Simulating the Forming of Thermoplastic, Fibre Reinforced Plastics - Demonstrated for a Side Impact Protection Beam

The aim of this study is the derivation of optimal forming parameters for a realistic simulation of the forming processes using fibre reinforced thermoplastics. To do this, at first, existing solutions for the thermoplastic prepreg forming simulation are introduced and compared with the results obtained by the PAM-FORM software used for these studies. In the second step, modelling and simulation are demonstrated for a side impact protection beam. The derivation of the geometry variants from the available forming die is described, and the simulation modelling approach is defined. Additional simulation models are subjected to a sensitivity analysis, and the influence of individual parameters, such as the meshing type and the material properties, is determined. The results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrate that the simulation of the shear angle is very robust due to the variation of all parameters. So the accuracy of the simulated shear angle is not strongly affected by the choice of the forming parameters, whereby an adequate information about the formability of the blank onto the die geometry can be obtained. However, the type of die meshing and the choice of the friction coefficient has a huge influence on the stresses within the blank as well as the thickness of the blank.