"Robust design in forming technology"
On March 22nd the mini-symposium entitled “Robust design in forming technology” was held at the Tata Steel congress centre in IJmuiden, Netherlands. The symposium was jointly organised by Jan Harmen Wiebenga of M2i and Eisso Atzema of Tata Steel RD&T. The symposium also proved an excellent platform for Jan Harmen Wiebenga, M2i and Twente University to announce the start of the spin-off company Innprove Solutions, providing software and consultancy for robust optimalisation in product and process design.
Robust design of forming processes is gaining attention throughout the industry. Process designs and settings are demanded to become more robust with respect to scatter that can occur during the manufacturing process. Different approaches to integrate robustness in the (numerical) design process can be chosen.
Latest developments
The goal of this one-day mini-symposium is to discuss the latest developments and industrial applications of robust design and optimization in forming technology, with a special emphasis on modeling of material scatter. Both leading academics as well as industrial experts will elaborate on the methods employed, the reasoning why these methods are chosen and future trends in robust design.
The symposium is intended for those who are inexperienced or unfamiliar with the technology as well as experts. For the latter, the fundamentals of robust design will be covered. The application examples of robustness techniques in the forming industry will serve the newcomers. The combination will provide the delegates with a clear understanding about robustness analysis, its key benefits and how to apply it in your organization.
Objectives
Following the seminar, delegates will be able to:
• Obtain novel views from different perspectives on integrating robustness in the (numerical) design process
• Appreciate the potential impact material scatter can have on product design in forming processes, founded by industrial applications
• Understand how to improve product and process robustness by utilizing numerical simulations and robust optimization techniques
• Realise the future direction of robust process engineering and optimization in forming technology
Speakers
After an opening speech by Wim van der Meer on behalf of Tata Steel and and introduction by Sibbe Hoekstra (director M2i), speakers covered the whole field from theory (M2i/UT, ETH) via materials (Tata) and software (AutoForm) to stamping practice (Opel, Faurecia and Philips). Participants were equally widely spread, academia being represented by KUL, TUD, TUe, UT, RUG, Leiden, IFU and CTM, software by Comsol and material by TKS and Böhler. End users present were Fokker, Tofas-Fiat, DAF and SME’s like Reginox, PWC, FontijneGrotnes.
After some heated discussions, the consensus of the day was that in sheet metal forming in the near future the process safety will not be ensured via an arbitrary safety margin but by employing robustness techniques. And while many detailed issues still need to be resolved, the symposium showed that much progress has been made already. In processes for which problems are encountered (or anticipated) analysis of the robustness of the stamping process is the state of the art. All presentations are now available for download.
Next year
In all, the mini-symposium was well received and the event was fully booked: all 60 available seats were taken. The symposium clearly showed the raising awareness and interest for robust design and optimization of products and processes in the forming industry. It is even called the next step in CAE based design optimization, comparable with the step from 2D to 3D simulations in the 90s. Many of the participants were therefore interested to make this mini-symposium on robust forming processes a continuing tradition, with a new meeting being organised next year.
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