Abstract: In the context of explicit finite element simulation, calculation of frictional contact between sheet metal and tools in metal forming is discussed. A new contact searching algorithm is proposed, and nonlinear frictional law is employed to calculate the frictional force. To avoid reduction of critical time step size due to the penalty parameter for contact force calculation, a local density factor is introduced. Numerical experiments arc carried out to verify the validity and efficiency of the methods.

Key words: CAE, Finite element, Metal forming, Tools