COUPLED ELECTRICAL-THERMAL MECHANICAL ANALYSIS FOR ELECTRICAL/LASER HEATING ASSISTED BLANKING

A coupled electrical-thermal-mechanical analysis is conducted for electrical/laser heating assisted blanking. Two novel localized-heating methods, electrical heating and laser-heating, recently proposed for small-part blanking, are investigated with FE simulations. Results show that electrical heating would result in an advantageous distribution of temperature in a 316 stainless steel work-material. A desired temperature distribution may also be achievable for a copper work-material,if laser beam is used. Both electrical heating and laser-heating enable to reduce the blanking force and increase the aspect ratio achievable by blanking. The simulation also demonstrates that both electrical heating and laser-heating can result in desired temperature-distributions at sufficiently high heating-rates, ease of implementation and application. Comparatively, electrical heating could generate more favorable temperature distribution for small-part blanking.