Collaborative Research: An Approach for Model Validation in Simulating Sheet Metal Forming Processes

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

0084477 Chen Model-Based Simulation (MBS) has provided designers with flexible and cheaper means to explore design alternatives before physical part deployment. However, question of the confidence level on a particular model considering the full range of uncertainties in prediction and in physical tests has hampered wide applications, especially when dealing with real-life engineering problems. This collaborative research represents the joint efforts from two universities and General Motors for the development of a rigorous and practical approach for model validation (Model Validation via Uncertainty Propagation -- MVUP). The approach will utilize the knowledge of system variations along with computationally efficient uncertainty propagation techniques to provide a stochastic assessment of the validity of a modeling approach. The proposed methodology will be demonstrated through validating the simulation models for sheet metal forming processes. The research is expected to lead to a model validation procedure that can provide a general-purpose stochastic assessment of model validity with the least amount of statistical assumptions and possibly one physical experiment. The research results developed will have an immediate impact on simulating springback in sheet metal forming process. It is our expectation that it can be generalized to other engineering problems and will make a significant impact on how we view numerical simulations by considering all the physical and numerical uncertainties. The research results will also contribute to the development of new courses on model-based simulation, modeling and optimization of manufacturing processes, and uncertainty analysis in engineering design. This collaborative research between University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University is funded under NSF 00-26, Exploratory Research on Model-Based Simulation. ***