The simulation of sheet metal forming processes via integrating solid-shell element with explicit finite element method

Solid-shell elements can be seen as a class of typical double-surfaced shell elements with no rational degrees of freedom, which are more suitable for analyzing double-sided contact problems than conventional shell elements. In this study, a solid-shell finite element model is implemented into the explicit finite element software ABAQUS/Explicit as a user-defined element, through which the sheet metal forming processes are simulated. The main feature of this finite element model is that the solid-shell element formulation is embedded into an explicit finite element procedure, compared to the previous studies on the solid-shell elements under the implicit finite element framework. To obtain a straightforward element, a complete integration scheme is adopted. No loss of generality, a twelve-parameter enhance assumed strain method is employed to improve the element’s behavior. Two benchmarks from the NUMISHEET conference and a U-channel roll-forming process are simulated with this explicit solid-shell finite element model. The calculated results are comparable with experimental and numerical results presented in the literatures.