AutoForm^Plus R7 Update 4

AutoForm Engineering GmbH, the leading provider of software solutions for the sheet metal forming industry, has released an update 4 to AutoForm plus R7, which provides a new set of powerful features to support users around the Sheet metal processing chain.

These Release Notes describe the Fixed Bug of AutoFormplus R7.0.4 Stand-alone:

With the AutoFormplus R7.0.4 patch a significant bug in AutoForm-Solverplus has been fixed. This bug led to wrong simulation results when kinematic hardening was used for material definition and at the same time the control parameter Thickness Stress was activated.

Fixed Bugs:

Solver

Due to a solver bug found in R7.0.3, it is not recommended to use Kinematic Hardening in combination with Thickness Stress. When using such combination, in most of the cases, thinning of the material is overestimated which leads to wrong prediction of splits. Effects of the bug become obvious when forming material over sharp tool radii, i.e. in situations with high in-plane strains and high contact stresses.

To demonstrate the effects of the bug, results after simulation of drawing operation of a hood inner are shown below. Two simulations are run with Kinematic Hardening ON/OFF and activated Thickness Stress. Hood inner includes multiple features with small radii. These features are formed at the end of the operation without considerable material flow over the radius. Therefore one would expect comparable results when running the simulation with Kinematic Hardening ON or OFF. However, this is clearly not the case. Simulation with Kinematic Hardening ON predicts much higher level of strains and indicates material splitting at the end of the process.

The bug was fixed in R7.0.4 leading to more realistic prediction of splits in simulations with Kinematic Hardening and Thickness Stress ON.

In all other cases results calculated in R7.0.3 should be identical to R7.0.4.


About AutoForm^Plus R7. This latest release focuses on improving the workflow to set up and validate metal forming processes. This includes the simulation of progressive dies and hot forming.

One of the new features is the ability to take cooling channels into account when simulating hot forming. The cooling process is modeled within the software using 3D curves, diameter sizing and channel layouts.

Each of these parameters is used to model the temperature distribution on the tool surface. If hot spots are discovered, the parameters and channel layouts can be changed early in the design cycle when it is cheaper and easier to make these modifications.
AutoFormplus R7 also includes new functionality to help engineers perform various studies along the development cycle for progressive dies. This includes simulating and designing progressive dies for springback assessments, die face generation and final process validation.

The new release supports engineers working on progressive dies by helping to:

- Import CAD geometry for final validation,
- Import parts for initial tool planning and
- Import parts to design and simulate the full process.

The latest release also gives engineers the ability to interface with AutoForm-Sigmaplus, as the software is now integrated within ProcessExplorerplus. This will give engineers access to Sigma's pre- and post-processing tools for systematic process improvement and robustness studies. This will also help ensure that engineers’ final manufacturing tool designs are efficient and work the first time

About AutoForm Engineering GmbH. AutoForm Engineering GmbH is a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive accessories and industrial components. With production and headquarters in Malung, Sweden, we work globally to support most of the worlds’ leading vehicle manufacturers.

Product: AutoForm^Plus R7
Version: R7.0.4.1 Update
Supported Architectures: x64
Website Home Page : www.autoform.com
Language: english
System Requirements: PC / Linux
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7even SP1, Windows 10, Server 2016 / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 or 12, openSUSE 11, 12, 13 or 42, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 or 7.
Software Prerequisites: AutoForm^Plus R7
Size: 381.7 mb