* Corresponding author. Tel.: #852}2358-8652; fax: #852}2358-1543.

E-mail address: metxyu@ust.hk (T.X. Yu).

International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
An energy approach for predicting springback
of metal sheets after double-curvature forming,
Part I: axisymmetric stamping
P. Xue, T.X. Yu*, Edmund Chu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,
Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Alcoa Laboratories, Alcoa Center, PA 15069,USA
Received 26 October 1999
Abstract
In our previous study (Xue P, Yu TX, Shu E. International Journal of Materials Processing Technology
1999;89}90:65}71.), based on the membrane theory of shells of revolution and an energy method a mechanics
model and corresponding analytical procedure have been proposed to predict springback of circular and
square metal sheets after a double-curvature forming operation. The strain hardening of the material is
incorporated into the mechanics model. In the present paper, the method is extended to the cases, in which
bending e!ect, as well as bending-and-unbending e!ect are taken into account. It is shown that the procedure
developed is capable of quantitatively predicting the strain distribution and springback of metal sheets after
axisymmetric stamping with a relatively minor e!ort of calculation and a good accuracy. The e!ect of
stretching force applied at the edge of the plate on springback is also considered. Excellent agreement is
found between the theoretical prediction of springback and experiment results. 2001 Published by
Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Springback; Stamping; Stretching}bending; Axisymmetry; Energy method
1. Introduction
Accurate prediction of springback of metal sheets is of vital importance for the design of tools in
aircraft and automotive industries. The springback will occur after removing the applied loads
from the deformed sheet, resulting in the deviation of the product from the applied tooling shape.
0020-7403/01/$- see front matter 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
PII: S 0 0 2 0 - 7 4 0 3 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 0 3 - 0
Nomenclature
a radius of circular plate
c
G
meridian strain in the ith segment
E Young's modulus
f coe$cient of friction
H height of die
h thickness of plate
m strain hardening exponent
k strength coe$cient
M bending moment
N blank holder force
R mean radius of punch and die
R
B
die shoulder radius
R
N
punch head radius
R

die opening radius

= work done by friction force
w de#ection
; strain energy
x, y coordinates of a point on plate
o radial displacement
c engineering strain
c
C
, o
C
e!ective strain and stress
c
K
, o
K
mean strain and stress
curvature
v Poisson ratio
j radius of curvature
o stress
total energy required
Superscripts
e elastic component
o mid-surface
F "nal
D die
Subscripts
0 circumferential direction
meridian direction
Nowadays, the springback predictions are largely based on FEM simulations (see, for e.g.,
Refs. [1,2]), which however are generally slow and expensive. On the other hand, most of the
previous analytical approaches (see, for e.g., Refs. [3}7]) may only be applied to strip bending or
2-D sheet-forming operations. It is desirable, therefore, to develop some simple but e$cient
1894 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
methods so as to facilitate the springback prediction in the early stage of geometric design of the
tools for forming products.
Aiming to the above goal, a new mechanical model and corresponding procedure have been
proposed [8], which is very e$cient in predicting springback of circular and square metal sheets
after they have undergone a double-curvature forming operation. The theoretical approach is
based on the membrane theory of shells of revolution and an energy method. The strain hardening
of the material is incorporated into the mechanics model. The e!ect of stretching force applied at
the edge of the plate on springback can be considered.
In the present paper, by employing an energy approach the mechanics model and corresponding
analytical procedure are extended to the cases, in which bending e!ect, as well as bending-and-
unbending e!ect are taken into account. It is revealed that in general the bending e!ect in the sheet
results in more springback. The bending-and-unbending e!ect leads to larger plastic deformation
around the die shoulder region. Part I of this paper will focus on axisymmetric stamping and Part
II will discuss more general cases, that is, unequal double-curvature forming.
2. Analysis based on the membrane theory of shells of revolution
2.1. Basic assumptions
As revealed in the theory of shells of revolution, the membrane strains developed in the
mid-surface of a bent plate are usually much larger than the bending strains, except in the regions
close to concentrated loads or supports, if the out-of-plane de#ection of a bent plate notably
exceeds the plate thickness. Accordingly, a simple mechanics model can be constructed. The
assumptions made in this section are:
(i) With the elastic deformation being neglected, the material is regarded as incompressible; that
is, the volume of any material element will not change during a plastic forming operation;
(ii) Transverse shear strain is negligible;
(iii) The Deformation Theory of Plasticity is adopted;
(iv) The material possesses non-linear strain-hardening and its stress}strain relationship is
governed by o
C
"kcK
C
where o
C
and c
C
denote the e!ective stress and the e!ective strain,
respectively, k is the strength coe$cient and m is the strain-hardening exponent, both being
material constants;
(v) When the shell is divided into n segments along its meridian direction, the strains in both
meridian and circumferential directions, c
P
and c
F
, within each segment are regarded as constant,
which represent the average strain in the respective direction of the segment;
(vi) Regardless of the speci"c loading history in a forming operation, at the end of the forming
operation, the `reala deformation "eld renders a minimum of the strain energy among all the
kinematically admissible deformation "elds.
2.2. Strain distribution in membrane
For a circular plate of radius a, at the end of a hemispherical stamping its mid-surface can be
approximately modeled by a hemispherical surface of radius R, which is the mean radius of the
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1895
hemispherical punch and die. The deformation of the membrane is described by its strains along
the meridian and the circumferential directions. In view of the axisymmetry, the strains must be
functions of the meridian angle only, that is, c
P
"c
P
().
Previous studies [5}7] have shown that at the end of a hemispherical stamping operation, the
membrane stress in the meridian direction of the hemispherical shell is always positive (i.e., in
tension), while the membrane stress in the circumferential direction is positive in the inner portion
of the shell and negative (in compression) in the outer portion of the shell. Thus, the shell can be
equally divided into n segments along its meridian direction. The width of each undeformed
segment is a/n. The strain in each segment is considered to be constant. Hence, the strain in the
meridian direction can be taken as
c
PG
"c
G
, i"1, 2,
2
, n. (1)
Here n undetermined constants c
G
(i"1, 2,
2
, n) depend on the geometry and material properties,
and they represent the average strains of the segments along the meridian direction. The error
resulting from assumption (v) in Section 2.1 will be small if n is su$ciently large.
Under the condition of small strain, suppose that after stamping line OD moves to arc O'D'
(Fig. 1), point A with radial coordinate r in the initial circular plate moves to point A' on the
hemispherical surface. In the "gure, point A'
"
satis"es O'A'
"
"R"OA"r, and
O'A'"R

"

P
"
R(1#c
P
) d.
so that

"
O'A'
R
"
1
R
P
"
Rd(1#c
P
)"

P0
"
(1#c
P
) d (2)
and the strain along the circumferential direction can be calculated as
c
F
"
2Rsin

!2r
2r
"
R
r
sin

P0
"
(1#c
P
) d

!1. (3)
By applying Eqs. (1) and (3), the strain at the mid-point of the ith segment is expressed as
c
F
"
2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1. (4)
Based on assumption (i), the material is incompressible, so that the mean strain is
c
K
"
`
(c
P
#c
F
#c
X
)"0. (5)
According to the Deformation Theory of Plasticity,
o
P
"
2
3
o
C
c
C
c
P
!o
K
,
o
F
"
2
3
o
C
c
C
c
F
!o
K
,
o
X
"
2
3
o
C
c
C
c
X
!o
K
,
(6)
1896 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
where the e!ective stress and strain are determined by
o
C
"
1
(2
((o
P
!o
F
)`#(o
F
!o
X
)`#(o
X
!o
P
)`,
c
C
"
(2
3
((c
P
!c
F
)`#(c
F
!c
X
)`#(c
X
!c
P
)`,
(7)
respectively, while
o
K
"
1
1!2v
c
K
"0. (8)
Substituting Eq. (5) into Eq. (7) results in
c
C
"
2
(3
(c`
P
#c`
F
#c
P
c
F
. (9)
As stated in assumption (iv), the constitutive equation of the material is taken as
o
C
"kcK
C
. (10)
Taking the above equations into account, the strain energy per unit volume can be expressed as
u"

o
C
dc
C
"
k
m#1
cK>
C
. (11)
Hence, the total strain energy of the entire membrane is
;"
L

G

4G
u
G
d<"
kh
m#1
L

G

G
cK>
C
dA, (12)
where h denotes the original thickness of the plate, <
G
and A
G
are the volume and area of the ith
segment, respectively. By applying Eq. (9), Eq. (12) is recast as
;"
kha`
(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

G
(2i!1)

c`
G
#

2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1

`
#c
G

2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1

'K>'`
. (13)
It is evident that an arbitrary combination of (c

, c
`
,
2
, c
L
) provides a kinematically admissible
deformation "eld (c
P
, c
F
), but only one of these "elds will be the `reala deformation "eld for the
workpiece in consideration. As stated in assumption (vi), regardless of the speci"c loading history,
at the end of the forming operation, the `reala deformation "eld render a minimum of strain energy
among all the kinematically admissible deformation "elds. This principle of minimum
energy provides us a theoretical basis to determine the real deformation "eld. This minimum
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1897
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a circular plate before and after spherical stamping and its discretization.
condition requires
c;
cc
G
"0, i"1, 2,
2
, n. (14)
The n non-linear equations can be used to determine the average strains of the n segments along the
meridian direction, c
G
. Then, the circumferential strain c
F
, as well as the stresses o
F
and o
P
can be
determined accordingly with the help of Eqs. (4)}(10).
2.3. Prediction of springback
Springback in a forming process is the result of releasing elastic deformation during unloading.
Take the ith segment from Fig. 1 and show it in Fig. 2 as arc A
G
A
G
with its mid-point at point C
G
.
Before springback, the angle subtended by arc OA
G
is
G
, determined by

G
"
(i!1)a
nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
. (15)
The angle subtended by arc OC
G
is , given by
"
(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
. (16)
After removing the stamping force, the elastic strains cC
FG
and cC
PG
of point C
G
are released. The elastic
strains satisfy the Hooke's law, that is
cC
FG
"
1
E
(o
FG
!vo
PG
!vo
XG
),
cC
PG
"
1
E
(o
PG
!vo
FG
!vo
XG
),
(17)
1898 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of a plate before and after springback.
where E and v denote the Young's modulus and Poisson ratio of the material. By using Eqs. (5), (6)
and (10), Eq. (17) can be simpli"ed as
cC
FG
"
2(1#v)k
3E
cK
CG
c
FG
"
1#v
E
o
FG
,
cC
PG
"
2(1#v)k
3E
cK
CG
c
PG
"
1#v
E
o
PG
.
(18)
Then by considering the geometric compatibility, the mid-point C
G
(x
G
, y
G
) and end point A
G
(a
G
, b
G
)
can be determined by
x
G
"Rsin

2i!1
2nR
a#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
(1!cC
FG
),
y
G
"((R
G
)`!(x
G
!a
G
)`#b
G
,
a
G
"Rsin

a
nR
G

P
(1#c
G
)

(1!cC
FG
),
b
G
"((2R
G
)`!(a
G
!a
G
)`#b
G
,
(19)
respectively, where R
G
"(a/2n)(1#c
G
)(1!cC
PG
).
Thus, the "nal pro"le of the shell after springback is constructed, while the springback of the
deformed workpiece is determined.
2.4. Verifying the theoretical analysis of the developed model by experimental results
For the system shown in Fig. 3 (refer to tests reported in Ref. [9]), a metal sheet is formed into
a curve surface, which consists of a ring, a saddle surface, a conical surface and a hemispherical
surface. The material properties and tooling geometry are given in Tables 1 and 2. Based on our
mechanics model, corresponding analysis procedure is made and the results are shown in Fig. 4
and Table 3, where the dome height (BS) means the dome height before springback and the dome
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1899
Fig. 3. Experimental apparatus of metal forming.
Fig. 4. Pro"les of sheet before and after springback for three di!erent punch penetrations calculated by the theoretical
model.
Table 1
Material properties
Material K (MPa) m E (GPa) Poisson
ratio
Yield stress
(MPa)
Coe$cient of
friction f
AL 2036-T4 604.0 0.214 69.0 0.32 196 0.1
DQAK steel 550 0.248 210 0.32 188.0 0.1
Al 483.0 0.235 69.0 0.32 188.0 0.1
Table 2
Tooling geometry [9]
Case Sheet
thickness
(mm)
R
N
(punch)
(mm)
R
B
(die)
(mm)
Die opening
R

(mm)
Punch
displacement
H

(mm)
Blank holder
force (kN)
A 0.68 101.6 15.0 105.0 7.6 150.0
B 0.68 101.6 15.0 105.0 12.7 150.0
C 0.68 101.6 15.0 105.0 20.3 150.0
1900 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Table 3
Comparisons between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results reported in Ref. [9]
Material Dome height (BS)
(mm)
Dome height (AS)
(mm)
Di!erence of (BS) and (AS)
(mm)
Theoretical
prediction
Experimental
measurement
Theoretical
prediction
Experimental
measurement
AL 2036-T4 7.62 4.22 5.23 3.40 (44.6%) 2.39
12.7 11.16 11.13 1.54 (12.1%) 1.57
20.32 19.00 19.38 1.32 (6.4%) 0.94
DQAK steel 7.62 6.60 * 1.02
12.7 12.06 * 0.64
20.32 19.96 * 0.36
height (AS) means the dome height after springback. It is obvious that excellent agreement on
springback is obtained between the theoretical prediction and the experimental results reported in
Ref. [9]. It is shown that the procedure developed is capable of quantitatively predicting spring-
back of metal sheets after an axisymmetric forming operation with a relatively minor e!ort of
calculation and a good accuracy.
3. Springback analysis of circular plates after spherical stamping by taking bending e4ect into
account
3.1. Strain energy
It is seen that in the above model only the strain energy related to the membrane strains in the
mid-surface of the plate is considered. If the thickness of the plate is not very small compared with
the planar dimension of the plate, the contribution of bending strains has to be considered. Since
the curvatures of the plate in the meridian and circumferential directions are both equal to 1/R
before springback in case of a hemispherical stamping, it is not di$cult to incorporate the bending
strains into the total strain energy.
Besides the previous basic assumptions (i)}(vi) stated in Section 2.1, here two more assumptions
need to be added:
(vii) Plane section remains plane after bending (Kirchho!}Love).
(viii) The plate thickness remains unchanged during forming and springback.
A plate of radius a and thickness h can be divided into 2n

#1 layers through the thickness, and

the thickness of the each layer is h

"h/(2n

#1). The strains at point A

G
on the qth layer from the
mid-surface (see Fig. 5) are
c
PG O
"c"
PG
#
qh

R
"c"
PG
#
hq
R(2n

#1)
,
c
FG O
"c"
FG
#
qh

R
"c"
FG
#
hq
R(2n

#1)
,
(20)
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1901
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of a bent plate.
where c"
PG
and c"
FG
denote the strains on the mid-surface along the meridian and the circumferential
directions, respectively. It is known from Eqs. (1) and (4) that
c"
PG
"c
G
,
c"
FG
"
2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1. (21)
By substituting Eq. (20) into Eq. (12), the strain energy of the qth layer is obtained as
;
O
"
kha`
(2n

#1)(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

G
(2i!1)(c`
PG O
#c`
FG O
#c
PG O
c
FG O
)'K>'`. (22)
The total energy of the shell can be obtained by summing the strain energy of all (2n

#1) layers,
that is,
;"
L

OL
;
O
"
kha`
(m#1)(2n

#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

OL
L

G
(2i!1)

c
G
#
qh
(2n

#1)R
`
#

2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1#
qh
(2n

#1)R
`
#

c
G
#
qh
(2n

#1)R
2nR
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1#
qh
(2n

#1)R
'K>'`
.
(23)
1902 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Then the strain "eld of the shell (i.e., the bent plate) can be obtained by means of the condition that
the strain energy ;of the `reala deformation "eld of the shell renders a minimum among all the
kinematically admissible deformation "elds at the end of the stamping operation.
3.2. Prediction of springback of bent plate
When the bending strains are considered, the bending moments acting on a unit width of
a cross-section are
M
P
"
L

OL
o
PO

h
2n

#1
`
q,
M
F
"
L

OL
o
FO

h
2n

#1
`
q.
(24)
By using Eq. (6), Eq. (24) can be rewritten as
M
P
"
2h`k
3(2n

#1)`
L

OL
cK
CO
c
PO
q,
M
F
"
2h`k
3(2n

#1)`
L

OL
cK
CO
c
FO
q.
(25)
After removing the stamping force, the bending moments M
P
and M
F
should also be released,
helping the deformed plate to recover its elastic deformations. According to the Bending Theory of
Plate and Shells, the elastic components of the curvatures are related to the bending moments by
C
P
"
12
Eh`
(M
P
!vM
F
),
C
F
"
12
Eh`
(M
F
!vM
P
)
(26)
and the curvature of the mid-surface after springback should satisfy the equation
d0
ds
"
1
j

"
1
R
!
P
, (27)
where j

is the radius of curvature of the deformed plate after springback. Therefore, the rotating
angle of the ith segment after springback resulted from removing the bending moments is
0
G
"
G

H

1
R
!
PH

a
n
(1#c
H
). (28)
The coordinates of each point on the deformed plate are then determined by
x'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos(0
P
#d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)cos

0
G
#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)

1
R
!
PG

,
y'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
)sin(0
P
#d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)sin

0
G
#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)

1
R
!
PG

.
(29)
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1903
Table 4
Tooling geometry for numerical examples
Case Sheet
thickness
(mm)
a R
N
(punch)
(mm)
R
B
(die)
(mm)
Punch
displacement H

(mm)
Blank holder force
(kN)
I 0.914 (20}200)h 5a * * *
II 0.68 120 mm 101.6 15.0 1/3 R
N
150.0
When the e!ect of bending moment is added to the model established in Section 2, the "nal
position of each point after springback is found by
x'"x
G
#x'
G
!Rsin

2i!1
2nR
a#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
y'"y
G
#y'
G
!R

1!cos

2i!1
2nR
a#
a
nR
G

P
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
(30)
where x
G
and y

are calculated from Eq. (19); x'

G
and y'
G
are calculated from Eq. (29).
From the above analysis, springback of the deformed plate resulted from both membrane stress
and bending stress can be estimated. Whether the bending term should be taken into account or
not depends on the relative thickness of the plate. If h/R is not small (i.e., the plate is relatively
thick), the bending term usually should be added; if h/R is small (i.e., the plate is relatively thin),
then the membrane model described in Section 2, which neglects the bending strains, would be
appropriate for the preliminary estimate of springback.
3.3. Numerical examples
Some examples are computed to demonstrate the theoretical prediction of springback for
circular plates after an axisymmetric double-curvature forming operation by taking into account
the bending e!ect. The material properties and tooling geometry are given by Al sheet in Table 1
and case I in Table 4, respectively. A typical result for the plate with a/h"100 is depicted in Fig. 6,
which compares the pro"les of deformed sheet before and after springback based on the membrane
theory (marked by 1) and based on the combining e!ects of membrane and bending (marked
by 2). It is evident that the incorporation of the bending e!ect generally results in more springback.
The di!erence between the "nal pro"les predicted by two theories is relatively small when the ratio
of the plate radius to the thickness ranges from 20 to 200.
The e!ect of the plate thickness is also shown in Table 5, where H
"
and H represent the height of
the crown before and after springback, respectively. It is obvious that the relative height H/H
"
of
the crown decreases with the increase of the plate thickness when other conditions remain
unchanged, that is to say, the thick plate results in more springback than the thinner plate.
In order to verify our theoretical model, which incorporates the bending e!ect in, the circular
mild steel plate of radius 100 mm and thickness 1.6 mm reported in Ref. [6] is taken as an example.
1904 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Fig. 6. Pro"les of a plate of a/h"100 before and after springback. After springback*1: the "nal pro"le after springback,
based on the membrane theory; after springback*2: the "nal pro"le after springback by considering both membrane and
bending e!ects.
Table 5
The dependence of the relative height of crown on the thickness of
the plate
Thickness (mm) 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1
a/h 100 75 60 50 43
Relative height H/H
"
0.94 0.93 0.92 0.87 0.83
In Ref. [6], the punch and the die possess hemispherical surface with radius 286.4 and 288 mm,
respectively. The height of the crown and the mean diameter of the pressed plate were measured
and then the average "nal curvature of the sample, ', was calculated from these data by assuming
that the "nal curvature is uniform in the whole plate. The stress}strain curve from tensile test was
given in Fig. 2 of Ref. [6]. This curve can be "tted well to the large strain by
o"k

cK,
where k

and m

are taken as 709 MPa and 0.19, respectively. Predicted by our model, the average
"nal curvature ' after springback is 3.28 m. The ratio of the "nal curvature ' to the die
curvature '"3.472 m is 0.95. Comparing with the test result '/'"0.94!0.95 when the
largest punch force is P*/YS'3;10` reported in Ref. [6], excellent agreement is obtained.
4. Incorporation of the bending-and-unbending e4ect into the springback analysis
4.1. Strain distribution and strain energy
Consider a circular plate of radius a shown as AF in Fig. 7. Obviously, the die shoulder (C'D')
forms a saddle surface in the 3-D space. After stamping, the plate deforms and takes a new position
A'F', where portion AB deforms into hemispherical surface A'B', portion BC "rst falls onto the
saddle surface and then slides into spherical surface B'C', portions CD and DF move along the
saddle surface and the plane, respectively. Again, the shell is equally divided into n segments along
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1905
Fig. 7. Schematic diagram of a plate before and after stretching}bending.
its meridian direction. Suppose that portion A'B' consists of n
`
segments; portion B'C' consists of
(n
`
!n
`
) segments; portion C'D' consists of (n
"
!n
`
) segments; and planar portion D'F' consists
of (n!n
"
) segments. It is clear that numbers n

can be calculated from

n
`
"
n
a
R
N
sin
"
,
n
`
"
n
a
R
N

"
,
n
"
"
n
a
(R
B
#R
N
)
"
,
(31)
where variable
"
satis"es
cos
"
"
R
N
!H#R
B
R
N
#R
B
, (32)
with H being the height of the die, R
B
the die shoulder radius, and R
N
the punch head radius.
During stamping, the plate is deformed under both membrane forces and bending moments. In
particular, sliding from the saddle surface into the hemispherical surface, portion BC partially loses
its curvature. Hence, portion BC on the plate will undergo a history of bending-and-unbending.
Since the requirements of proportional loading is not satis"ed in this portion, Ilyushin's deforma-
tion theory of plasticity will no longer hold for the case. However, the analysis can be simpli"ed by
considering the plate is thin and portion B'C' is small. Thus, the strain analysis and springback
prediction can still be approximated based on the Deformation Theory of Plasticity.
Based on the procedure given in Sections 2 and 3, the strain distribution within di!erent portions
and the total strain energy can be determined. Then, the springback by considering membrane
1906 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Fig. 8. The pro"les before and after springback for the case of R
N
"3H. Curve 1*the pro"le before springback; curve
2*the pro"le after springback based on the membrane theory; curve 3*the pro"le after springback by considering both
membrane deformation and bending-and-unbending e!ect.
stress alone or by considering both membrane and bending components can be estimated. The
details are given in Appendix A. The error is acceptable as demonstrated by the numerical
examples given below.
4.2. Numerical examples
Consider the case of R
N
"3H in the system shown in Fig. 7, in which bending-and-unbending is
involved. Al 2036-T4 in Table 1 and case II in Table 4 give the material properties and tooling
geometry. The e!ect of the stretching force is incorporated according to the formulation given in
Appendix A. The pro"les after springback are predicted based on our model, shown in Fig. 8.
Because the stretching force is applied on the edge of the plate, the springback is almost negligible.
It is seen that the bending-and-unbending e!ect produces more plastic deformation around the die
shoulder region but only slightly a!ects the "nal pro"les of the plate because the radius of die
shoulder is small and the bending-and-unbending portion is restricted.
5. Conclusions
The mechanics model proposed and corresponding analytical procedure are capable of
e$ciently predicting springback of metal sheets after axisymmetric stamping. Excellent
agreement is found between the theoretical prediction and experiment results. The strain hardening
of the material is incorporated into the mechanics model. The e!ect of stretching force applied
at the edge of the plates on springback is also considered. The bending e!ect, as well as
bending-and-unbending e!ect can be taken into account. It is evident that the incorporation of the
bending e!ect generally results in more springback, while the bending-and-unbending e!ect
produces larger plastic deformation around the die shoulder region but only slightly a!ects the
"nal pro"le. The springback will increase with the thickness of the plate when other conditions
remain the same. These results are useful for predicting springback more e$ciently in engineering
applications.
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1907
Appendix A. Incorporation of the bending-and-unbending e4ect into the springback analysis
A.1. Strain distribution and strain energy
The con"guration of the forming process is shown in Fig. 7. A plate of radius a and thickness
h can be divided into 2n

#1 layers through the thickness with the thickness of the each layer being
h

"h/(2n

#1). The strains on the qth layer are expressed by di!erent expressions within di!erent
portions. The details are given below.
(a) For 1)i)n
`
: (i.e., portion A'B' refer to Fig. 7):
c
PG O
"c"
PG
#
hq
R
N
(2n

#1)
,
c
FG O
"c"
FG
#
hq
R
N
(2n

#1)
,
(A.1)
where c"
FG
and c"
(G
represent the strains of the ith segment along the meridian and the circumferen-
tial directions on the mid-surface within region A'B' and
c"
(G
"c
G
,
c"
FG
"
2nR
N
(2i!1)a
sin

(2i!1)a
2nR
N
#
a
nR
N

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1.
(A.2)
In this portion, the strain energy of the qth layer is obtained as
;
O
"
kha`
(2n

#1)(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

G
(2i!1)(c`
(G O
#c`
FG O
#c
PG O
c
FG O
)'K>'`. (A.3)
The total energy of the portion can be obtained by summing the strain energy of all (2n

#1)
layers, that is,
;

"
L

OL
;
O
"
kha`
(2n

#1)(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'`
;
L

OL
L`

G
(2i!1)(c`
PG O
#c`
FG O
#c
PG O
c
FG O
)'K>'`. (A.4)
(b) For n
`
#1)i)n
`
(i.e., portion B'C'):
Noting that the plate is very thin and the die shoulder radius R
B
is very small, the analysis can be
simpli"ed as follows.
After portion B'C' moves onto the saddle surface, the portion is "rst bent. Taking into account
the e!ect of bending, the strain energy should include the terms in form of

c"
PG
!
hq
R
B
(2n

#1)
`
,

c"
FG
#
hq
j
G
(2n

#1)
`
.
1908 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
Thus, the e!ect of bending in the meridian and circumferential directions on the strain energy can
be approximately expressed by the following terms:
u

"

c"
PG
!
hq
R
B
(2n

#1)
`
!c"`
PG
,
u
`
"

c"
FG
#
hq
j
G
(2n

#1)
`
!c"`
FG
.
(A.5)
In Eq. (A.5), c"
PG
and c"
FG
are not the values at the end of the stamping operation, but could be
approximately taken as the mean strains, that is,
c"
FG
"
`
c"
FG `
,
c"
(G
"
`
c"
(G `
"
`
c
G
,
(A.6)
where c"
(G `
and c"
FG `
represent the strains of the ith segment along the meridian and circumferential
directions on the mid-surface within region B'C'. The radius of curvature j
G
will change along curve
C'D' and can be determined by
j
G
"O

"(R
N
sin
"
#R
B
sin
"
!R
B
sin
G
)/sin
G
,

G
"
a
2nR
B
(2n
"
!2i#1)#
a
nR
B

L"

PG>
c
P
#
c
G
2
.
(A.7)
Since this segment is very short, the variable curvature 1/j
G
can be replaced by the mean curvature
1/(2R
N
). Thus, Eq. (A.5) can be rewritten as
u

"
!hqC
G
(2n

#1)R
B
#

hq
(2n

#1)R
B

`
,
u
`
"
hqc"
FG `
2R
N
(2n

#1)
#

hq
2R
N
(2n

#1)
`
.
(A.8)
When portion B'C' slides from the saddle surface to the spherical surface, the unbending will
occur. Similarly, the e!ect of unbending in the meridian and circumferential directions on strain
energy can be expressed by the following terms:
u
`
"
2hqC
G
(2n

#1)R
N
#

hq
(2n

#1)R
N

`
,
u
``
"
2hqc"
FG `
(2n

#1)R
N
#

hq
(2n

#1)R
N

`
.
(A.9)
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1909
After the whole bending-and-unbending process is completed, the consumed energy, including
its membrane components, will be
;
`
"
kha`
(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L`

GL` >
(2i!1)[(c`
(G `
#c`
FG `
#c
(G `
c
FG `
)'K>'`]
#
kha`
(2n

#1)(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

OL
L`

GL`>
(2i!1)[(u

#u
`
)'K>'`
#(u
`
#u
``
)'K>'`]. (A.10)
(c) For n
`
#1)i)n
"
(i.e., portion C'D'):
c
PG O
"c"
PG `
#
hq
R
B
(2n

#1)
,
c
FG O
"c"
FG `
#
hq
j
G
(2n

#1)
,
(A.11)
where the strains on the mid-surface are determined as
c"
(G `
"c
G
,
c"
FG `
"
2n(R
N
#R
B
)
a(2i!1)
sin
"
!
2nR
B
(2i!1)a
sin

a
2nR
B
(2n
"
!2i#1)#
a
nR
B

L"

PG
c
P
!
c
G
2
!1. (A.12)
The total strain energy of this portion is
;
`
"
kha`
(2n

#1)(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

OL
L"

GL`>
(2i!1)(c`
(G O
#c`
FG O
#c
(G O
c
FG O
)'K>'`. (A.13)
(d) For n
"
#1)i)n (i.e., portion D'F'):
The strains in this portion can be expressed by the strains on the mid-surface, i.e.,
c"
(G "
"c
G
,
c"
FG "
"
2n(R
N
#R
B
)
(2i!1)a
sin
"
!
2n
"
2i!1
#
2
2i!1
G

PL" >
c
P
!
c
G
2
.
(A.14)
The strain energy is
;
"
"
kha`
(m#1)n`
4
3
'K>'` L

GL" >
(c"
FG "
#c"
PG "
#c"
FG "
c"
PG "
)'K>'`. (A.15)
1910 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
When the blank holder force N exerts on the outskirts of the plate, the work done by the friction
force can be approximately calculated from
="f No, (A.16)
where f denotes the coe$cient of friction and the radial displacement is given by
o"a!(R
N
#R
B
) sin
"
!
(n!n
"
)a
n
!
a
n
L

PL" >
c
P
. (A.17)
In summary, the total energy required by the whole stamping process should be
";

#;
`
#;
`
#;
"
#=. (A.18)
For the same reason as stated in Section 2.1, the `reala deformation "eld should render a minimum
of the total energy among all kinematically admissible deformation "elds at the end of the
operation. This minimum condition requires
c
cc
G
"0, i"1, 2
2
, n, (A.19)
which are just su$cient to determine n unknown c
G
.
A.2. Prediction of springback
If only the membrane components are considered, the coordinates of points C
G
and A
G
can be
determined in a way similar to that stated in Section 2.3. The relevant formulas are listed below.
(a) For 1)i)n
`
x
G
"Rsin

2i!1
2nR
N
a#
a
nR
N

P
c
P
!
c
G
2
(1!c'
FG
),
y
G
"((R
G
)`!(x
G
!a
G
)`#b
G
,
a
G
"R
N
sin

a
nR
N
G

P
(1#c
G
)

(1!c'
FG
),
b
G
"((2R
G
)`!(a
G
!a
G
)`#b
G
.
(A.20)
(b) For n
`
#1)i)n
"
x
G
"a
L`
#

R
B
sin
"
!R
B
sin

2n
"
!2i#1
2nR
B
a#
a
nR
B

L"

PG
c
P
!
c
G
2
(1!c'
FG
),
y
G
"b
G
#(R`
G
!(x
G
!a
G
)`,
a
G
"a
L`
#R
B

sin
"
!sin

n
"
!i
nR
B
a#
a
nR
"
L"

PG>
c
P

(1!c'
FG
),
b
G
"b
G
#((4R`
G
!(a
G
!a
G
)`.
(A.21)
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1911
(c) For n
"
)i)n
x
G
"a
L"
#

(2i!2n
"
!1)a
2n
#
a
n
G

PL" >
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

(1!c'
FG
),
y
G
"b
G
#(R`
G
!(x
G
!a
G
)`,
a
G
"a
L"
#

(i!n
"
)a
n
#
a
n
G

PL" >
c
P

(1!c'
FG
),
b
G
"b
G
#((4R`
G
!(a
G
!a
G
)`,
(A.22)
where R
G
"a/2n(1#c
G
)(1!c'
PG
).
If the bending components are taken into account, the coordinates of relevant points on the
deformed plate are determined as follows.
(a) For 1)i)n
`
x'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos (0
P
#d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)cos

0
G
#
1
2
d0
G

,
y'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
) sin(0
P
#d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
) sin

0
G
#
1
2
d0
G

,
a'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos (0
P
#d0
P
),
b'
G
"
G

P
a
n
(1#c
P
) sin(0
P
#d0
P
).
(A.23)
(b) For n
`
#1)i)n
"
x'
G
"a'
L`
#
G

PL`>
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos (0
L`
!0
P
!d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)cos

0
L`
!0
G
!
1
2
d0
G

,
y'
G
"b'
L`
#
G

PL` >
a
n
(1#c
P
) sin(0
L`
!0
P
!d0
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
) sin

0
L`
!0
G
!
1
2
d0
G

,
a'
G
"a'
L`
#
G

PL` >
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos (0
L`
!0
P
!d0
P
),
b'
G
"b'
L`
#
G

PL` >
a
n
(1#c
P
) sin(0
L`
!0
P
!d0
P
).
(A.24)
1912 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914
(c) For n
"
#1)i)n
x'
G
"a'
L"
#

PL" >
a
n
(1#c
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)

cos 0
L"
,
y'
G
"b'
L"
#

PL">
a
n
(1#c
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)

sin 0
L"
,
a'
G
"a'
L"
#
G

PL" >
a
n
(1#c
P
)cos 0
L"
,
b'
G
"b'
L"
#
G

PL" >
a
n
(1#c
P
)sin0
L"
,
(A.25)
where d0
G
"(1/R!
PG
)(a/2n)(1#c
G
). (x', y') and (a', b') stand for the coordinates of the mid-point
and the end point of each segment, respectively, after springback by considering bending moments
only.
If both the membrane and bending components are included in the model, the "nal position of
mid-point (x$, y$) and end point (a$, b$) can be determined as follows.
(a) For 1)i)n
`
x$"x
G
#x'
G
!R
N
sin

2i!1
2nR
N
a#
a
nR
N

P
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
y$"y
G
#y'
G
!R
N

1!cos

2i!1
2nR
N
a#
a
nR
N

P
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
a$"a
G
#a'
G
!R
N
sin

ia
nR
N
#
a
nR
N
G

P
c
P

,
b$"b
G
#b'
G
!R
N

1!cos

ia
nR
N
#
a
nR
N
G

P
c
P

.
(A.26)
(b) For n
`
#1)i)n
"
x$"x
G
#x'
G
!(R
N
#R
B
)sin
"
#R
B
sin

2n
"
!2i#1
2nR
B
a#
a
nR
B

L"

PG
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
y$"y
G
#y'
G
!H#R
B

1!cos

2n
"
!2i#1
2nR
B
a#
a
nR
B

L"

PG
c
P
!
1
2
c
G

,
a$"a
G
#a'
G
!(R
N
#R
B
)sin
"
#R
B
sin

n
"
!i
nR
B
a#
a
nR
B
L"

PG>
c
P

,
b$"b
G
#b'
G
!H#R
B

1!cos

n
"
!i
nR
B
a#
a
nR
B
L"

PG>
c
P

.
(A.27)
P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914 1913
(c) For n
"
#1)i)n
x$"x
G
#x'
G
!(R
N
#R
B
)sin
"
!

PL">
a
n
(1#c
P
)#
a
2n
(1#c
G
)

,
y$"y
G
#y'
G
!H,
a$"a
G
#a'
G
!(R
N
#R
B
)sin
"
!
G

PL">
a
n
(1#c
P
),
b$"b
G
#b'
G
!H,
(A.28)
where x
G
and y
G
are calculated from Eqs. (A.20)}(A.22); x'
G
and y'
G
are calculated from
Eqs. (A.23)}(A.25).
References
[1] Pourboghrat F, Chu E. Springback in plane strain stretch/draw sheet forming. International Journal of Mechanical
Sciences 1995;36:327}41.
[2] Pourboghrat F, Chandorkar K. Springback calculation for plane strain sheet forming using "nite element mem-
brane solution. CED-Vol. 5/AMD Vol. 156, Numerical methods for simulation of industrial metal forming
processes. New York: ASME, 1992. p. 85}93.
[3] Yu TX, Johnson W. In#uence of axial force on the elastic-plastic bending and springback of a beam. Journal of
Mechanical Working Technology 1982;6:5}21.
[4] Johnson W, Yu TX. Springback after the biaxial elastic-plastic pure bending of a rectangular plate*I. International
Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1981;23:619}30.
[5] Yu TX, Johnson W. The large elastic}plastic de#ection with springback of a circular plate subjected to circumferen-
tial moments. ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics 1982;49:507}15.
[6] Yu TX, Johnson W, Stronge WJ. Stamping and springback of circular plates deformed in hemispherical dies.
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1984;26:131}48.
[7] Yu TX, Zhang LC. Plastic bending: theory and applications. Singapore: World Scienti"c, 1996.
[8] Xue P, Yu TX, Chu E. Theoretical prediction of springback of metal sheets after double-curvature forming
operation. International Journal of Materials Processing Technology 1999;89}90:65}71.
[9] Stevenson R. Springback in simple axisymmetric stamping. Metallurgical Transactions A 1993;24A:925}34.
1914 P. Xue et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 43 (2001) 1893}1914