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A simultaneous Design/Process/Material engineering approach for the analysis of automotive structural cross member designs is presented. It is shown that it is possible at the product design stages to evaluate i. forming severity, ii. blank shape and nestability, iii. spotting requirements, and iv. structural analysis based on yield stress and thickness distributions after forming. The approach allows the reduction of material content in the part (by nesting and possible weight reduction), a better estimate of part performance during stamping, the evaluation of the effect of the material properties, the construction of the blanking die at the same time as production form tooling, and the reduction of a significant portion of the product design/manufacturing cycle. A production cross member is used to validate the approach. The production cross member information also served as a basis for a new prototype cross member.

Blank holder design, set-up and maintenance are crucial for successful stamping of sheet metal parts. Educated spotting as well as adjustment of the appropriate levels of blank holder forces at the different contact areas is a complex process involving the interaction of die design, die making, prototyping and set-up. The response of the part to a blank holder set-up depends on the type of press and the source of blank holder action. A finite difference based microcomputer program CUPDRW will be used to illustrate the effect of the type of blank holder and its set-up on the formability of circular drawn shells. A methodology is also presented in this work for the design of blankholders and its set-up for complex parts formed under drawing conditions. It has been recognized by the industry that control of process and material windows is a prerequisite to the production of quality parts.