very short time, thus
it lead to a much smoother die try-out and to shorter lead
times with less development costs. [5]

Schematic diag.5

4. Areas To Check
The areas where a necking failure or fracture is occur on
a stamping can be predicted with analysis during the
development and die tryout period for new stampings [6].
Once the areas found to thin leading to failure are
identified, regular checks should be made, this permits
corrective action to be taken before a necking failure
becomes visible. Causal factors for a pronounced increase
in thinning include:
1. Excessive blank holder force.
2. Material problems such as a lack of draw ability.
3. Material too thin.
4. Scored die surfaces.

5. Die Tryout Procedure

A skilled die tri-out technician will optimize the metal
flow by making a series of trial parts and reworking the
blank holder as needed. In some cases, it is necessary to
increase punch radii with the approval of the product
designer. [6]
6. Benefit of Minor Product Changes
Minor product changes are often highly beneficial to
reduce or eliminate the occurrence of fractures. The corner
is the usual location of a fracture in a rectangular drawn
shell.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Fig.6 rectangular drawn shell having a corner fracture

Fig.8

Refer fig. 6 typical fracture caused by the metal flow at

the corners locking due to circumferential compression is
shown.

B. Drawing force:
As the drawing process progresses the force increase and
reaches to peak and begins to drop until it reaches the
fracture point. It is observed from the curve (Fig.9) that the
fracture point is not at the maximum load condition but it is
after that. The maximum principle stresses occur at fracture
rather than at point of maximum load, material fails after
the maximum load due to its ductile properties. [11]

Fig.7 Rectangular box draw with large outboard tab. The tab may
severely restrict metal movement into the draw cavity and result in a
fracture. [6]

6. Effect of various parameters on drawing process

observed by CAE techniques
A. Blank holding force:
Drawing process is greatly influenced by blank holding
force. It is seen that deep drawn part quality is affected
significantly by flow of metal into die cavity. The force
exerted by blank holder on the sheet provides restraining
force which controls the metal flow. Excessive flow may
lead to wrinkles, while insufficient flow can result in
tearing. Curve shows (Fig.8) that larger blank holding force
requires more forming load. [11]

Fig.9

C. Effect of clearance between punch and die:

As shown in the curve (Fig.10) it is clear that large value
of clearance between punch and die would require effective
forming load more to form the component. Required
effective forming load decreases as the clearance between
punch and die decreased. [8, 11]

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
If we compare the experimental results with the
simulation results it showed the validity of simulation to
predict where the damaged zones will appear in the part
during deformation and it is an accurate simulation
technology to achieve precise prediction of quality defects
in initial phase of design only so need for costly
experiments will be eliminated. In this way great time and
cost can be saved. [3, 4]
A. Benefits of simulation:
It is used as try-out tool to shorten production die try-out
and thus to reduce the die cost and lead time. It is used as
production tool to provide production stamping conditions.
It is used as guide to use simulation output to drive
consistency among die engineering &construction etc.
Stamping simulation may be used as learning tool to
explore and gain new knowledge and application guidance
for new forming techniques. [5]

Fig.10

I.

Simulation Validity:
Different blank holder forces selected for evaluating the
effect of BHF, on the other hand parameters such as
drawing speed, blank dimensions etc. are kept constant.
Refer fig.11, if we apply 350 KN BHF the wrinkling is
more & risk of crack is less, on the other hand if we
increase the BHF to 800KN the crack area is visible,
thinning and tearing is also increased at this BHF.

III. CASE STUDY- DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF OIL

PAN
A. What is oil Pan:
An oil pan is a component that typically seals the bottom
side of four-stroke (Refer fig.12), internal combustion
engines in automotive and other similar applications. Its
main purpose is to form the bottommost part of the
crankcase and to contain the engine oil before and after it
has been circulated through the engine. During normal
engine operation, an oil pump will draw oil from the pan
and circulate it through the engine, where it is used to
lubricate all the various components. After the oil has
passed through the engine, it is allowed to return to the oil
pan.

Fig.11 Simulation of drawn component at different BHFs

According to the results of these simulations a wrinkle

has been observed at 350 KN BHF, increase in thinning
and fracture has been observed at 800KN. It also shows
that wall thickness of component becomes thinner from the
edges. Finally 600 KN BHF is selected which gives
desirable results.

Fig.12. Oil pan assembly.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
B. Methodology:
Analysis for the given configuration of the component
under `draw (Method CAE analysis using AutoForm).
Evaluate the `design intent of the features on the
component.
Document the query report and discuss with the
concerned Product designer for his comments/
explanation/ views.
Based upon the analysis, suggest revisions/
modifications in the product design for ease of `flow
of the sheet-metal material in the die cavity.
Determination of blank size.
Calculate ejection force required.
Material selection for die and other auxiliary items for
the process of stamping.
Selection of configuration for the die set.
Press machine selection based on the type of press,
tonnage required.
Detailed Design for the Draw Die.
Manufacturing of the die as per the 3D data.
Assembly of various components of the die together
to make it ready for tri-out.
Take the tri-out on suitable no of components, note
down problems occurred during the tryouts.
Do inspection of suitable no of components and see
whether they are matching with cad data received
(CMM- Inspection).

Fig13. Oil Pan simulation at different loading conditions

D. Design Intent of oil pan

The oil pan should contain sufficient amount of oil
that can be used for lubrication purpose of the engine.
Design should be such that it will provide lubrication
oil to all engine parts that require the lubrication.
Drain plug should be provided to change the oil and
located at lowest point.
During drainage of used oil, all the oil should collect
at one point so that it will be easy to remove it out.
There should not be any oil leakages in the oil pan
after fitment.
The shape of the oil pan should be such that it will not
foul with the other parts below the engine.
Design Iteration 1:
During development stage initially one simple design is
made taking the reference from same oil pan designs and
keeping in mind the functions of oil pan. After studying the
component data decision is made to make the forming tool
for the component. But the side walls of the oil pan are
having the straight walls having 90 deg. Angle with the
horizontal plane. As far as sheet metal forming is
concerned it is not possible to press such component
without any draft angle for good effect. So tool designer
has requested to product designer to change the design on
the basis of analysis results received. The holes provided
on the oil pan for assembly purpose are less and it can lead
to leakages, so no of holes are added and emboss is
provided to avoid any leakages (Refer fig.14).

C. Oil Pan Simulation:

While the die is being considered for design, the blank
development is inferred from the Draw Analysis using
software depicting crash- as in Hyper-Form or Auto-Form
where nature and extent of deformation resulting in the
formed component is analyzed. This method of finding the
blank development is deployed using the software interface
and later fine-tuned during trials and experimentation. For
the study we have used Auto-form software for simulation
purpose. Auto-form can address these issues very well as it
gives various forming plots and thickness plots at different
loading conditions Refer fig.13.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Fig.14

Fig.16

Design Iteration 2:
As shown in fig.15. some draft angle is given as shown
and emboss added and as mentioned earlier the oil should
be collect at one point after it is used for lubrication
purpose so taper is given to front side of the oil pan as
shown so that all the oil is collected at one corner and it
will be drained out from drain plug easily.

Design iteration 4:
In this iteration(Fig.17), the depth of second chamber is
decreased and depth of first chamber is increased
somewhat, Due to Engine block assembly is fouling with
the oil pan hump shape is given as shown to center of oil
pan. But such revert draw is not possible and design is
changed again.

Fig.15
Fig.17

Design Iteration 3:
Some design changes were done in the lower side of the
engine assembly so automatically the shape of the oil pan is
changed and is made as shown in fig.16, the depth of first
chamber is decreased and depth of second chamber is
increased so that it will not affect the volume of the oil. But
in this design the depth of second chamber is very deep and
is not possible to form the components with this depth. To
give technical support to this statement we have done
simulation of the same design and in that we see due to
extra deep material gets cracks due to thinning and some
wrinkles are also observed. So design is changed.

Design iteration 5:
In this design depth of second chamber is decreased so
that it will be possible to form the component and depth of
first chamber is increased somewhat. The sharp corners
provided in the earlier designs are given fillets so that there
should not be any problem of cracking of material at the
corners. After such changes the design is finalized and
approved (Fig.18). [1, 2]

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Fig.18

Fig.19 Blank development using CAE software

E. Blank Development using CAE Techniques:

Blank is developed from available cad data using
forming suite software. Initially the component is imported
into the software. Then the software will create meshing
using available skin.then the tipping direction is given to
the software, tipping direction is the direction in which
forming has to be done. Then give input of material used
for forming and its thickness. Finally the software will give
the developed blank data and forming area along with scrap
layout (Refer fig.19). [3]

F. Tool Design for oil pan:

Forming tool is designed for oil pan considering draw
depth of oil pan the decision is made to make two dies for
drawing and one die for restrike and flanging. Oil pan
quantity required is only 100 no. of batch so decision is
made to not go for blanking tool and trimming and holes
are going to made on five axis laser cut machine Following
fig.20 will show the process sheet for oil pan development.

Fig.20 Process sheet for oil pan development

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
G. Experimentation:
The experimentation will be carried out over a suitable
press machine (Refer photographs 21)based on the tonnage
requirement for the subject component and requisite raw
material identical with the specifications on the drawing of
the Die/ Component will be provided for the trials. The
parameters such as blank size, blank holding pressure, die
block radius, drawing speed (rate of deformation) etc. are
varied looking towards the problems like wrinkling,
thinning, tearing etc. these parameters will be changed one
at a time and also in combination of two or three. The
simulation and analysis software provides sufficient
information regarding above problems. The component will
be tried out for a batch quantity for checking the
consistency of the draw operation over the given lot.
Record the necessary parameters on the machine while a
satisfactory lot of the desired component quality is
produced.

Fig22. Cmm report

IV. CONCLUSION
The problem areas such as wrinkling, thinning, spring
back are the biggest challenges to the industry now a days
but these problems can be tackled and sorted out in the
initial phases of the design by using simulation techniques.
While designing new product for a particular
requirement, the product designer and tool designer should
have good communication between them and each of them
should share their thoughts and queries in front of
development team and final product should validate all the
functional and manufacturing requirements.
Decreasing the lead time for product development along
with the cost and time is the real challenge to the industry.
It can be achieved with latest CAE techniques such as
simulation, efficient use of simulation method at the
earliest stages of design can help to make necessary
corrections and improvement when it takes least cost.
Defects can be minimized or eliminated before try-out. So
that lead time along with time and cost can be minimized.

Fig. 21. Oil Pan-Tool tri-out photographs

H. Validation
The components received as a consequence of the above
trial are referred to as the sample pieces exhibiting the test
results. The die validation process would be said as
complete while the sample component received from the
Die over the test run matches the requirements specified
over the drawing by using the CMM, following figures 22
will show some of the snaps of the CMM report.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
A. Future scope
Study can be done on increasing fatigue life of oil pan
by modifying the oil pan structure & increasing frequency
of natural vibration modes to a specified level.it can be
done by developing a finite element model of existing pan
and verifying it against experimental modal analysis
results.
Heavy steel oil pans can be replaced with thermoplastic
polymer material as it provides high strength to weight
ratio, long flow distances, short injection times and reliable
molding of thin walled sections. Unlike with steel or
aluminum, plastic oil pan can be molded with integrated
valves or cooling channels.
FEA simulation can be significantly used in plastic
injection molded oil pans for positioning of ribs at edge of
oil pan and to significantly improve the overall stiffness of
the critical flat sections, yet with minimum height of
design. FEA can also be used to simulate impact of wall
thickness, number of gates and their positioning, weld line
formation, warp age behavior and to optimize respective
processing parameters.

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Acknowledgement
Authors would like to take this opportunity to express
sincere and whole hearted thanks to Mr. Shailesh
Bhadade from Icon Technologies, Pune for giving the
opportunity to work with the development of oil pan
through-out the process. We would also thankful to Dr. V.
R. Naik, Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
DKTES, Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji for
continuous encouragement during this work. We are
extremely thankful to Prof. Dr. P.V.KADOLE, Principal
of DKTES, Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji
for his help provided during this work.

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