On the cutting edge of FEA

FEA has been useful in evaluating designs. Now it's finding more ways to improve manufacturing. Engineers at Jagemann Stamping use CosmosWorks FEA to improve the operation of the company's thread-crimping die. The die crimps and threads a part loaded on a punch. Jagemann Stamping stress analyzed a pickup punch used in progressive dies. The punch cracked at an antirotation feature. Geometry that lowered the strain in the part solved the cracking problem. The underside of a manhole-cover model from LeBaron Foundry shows simulation constraints around the edge. Changing the geometry, such as the rib count, let company engineers find a lighter weight cover that exceeds government safety specs. Engineers at Guill Tool & Engineering developed a velocity profile (velocities at exit are shown) using CosmosFloWorks fluid-flow software (top). The profile guided the design of the company's 200 Series large-pipe die (bottom). Mention finite-element analysis to most engineers and they think of stresses and structures in traditional design work. The future of the technology, however, lies more with nonconventional structures such as the cutting edge of tools, predicting the behavior of unfamiliar materials, or providing a look inside complex tooling assemblies. Manufacturers using FEA say the combination of 3D CAD with an analysis package lets them quickly change models and see results shortly thereafter. What's more, some say they devise several ways to fabricate a product and then analyze them. In effect, simulation programs let them develop virtual stamping, milling, and extrusion machines that don't tie up production equipment. It is, they say, the future of finite-element analysis. A manufacturer of deep-drawn metal-stamping equipment simulates manufacturing to identify and troubleshoot tooling problems