Investigation on process parameters affecting blanking of AISI 1006 low carbon steel

A blanking apparatus was designed and built in order to study the effects of the process parameters on blanking low carbon steel disks, with particular reference to the study of punch-die gap influence and Brozzo's damage criterion by keeping punch and die fillet radii constant. The goal of the shearing tests was to optimize the gap between punch and die, according to the material damage and the force curves obtained by experimental tests. By using a 2D axis-symmetry FE model, the authors studied a set of parameters in order to reduce damage. After studying the material damage by a first simulation series, a second series was carried out in order to evaluate the punch-die gap effects on force-stroke trend; good results in term of external surface finish were obtained in the geometry of the final workpiece.