Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Finite Elements in Analysis and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/finel

A comparison of numerical iteration based algorithms in blank optimization

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo n
CAD/CAM Research Center, Mechanical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Hafez Street, Tehran, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o

abstract

Article history:
Received 9 April 2011
Received in revised form
25 September 2011
Accepted 26 September 2011
Available online 26 October 2011

Different approaches for blank shape optimization are reported in the literature. These include
numerical iteration based algorithms, slip line eld and inverse approach methods and so on. Some
iteration based algorithms are reported in the literature. However a comparison of these methods can
provide a useful guide regarding their efciency. In this paper, a new iteration based method for blank
shape optimization is presented. Also two other iteration based algorithms reported in the literature
are described briey. The optimum blank shapes for some case studies are obtained using each
algorithm and the results are compared. The results indicate that the algorithm developed in the
current work is more efcient.
& 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Deep drawing
Blank shape optimization
Shape error
Deformation path length

1. Introduction
Using the optimum blank shape has many advantages in the
deep drawing process. The optimum blank shape not only reduces
the material cost of the produced part, but also improves the deep
drawing quality, thickness distribution, formability of the part
and minimizes the forming defects.
Since the experimental trial and error methods for achieving
the initial blank shape is time consuming and expensive,
researchers are using numerical methods for the optimum blank
design. Different approaches for blank shape design using numerical methods have been reported in the literature. These
approaches can be categorized as slip line eld method, geometrical mapping method, inverse approach method and iteration
method based on the Finite Element (FE) results.
Some of the researches are based on the slip line eld theory.
Some initial works in this eld was performed by Hazek and
Lange [1], Lange and Gloeckl [2] and Sowerby et al. [3]. They used
the plane strain slip line eld theory to design the blank shape.
They assumed the material to be perfect plastic and isotropic.
Chen and Sowerby [4] also did similar analysis for the prediction
of the blank shape. Karima [5] traced the volume of each of the
sheet element backward from the nal cup shape to the original
blank position for each punch increment. Kuwabara and Si also
developed a method based on the slip line eld theory [6]. A
kinematically admissible velocity eld for the ange region is
determined from the theory and this velocity eld is used to

Corresponding author. Tel.: 982166405844; fax: 982166419736.

E-mail address: arezoo@aut.ac.ir (B. Arezoo).

0168-874X/$ - see front matter & 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nel.2011.09.011

conduct a backward calculation of the metal ow from the

desired ange shape to the initial blank shape. They have
assumed the punch and die corner radii to be zero and the
material to be isotropic and rigid-perfect plastic. Also the thickness of the blank is assumed to be constant during the process.
Parsa et al. [7] used conventional methods for constructing the
slip lines around the die opening. Using the constructed slip lines,
a curve was drawn in order to establish the periphery of the initial
blank. In order to decrease the distance between the beginning
and the end points of the drawn periphery of the initial blank,
they used a new criteria for dividing the shape of the initial blank.
Some researchers reported the geometric mapping method for
the blank shape design. Kim and Kobayashi have proposed an
approximate geometrical method to determine the contour shape
of the blank for rectangular cup drawing [8]. A velocity eld is
assumed whose parameters were found out by conducting
experiments. Flow lines of the material points in the blank are
formulated and the contours of the ange for the given blank
shapes were determined at several punch increments. The material is assumed to be isotropic. Zaky et al. determined the
optimum shape of a blank for the deep drawing of a cylindrical
cup without ears [9]. They have used the concept that the values
of the normal anisotropy ratio are not constant over the whole
range of the crystallographic orientation.
Some of the researches are based on the inverse approach
method. Chung and Richmond proposed the theoretical basis of
ideal forming theory to get an initial blank shape [10]. However,
the real forming conditions such as blank holder force, friction
force, tool geometry, etc. are not considered in their work. So the
calculated blank shape is not accurate enough. Guo et al. describes
a FE based inverse approach to determine the optimum blank

208

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

contour for industrial parts [11]. The approach uses the knowledge
of part shape by discretization of the 3D surface to triangular facet
shell elements and computes the inverse deformation gradient
tensor to estimate the large logarithmic strains. The efciency and
the convergence rate are found quite dependent on the assumed
initial blank. Ku et al. applied the backward tracing scheme for
designing the initial blank [12]. Naceur et al. presented a blank
optimization method based on the coupling between the inverse
approach used for forming simulation and an evolutionary algorithm [13]. Cai et al. introduced a simplied algorithm for generating planar developments of arbitrarily three-dimensional (3D)
surface for the blank design of sheet metal parts [14]. The 3D
surface is rst divided into triangular nite elements; the deformation from the curved surface to its planar development is then
modeled by in-plane strains of elemental edges. Parsa and Pournia
introduced a modied kinematics formulation for predicting the
initial blank and used this formulation in connection with the ideal
forming theory for predicting the initial blank shape of the parts
[15]. Azizi and Assempour developed a linear inverse nite
element method (IFEM) to predict the optimum blank [16]. To
reduce the computation time, the part is unfolded properly on the
at sheet and treated as a 2D problem. The procedure is based on
the minimization of energy for the unfolded elements. The convergence shows high sensitivity to the initial guess for the strain
path when assumed to be linear at the rst step. Azizi also
compared the basic capabilities of the linear and nonlinear formulation of IFEM [17]. It was found that the CPU time used in the
linear formulation is considerably lower than the nonlinear formulation, while comparison displays that the strain results
obtained by both IFEM methods are similar to some extent.
Some researchers use the iteration based FE results to optimize
the initial blank. Toh and Kobayashi [18] developed a FE procedure
for the modeling of the square cup drawing process based on nite
strain formulation and membrane theory by applying Hills anisotropic yield criterion. They determined the optimum blank shape
based on the FE results of net material ow during the deformation. Chung et al. [19] developed a sequential design procedure to
optimize the sheet metal forming process utilizing ideal forming
design theory, FE analysis and experimental trials. They used this
procedure to design the blank shape for a highly anisotropic
aluminum alloy sheet and minimized the earing. Park et al.
suggested a blank design method combining the ideal forming
theory with a deformation path iteration method based on the FE
analysis [20]. First a trial blank is generated from the ideal forming
theory. Then, an optimum blank of the target shape is obtained
with the aid of the deformation path iteration method. Pegada
et al. used the iterative design procedure in an algorithm for
determining the optimal blank contour for the deep drawing of
aluminum cups and considered the effects of anisotropy and
friction [21]. Shim et al. used the iterative sensitivity method for
the blank optimization [22]. In this method, the sensitivity parameters are computed by FE analysis of the deformation process
using both the original blank and the offset blank. Son and Shim
presented another method based on the initial nodal velocity of the
boundary nodes, called INOV [23]. In this method the ratio of the
initial velocity of the boundary nodes to the whole path length is
used in the blank modication algorithm. Vafaeesefat used the
iteration of FE simulation to optimize the initial blank shape [24].
His blank modication algorithm is based on the projection of the
target contour on the deformed blank and modifying the blank
shape accordingly. Hammami et al. developed an approach where
iterating on an empirically determined initial blank using the push/
pull optimization technique designs the optimized blank [25]. This
group also investigated the inuence of the initial anisotropy in
achieving an optimal blank shape [26]. The numerical study shows
that the optimal blank shape for a part is signicantly inuenced

by the initial anisotropy. Azaouzi et al. found an estimation of the

initial blank shape using the one step inverse approach. They
updated the blank shape by iterations, combining heuristic optimization algorithms and FE analysis [27].
Other techniques are also used in the blank shape optimization.
Agrawal et al. [28] used the upper bound technique to minimize the
earing in deep drawing process of cylindrical cups. Initially, a circular
blank is chosen and the cup height along its circumference is
obtained. The information obtained in the rst step is used to
optimize the blank shape and minimize the earring effect. Lin and
Kwan [29] employed the FE method in conjunction with the
abductive network to predict the optimum blank contour of an
elliptic cylindrical cup without ears in deep drawing process. A nite
element-based code is utilized to investigate the material ow
characteristics under different process parameters, and the abductive
network is then employed to synthesize the data sets obtained from
numerical simulations and establishing a predictive model.
According to the literature review, the FE method has received
the most attention, because of its accuracy. However due to its
iterative nature, it is time consuming. Decreasing the number of
iterations can decrease the design time of the optimum blank
shape. Also a comparison of these methods can provide a useful
guide regarding their efciency.
In the present work the method used by Son and Shim [23] is
developed further and a more efcient method is developed. In this
approach the 3D model of the nal part is used to design an initial
blank geometry for the given part. The deep drawing process is
simulated using the initial blank shape. The blank is optimized in an
iterative process based on the shape error and the deformation path
length of the boundary nodes of the blank in the previous iteration.
The deep drawing process is modeled in ABAQUS 6.9.1 software.
Visual C and Solid works softwares are used to apply the algorithm.
Also two other iteration based algorithms of Son and Shim [23] and
Hammami et al. [25] are described briey. The optimum blank shapes
for some case studies are obtained using each algorithm and the
results are compared. The results indicate that the algorithm developed in the current work is more efcient.

2. Procedure of the blank shape optimization

Fig. 1 shows the owchart for the blank shape optimization.
First, the system automatically approximates the initial blank
shape using the nal geometry of the part. The deep drawing
process is modeled using this initial blank shape. The obtained
contour after the end of the deformation process is compared
with the target contour of the part geometry. If the deviation of
the obtained contour from the target contour is more than a
specied value, the blank is modied using the blank optimization algorithm and the process is analyzed again. This process is
repeated until the deviation from the target contour is less than
the specied value at every boundary node.
The initial blank approximation and the blank optimization
algorithms are described in the following.
2.1. Initial blank shape approximation
The initial blank shape is automatically approximated using
the 3D model of the nal part. Fig. 2 shows the procedure for a
sample part. The 3D model of the part is sectioned in radial
directions around an axis passing through the center of mass of
the part. For each section a mid-surface is dened and its area is
determined. A mid-surface is a surface that is situated equally
distanced between the outer and inner surfaces of a section. For
each section Si a planar sector Pi with the same angle and area is
formed along the same radial directions as shown in Fig. 2. The

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

blank shape is approximated with a spline passing through the

midpoint of the arc of each sector.
It should be noted that this method works ne for the
components that their contour as a function of angle is bijection.
However the initial blank created for the components that are not
bijection as a function of angle are not well suited for the purpose
pursued in the current research and more effort is required to nd
the optimum initial blank.
2.2. Blank optimization algorithm
In this section rst the authors method for blank shape
optimization is described. Then the methods of Son and Shim
[23] (named INOV) and Hammami [25] (named push/pull technique) are briey described.
2.2.1. Authors method
Fig. 3 shows the deformation path of two boundary nodes
where the initial contour of the blank is identied with a
continuous thin line, the nal contour with a dashed line and the
target contour with a continuous thick line. As shown in this gure
the shape of the nal contour may take a shape different from the

Approximate the initial blank shape using

3D model of the part

FE
analysis
Modify blank using deformation
path length method

Shape Error<
SEA

target contour. The points of the nal contour may lie inside,
outside or on the target contour after deep drawing process. In
order to obtain the desired shape after forming, the initial position
of the boundary nodes should be repositioned such that all the
boundary nodes lie in a specied tolerance from the target contour.
The deep drawing process is analyzed using the nite element
method and the result of FE simulation is written to the output
le in n intervals. Fig. 3 shows the deformation path of the
boundary nodes i and k of the blank subjected to deep drawing
!j
process for the pth iteration of the blank optimization. X i,p is
dened as the position vector of the ith node in the boundary of
the blank in the jth interval of the deep drawing process in the pth
!n1
iteration of the blank optimization. The line passing through X i,p
!n
!inter
and X i,p intersects the target contour in the point X i,p . The
!inter
!n
distance between X i,p and X i,p is dened as ei,p and is called the
shape error. If the shape errors for all the boundary nodes are not
!0
less than a specied SEA, the position of X i,p for all nodes should
be moved repeatedly until the shape errors for all the boundary
nodes are less than the specied SEA.
It should be noted that in the 3D space, the line passing from
!n1
!n
X i,p and X i,p may not intersect the target contour, because the two
line vectors may not intersect in the space. In order to avoid the no
intersection problem, the target contour is modied to a target
surface, perpendicular to the die surface at the target contour.
For measuring the shape errors, the equations of the target
!n1
!n
surface and the line passing through X i,p and X i,p are solved for
each boundary nodes. The line equation can be determined as
!n
!inter
X i,p ei,p r^ i,p X i,p

No

Yes
Output
optimum blank

End
Fig. 1. Flowchart for the blank optimization using the presented method.

209

Fig. 3. Deformation path of two boundary nodes.

Fig. 2. Initial blank approximation for the sample part.

210

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

!n1
!n
r^ i,p is the unit vector of the line passing through X i,p and X i,p
and is determined as
r^ i,p

!n !n1
X i,p  X i,p
!n !n1
9 X i,p  X i,p 9

The system automatically converts the target contour to a NURBS

surface and solving its equation with Eq. (1) using the Newton!inter
Raphson procedure, ei,p and X i,p can be obtained.
Unless ei,p for all boundary nodes is less than the specied SEA,
the initial position should be moved to a new position obtained
by
!0
!0
X i,p 1 X i,p ei,p C i,p R^ i,p

The subscript p means the iteration number for each variable;

Ci,p is the shape error
coefcient,
R^ i,p is the unit vector of the line
!0
!1
passing through X i,p and X i,p which is determined as
!1 !0
X i,p  X i,p
^Ri,p
!1 !0
9 X i,p  X i,p 9

It should be noted that according to Eq. (1), the shape error

(ei,p) is a signed distance and can be positive or negative. If the
nal position of the ith node is inside the target surface (boundary
node i in Fig. 3), then ei,p is negative. So the initial position of the
node in the new blank moves in opposite direction of R^ i (Eq. (4))
and goes outside the blank designed in the previous iteration.
Also, if the nal position of the ith node is outside the target
surface (boundary node k in Fig. 3), then ei,p is positive. So the
initial position of the node in the new blank moves in the
direction of R^ i (Eq. (4)) and goes inside the blank designed in
the previous iteration.
The shape error coefcient Ci,p is determined as
C i,p b1,p

Pno:

9ei,p 9
b2,p
!j !j1
9 X i,p  X i,p 9

of stages
j1

The denominator in the rst term of Eq. (5) is the deformation

path length of ith node. The values of b1,p and b2,p are determined
such that all the values of Ci,p lie between 0.5 and 0.9 [23]. These
values are calculated once per iteration and are single values for
all the nodes. For determination of b1,p and b2,p the minimum and
maximum values of the fractional term in Eq. (5) for all boundary
nodes are determined. In Eq. (5), the minimum value of fractional
term would result in the minimum value of Ci,p (0.5) and the
maximum value of fractional term would result in the maximum
value of Ci,p (0.9). So, two equations with two unknowns b1,p and
b2,p are formed. Solving these equations the values of b1,p and b2,p
are determined.
Ci,p indicates that if the ratio of the shape error of node to its
deformation path length is small, the node moves a smaller
distance in repositioning, while if this ratio is large, the node
moves a larger distance.

2.2.2. INOV algorithm

The second method is the algorithm developed by Son and Shim
[23] named INOV method. The deep drawing process is simulated
using the initial blank shape. In order to measure the shape error of
!n
ith boundary node in pth iteration (eip ), a circle is passed from X i1,p ,
!n
!n
!n
X i,p and X i 1,p and the normalized radius vector from X i,p to center
of this circle is determined. The shape error is measured by the

!n
distance of node X i,p to the target surface along the determined
vector.
Unless the shape error for all boundary nodes are less than the
!0
specied SEA, the corresponding initial position X i,p , should be
moved to the new position obtained by Eq. (6) [23]:
!0
!0
i
X i,p 1 X i,p eip Gip R^ p

The subscript p means the iteration number for each variable;

i
R^ p is the normalized initial radius vector. To calculate this, a circle
!0
!0
!0
i
is passed from X i1,p , X i,p and X i 1,p and R^ p is determined as the
!0
normalized radius vector from X i,p to the center of this circle.
Gip is the velocity coefcient and is dened as [23]

Gip P
no:

!1
9 v i,p 9

of stages
k1

!k
9 v i,p 9

b1,p b2,p

!k
where v i,p is the velocity of boundary node i at the kth drawing
!1
stage and v i,p is the initial velocity of boundary node i. The values
of b1,p and b2,p are determined such that all the values of Gip lie
between 0.5 and 0.9 [23].
2.2.3. Push/pull technique
The third method is the algorithm developed by Hammami
et al. [25] named push/pull technique. In this method, a straight
!n
line is passed from X i,p (Fig. 4). The intersection of this line to the
!inter
target surface X i,p is determined. The Geometric Shape Error
(GSE) is used to quantify the deviation between the ange and the
target contour. The GSE is dened as the root mean square of the
shape difference between the target shape and the deformed
shape as in [25]
v
u n
u X 1 !inter !n 2
GSE t
9X i X i 9
8
n
i1
If The GSE is not less than the predened value, the corre!0
sponding initial position X i,p should be moved to the new position
obtained by Eq. (9) by [25]
!0
!0
!inter !n
X i,p 1 X i,p x X i,p  X i,p

Hammami et al. [25] suggest the value of x to be 0.6.

2.2.4. Unique stopping criteria
As described above, the mentioned algorithms have used
different stopping criteria to quantify the deviation between the

Fig. 4. Deformation path of two boundary nodes in Hammamis method.

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

211

ange and the target contours. Using various stopping criteria

makes it impossible to compare the results; so, in the present
paper, a new method is dened to apply all these algorithms and
compare their capabilities. In this method the Distance of Boundary Nodes (DBN) to the target contour is determined. If the DBNs
for all the boundary nodes are less than a specied DBN
Allowance (DBNA), the iterative procedure is stopped and the
optimal blank shape for the part is obtained. To nd the distance
!n
of the ith boundary node with deformed coordinate X i,p from the
!
NURBS target curve, Q u9a ru rb, using the closest point
projection algorithm, the value un should be found such that
Eq. (10) is satised [30]:
 
!n !
!n !
DBN i,p : X i,p  Q un : minf: X i,p  Q u:9u A a,b g

10

For solving this equation, we have the necessary condition of

Eq. (11) [29]:
!0
!n !
X i,p  Q un U Q un 0
11
!0 n
!
where Q u denotes the derivative of Q u. Solving this equation, the value un is found and DBNi,p is calculated from Eq. (10).

Fig. 5. Forming tool geometry for L-shaped cup drawing [23].

Table 1
Material properties used in the FE simulations of L-shaped cup drawing [23].

3. Examples
In order to compare the capability of the three mentioned
algorithms, three case studies are used and the optimum blanks
are obtained using each algorithm and the results are compared.
The deformation process is analyzed using the ABAQUS/Explicit
software. The dies are modeled using the rigid elements of type
R3D4 and the blanks are modeled with shell elements of type S4R.
A xed mass scaling scheme is used to increase the density of the
blank to 100 times of the original density. The punch speed is
xed to 0.2 m/s. The drawing operation is performed in two steps.
In the rst step the blank holder force is applied linearly to reach
its maximum value and remains constant at this value during the
second step. In the second step, the punch is moved downward
with a constant speed. In the present work the elastic springback
is neglected, and so unloading step is not modeled. The DBNA for
each drawn cup is considered to be 0.5 mm.
For FE simulation of the process, an automated system is
created in Visual C. The input to the system is the nal part
geometry from SolidWorks software. As described in Section 2.1,
the initial blank shape is created and positioned relative to the
nal part and target contour by segmenting the part into 10
segments and the corresponding spline curve is determined. The
punch, blankholder and die surfaces are determined based on the
part geometry. The punch and blankholder are moved vertically
to above and the die to under the created blank with a distance
equal to half of the sheet metal thickness. Now the system creates
the ABAQUS input le based on the determined geometries and
positions of the components and process parameters. Executing
the input le in ABAQUS/ Explicit software, the system imports
the information of each interval from ABAQUS output le. The
target contour (its position relative to die is known) is projected
on the die face and compared with the nal contour. For the next
iterations, only the blank geometry is modied in the input le.
3.1. L-shaped cup drawing
The rst example is an L-shaped cup used in the Son and Shim
study [23]. Fig. 5 shows the die geometry for this cup. The
drawing depth is 20 mm and the target shape has uniform
trimming allowance of 2 mm at the ange. The blank holder force
is 9800 N and remains constant throughout the optimization

Young modulus, E (GPa)

Poissons ratio, n
R-value
Yield stress, sy (MPa)
Stress constant, K (MPa)
Strain hardening exponent, n
Coefcient of frictions, m

Sheet metal thickness (mm)

Punch/blank
Die/blank
Blankholder/blank

200
0.3
1.38
129.11
514
0.2
0.24
0.12
0.12
0.85

procedure. The material properties used in the FE simulations

are shown in Table 1. The blank is lled with 3744 shell elements
with average size of 1.5 mm.
Figs. 68 represent the ange contour, the target contour and
the drawn cup contour for design iterations using the authors
method, the push/pull technique and the INOV method, respectively. The maximum DBN and maximum shape error or GSE for
each drawn cup are stated in these gures. Since the initial blank
shape used in all methods are the same, maximum DBNs of initial
blanks are also the same. It can be seen that the maximum value
of DBN reduces to below DBNA (0.5 mm), in the second iteration
using the authors method. However using the push/pull technique and the INOV method it takes three iterations. So the authors
method seems to be faster than the other two methods.
Comparing the maximum shape error with the maximum DBN
and the average shape error with the average DBN in Figs. 6 and 8
shows that in the later iterations, these two values are almost the
same. So the presented shape error denition in the authors method
and the INOV method is a sensible value for measuring the deviation
of the blank from the target contour. But as shown in Fig. 7, in the
push/pull technique that uses the GSE as the stopping criterion, the
dened GSE has no relation to the maximum or average DBN. So
GSE does not seem to be a suitable criterion for measuring the
deviation in the blank optimization algorithm.
The minimum wall thicknesses are also shown in Figs. 68. It
can be seen that the minimum wall thickness in the cup drawn
using the initial blank is about 0.518 mm, which means a
maximum wall thinning of 39.1%. However, the minimum wall
thickness in the cup drawn using the 3rd modied blank of
authors method (Fig. 6) is about 0.691 mm, which means a
maximum wall thinning of 18.7%. So using the optimum blank
shape can improve the quality of the drawn cup.

212

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

Fig. 6. Evaluation of ange contour after deformation for L-shaped cup using the authors method. (a) Initial blank, (b)1st modied blank, (c) 2nd modied blank, (d) 3rd
modied blank.

Fig. 7. Evaluation of ange contour after deformation for L-shaped cup using the push/pull technique. (a) Initial blank, (b) 1st modied blank, (c) 2nd modied blank,
(d)3rd modied blank.

Fig. 8. Evaluation of ange contour after deformation for L-shaped cup using the INOV method. (a) Initial blank, (b) 1st modied blank, (c) 2nd modied blank, (d) 3rd
modied blank.

Fig. 9. Comparison of maximum DBN values for different mesh renements. (a) 3744 elements, (b) 1720 elements, (c) 1024 elements.

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

The optimization procedure is also performed with FE modeling with two other element sizes. Fig. 9 shows a comparison of
maximum DBN for the conditions where the blank is lled with
3744 elements with an average element size of 1.5 mm (Fig. 9a),
1720 elements with an average element size of 2.1 mm (Fig. 9b)
and 1024 elements with an average element size of 2.8 mm
(Fig. 9c). The CPU times for the conditions (a)(c) are about 50,
19.5 and 12.5 min, respectively (using a personal computer with
core i5 CPU of 2.4 GHz and 4.00 GB RAM). It can be seen that
although the element size reduces the CPU time considerably, but
it has a marginal effect on the optimization procedure in all the
three methods. So it is suggested that the coarser elements be
used for the rst iterations and the ner elements be used for the
nal iterations. Also it can be seen that the authors method
converges faster than the other two methods for all element sizes.
It should be noted that all the three methods provide almost
the same optimum blank shapes that have no distinguishable
differences. The deformed shapes of the blank for the initial and
optimum blanks are shown in Fig. 10.
3.2. Rectangular cup drawing
The second example is a rectangular cup used in the study of
Hammami et al. [25]. The forming tool geometry of this study is
shown in Fig. 11. The blank holder force is 9287 N and remains
constant throughout the optimization procedure and the drawing
depth is 14 mm. The blank is lled with 3648 shell elements with
average size of 1.7 mm. The material properties used in the FE
simulations are shown in Table 2.

213

Fig. 12(ac) shows the blank contours for the authors method,
the INOV method and the push/pull technique. Fig. 12(d) shows the
comparison of the maximum DBN for iterarions using these methods. It can be seen that the INOV method converges faster than the
push/pull technique and the authors method converges faster than
both of them. Also it can be seen from Fig. 12(d) that the maximum
DBN reduces to below DBNA (0.5 mm), in the rst iteration using
the authors method. However using the push/pull technique and
the INOV method, it takes two iterations. So the authors algorithm
is faster in blank optimization for this rectangular cup.
The blank optimization for this rectangular cup is also performed for drawing depth of 20 mm. The blank holder force is
13 kN and remains constant throughout the optimization procedure. Fig. 13(a) compares the maximum DBN for drawing depth of
20 mm in design iterations using the three mentioned methods. It
can be seen that the authors method converges faster than the
other two methods. It can also be seen that the INOV method does
not converge as fast as expected. This is due to the fact that in the
INOV method, one of the boundary nodes in the rst modied
blank contour has moved away. This is due to the vector direction,
which is used for the shape error measurement. As described
before, in this method a circle is passed from the given node and its
neighbors. The radius vector from the given node to the center of
the circle denes the shape error measurement direction. In this
example, during drawing of the initial blank, the blankholder
leaves the blank and a small wrinkling like effect occurs in the
initial drawn cup. The three boundary nodes of the nal contour of
the initial blank, which determines the shape error measurement
direction for this portion (nodes A, B and C shown with lled circles
in Fig. 13(b)), lie almost on a straight line in XY plane (Fig. 13(c)).

Table 2
Material properties used in the FE simulations of rectangular cup drawing [25].
Young modulus, E (GPa)
Poissons ratio, n
Anisotropy ratios

Fig. 10. Deformed shape of L-shaped cup using initial and optimum blanks.
(a) Initial blank, (b) optimum blank.

Yield stress, sy (MPa)

Stress constant, K (MPa)
Strain hardening exponent, n
Coefcient of frictions, m
Sheet metal thickness (mm)

Fig. 11. Forming tool geometry for rectangular cup drawing and the desired part shape [25].

r0
r90
r45

210
0.3
1.24
1.20
0.99
123.6
529.5
0.268
0.08
0.85

214

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

Fig. 12. Evaluation of ange contours after deformation for rectangular cup with drawing depth of 14 mm. (a) Authors method, (b) INOV method, (c) Push/pull technique,
(d)Comparision of maximum DBN.

Fig. 13. Comparison of maximum DBN values obtained in all iterations for rectangular cup with drawing depth of 20 mm. (a) Comparision of maximum DBN, (b) Flange
contours before and after modication, (c) Coordinates of Nodes A, B and C.

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

215

Fig. 14. Deformed shape of rectangular cup using initial and optimum blanks.(a) Initial blank, (b) optimum blank.

this problem. So the wrinking of the drawn cup could slow down
the INOV method. Also if the nodes are on a straight line this
method would give unpredicted results.
Comparing the designed optimum blanks shows that the
optimum blank shapes designed by all three methods are almost
the same. The deformed shapes of the rectangular cup for the
initial and optimum blanks are shown in Fig. 14.
3.3. Oil pan drawing

Fig. 15. Forming tool geometry for drawing oil pan cup [23].

The third example is deep drawing of an oil pan, reported in

the study of Son and Shim [23]. The forming tool geometry is
shown in Fig. 15. The drawing depth is 30 mm and the target
shape has uniform trimming allowance of 1.75 mm at the ange.
The blank holder force is 17.8 kN and remains constant throughout the optimization procedure. The blank is lled with 1800 shell
elements with the average size of 5.3 mm. The material properties
used in the FE simulations are the same as the rst example
shown in Table 1 [23]. The friction coefcient is considered to be
0.1 between the blank and the punch and 0.05 between the blank/
die and the blank/blankholder.
Fig. 16 shows the comparison of the maximum DBN for design
iterarions using these alghoritms. It can be seen that the authors
method converges faster than the other two methods. Also it can
be seen that the maximum value of DBN reduces to below DBNA
(0.5 mm), in the third iteration using the authors method.
However using the push/pull technique it takes four iterations
and using the INOV method it takes ve iterations. So the authors
method seems to be faster than the other two methods in
optimization of the blank shape for the oil pan. It can be seen
that because the coarse elements are used in FE simulation of this
cup, the Maximum DBN does not converges to a very small value.
The deformed shape of the blank for initial and optimum
blanks are shown in Fig. 17.

4. Conclusion

Fig. 16. Comparison of maximum DBN values obtained in all iterations for oil pan.

So this small wrinkling causes an undesired radius vector direction.

While the maximum DBN is about 7.74 mm and the maximum
shape error is predicted to be close to this value, but a larger value
for the shape error (16.09 mm) is obtained. This results in a severe
movement of one of the boundary nodes in the blank designed for
the rst iteration and the following iterations are needed to solve

In the present work, a new numerical iteration based algorithm for the blank shape optimization is developed. In this
method the initial blank is optimized based on the shape error
and the deformation path length of the boundary nodes. Using the
3D model of the part, an initial blank shape is designed; then this
blank is optimized using the authors method, the INOV method
and the push/pull technique and the results are compared. It can
be concluded from the present work that

 the optimum blank shape provided using these algorithms are

almost the same and there are no distinguishable differences
between them;

216

A. Fazli, B. Arezoo / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 50 (2012) 207216

Fig. 17. Deformed shape of Oil pan cup using initial and optimum blanks.(a) Initial blank, (b) optimum blank.

 the authors method is found to be more efcient than the






other two methods;

wrinkling of the drawn cup can slow down the optimization of
the blank shape using the INOV method considerably;
shape error based stopping criteria used in the authors
method and the INOV method are more suitable than the
GSE based criteria used in the push/pull technique;
although the element size reduces the CPU time considerably,
but it has a marginal effect on the optimization procedure and
using the optimum blank shape in the drawing operation
decreases the wall thinning of the drawn cup.

References
[1] V.V. Hazek, K. Lange, Use of the slip-line method in deep drawing of large
irregular shaped components, in: Proceedings of the 7th North American
Metalwork Research Conference, SME, 1979, pp. 6571.
[2] K. Lange, H. Gloeckl, Computer aided design of blanks for deep drawn
irregular shaped components, in: Proceedings of the 11th North American
Manufacturing Research Conference, SME, 1983, pp. 243251.
[3] R. Sowerby, N. Chandrasekharan, X. Chen, M. Rooks, P. Correa, The development of computer aids for sheet metal metal stampings, in: S.K. Ghosh, A.
Niku-Lari (Eds.), CAD/CAM and FEM in Metalworking, 3rd International
Conference on SAS, Pergamon Press, 1988, p. 187.
[4] X. Chen, R. Sowerby, Blank development and the prediction of earing in cup
drawing, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 38 (1996) 509516.
[5] M. Karima, Blank development and tooling design for drawn parts using a
modied slip line eld based approach, J. Eng. Ind. Trans. ASME 111 (1989)
345350.
[6] T. Kuwabara, W.H. Si, PC-based blank design system for deep-drawing
irregularly shaped prismatic shells with arbitrarily shape ange, J. Mater.
Process Technol. 63 (1997) 8994.
[7] M.H. Parsa, P.H. Matin, M.M. Mashhadi, Improvement of initial blank shape
for intricate products using slip line eld, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 145
(2004) 2126.
[8] N. Kim, S. Kobayashi, Blank design in rectangular cup drawing by an
approximate method, Int. J. Mach. Tool. Des. Res. 26 (1986) 125135.
[9] A.M. Zaky, A.B. Nassr, M.G. El-Sebaie, Optimum blank shape of cylindrical
cups in deep drawing of anisotropic sheet metal, J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 76
(1998) 203211.
[10] K. Chung, O. Richmond, Ideal forming II. Sheet forming with optimum
deformation, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 34 (1992) 617633.
[11] Y.Q. Guo, J.L. Batoz, H. Naceur, S. Bouabdallah, F. Mercier, O. Barlet, Recent
developments on the analysis and optimum design of sheet metal forming
parts using a simplied inverse approach, Comput. Struct. 78 (2000)
133148.

[12] T.W. Ku, H.J. Lim, H.H. Choi, S.M. Hwang, B.S. King, Implementation of
backward tracing scheme of the FEM to blank design in sheet metal forming,
J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 111 (2001) 9097.
[13] H. Naceur, Y.Q. Guo, J.L. Batoz, Blank optimization in sheet metal forming
using an evolutionary algorithm, J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 151 (2004) 183191.
[14] Z.Y. Cai, M.Z. Li, H.M. Zhang, A simplied algorithm for planar development of
3D surface and its application in the blank design of sheet metal forming,
Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 43 (2007) 301310.
[15] M.H. Parsa, P. Pournia, Optimization of initial blank shape predicted based on
inverse nite element method, Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 43 (2007) 218233.
[16] R. Azizi, A. Assempour, Applications of linear inverse nite element method
in prediction of the optimum blank in sheet metal forming, Mater. Des. 29
(2008) 19651972.
[17] R. Azizi, Different implementations of inverse nite element method in sheet
metal forming, Mater. Des. 30 (2009) 29752980.
[18] C.H. Toh, S. Kobayashi, Deformation analysis and blank design in square cup
drawing, Int. J. Mach. Tool Des. Res. 25 (1985) 1532.
[19] K. Chung, F. Barlat, J.C. Brem, D.J. Lege, O. Richmond, Blank shape design for a
planar anisotropic sheet based on ideal forming design theory and FEM
analysis, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 39 (1997) 105120.
[20] S.H. Park, J.W. Yoon, D.Y. Yang, Y.H. Kim, Optimum blank design in sheet
metal forming by the deformation path iteration method, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 41
(1999) 12171232.
[21] V. Pegada, Y. Chun, S. Santhanam, An algorithm for determining the optimal
blank shape for the deep drawing of aluminum cups, J. Mater. Proc. Technol.
125126 (2002) 743750.
[22] H. Shim, K. Son, Optimal blank shape design by the iterative sensitivity
method, Proc. IMECHE Part B J. Eng. Manuf. 216 (2002) 867878.
[23] K.C. Son, H.B. Shim, Optimal blank shape design using the initial velocity of
boundary nodes, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 134 (2003) 9298.
[24] A. Vafaeesefat, Optimum blank shape design in sheet metal forming by
boundary projection method, Int. J. Mater. Form. 1 (2008) 189192.
[25] W. Hammami, R. Padmanabhan, M.C. Oliveira, H. BelHadjSalah, J.L. Alves,
L.F. Menezes, A deformation based blank design method for formed parts, Int.
J. Mech. Mater. Des. 5 (2009) 303314.
[26] R. Padmanabhan, M.C. Oliveira, A.J. Baptista, J.L. Alves, L.F. Menezes,Numerical study on the inuence of initial anisotropy on optimal blank shape,
Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 45(2009) 71-80.
[27] M. Azaouzi, H. Naceur, A. Delamezie re, J.L. Batoz, S. Belouettar, An heuristic
optimization algorithm for the blank shape design of high precision metallic
parts obtained by a particular stamping process, Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 44
(2008) 842850.
[28] A. Agrawal, N.V. Reddy, P.M. Dixit, Optimal blank shape prediction considering sheet thickness variation: an upper bound approach, J. Mater. Proc.
Technol. 196 (2008) 249258.
[29] C.T. Lin, C.T. Kwan., Application of abductive network and FEM to predict the
optimal blank contour of an elliptic cylindrical cup from deep drawing, J.
Mater. Proc. Technol. 209 (2009) 13511361.
[30] X.D. Chen, J.H. Yong, G. Wang, J.C. Paul, G. Xu, Computing the minimum
distance between a point and a NURBS curve, Comput.-Aided Des. 40 (2008)
10511054.