Modeling Springback of Metal-Polymer-Metal Laminates

Metal-polymer-metal laminate is an emerging material that has many potential applications. The laminated structure consists of two outer layers of sheet metal and a polymeric center core. The material offers excellent sound deadening properties and is being introduced to applications where noise reduction is desired. Part manufacturing for laminates involves converting a flat sheet into a deformed body. Springback has been a major concern in shape control. While bending of a single layered sheet metal does not exhibit significant sidewall curl, the problem is pronounced in bending laminates. This paper presents an analytical approach to predict springback and sidewall curl of laminates due to wiper die bending. Based on the integration of a straight beam and a curved beam models, the springback factor $Ks$ is calculated. It is shown that the prediction is in good agreement with the published experimental data. Application of the integrated model to minimize the springback and side wall curl is demonstrated. The analytical model leads to a simple expression that predicts the springback factor. The ability to predict the shape analytically is significant, since other methods require extensive finite element simulation of the deformation process.