In the field of stamping, the PSA group relies on a numerical approach for the design and optimization of its processes. AutoForm software, world leading in die face design and sheet metal forming simulation, has been used by PSA Peugeot Citroën for more than 12 years in France, and more recently in China and Brazil. AutoForm solutions are important in the evaluation of the feasibility of the forming processes and in their numerical final validation; hence, these solutions help to reduce the lead time and costs of the development, tryout and production.

The new user interface of AutoFormplus allows for the management of standards. Generally speaking, standards can be defined for the entire simulation for either in-house use by OEMs or external use by suppliers. Standards can be defined for material parameters, process or simulation setup and results analysis.

At PSA Peugeot Citroën, this new feature has immediately proven to be of interest. Indeed, Joël De Oliveira, Stamping Process Simulation Specialist, stated: “At PSA Peugeot Citroën, the ‘standards‘ feature in AutoForm^plus R5 makes it possible for us to optimally communicate with our suppliers. It helps us to improve our productivity and efficiency.”

AutoForm’s philosophy regarding standards addresses two use cases. On the one hand, it allows the presetting of the parameters which are to be considered as standards; thus, these standards will immediately be identified in the case of a modification. In this case, the aim is to respect the PSA Peugeot Citroën references throughout the whole process development, in both in-house and external departments. On the other hand, it is also possible to set default values, consistent with PSA Peugeot Citroën know-how, in order to facilitate and speed up the data setup; however, the user has some leeway for modification during simulation iterations. The idea is to favor a robust setup configuration for the first simulations and then to refine that setup configuration by optimizing the parameters which have already been set.

This first use case (Figure 1) illustrates a general creation of standards in the AutoForm^plus interface. Here, the wall angle at 12° and the die radius at 6 mm are defined as standards; hence, the remaining parameters are default parameters.

Should the initial parameter change, the name of the page and the name of the parameter will be displayed in yellow. The setup parameters which do not correspond to the standards are immediately displayed: ‘Addendum‘ page, wall angle 15° and die radius 8 mm. Once the parameters are identified, it is possible to easily reset them to the standard value.

The second use case (Figure 2) shows a general application of the ‘standards‘ feature in order to define the acceptable minimal and maximal limits, such as for instance +0,03 mm and -0,25 mm for the sheet thickness variation (result variable ‘Thinning‘). At the end of the simulation, the applied standards are automatically taken into account to visualize the results within the requested range of values. The critical areas are immediately identified and the areas outside the acceptable range are displayed in light grey or black.

The usage and management of individual company standards provided by AutoForm’s new product line has immediately proven to be of interest at PSA Peugeot Citroën. With this new option, AutoForm ensures that work undertaken is consistent and in compliance with the norms and standards of each organization.

Published in Métal industries – April/May 2014