Springback analysis in hybrid material deformation

In the automotive and aerospace industries, cost and overall weight are major opponents that are affecting design opportunities. Research to investigate possible cost and weight reduction methods is continuously being performed focusing especially on the hybrid materials being used to manufacture parts. Currently, different types of metals with polymers are being chosen to make punched parts, but the deformation of the materials has not been fully investigated. The way that the material deforms will dictate the material properties held by the subsequent parts. Without knowing these material properties, it is difficult to prevent manufacturing problems during various processes. One major problem encountered when forming solid metal parts is that when the die is removed, the deformed parts change shape due to the elastic properties of the material. This shape change is called springback. This undesirable result causes the parts to be the incorrect shape and to not align correctly during assembly. One possible solution would be to investigate the material properties of trilayer hybrid materials consisting of metal and composite layers adjoined by adhesive. Trilayer channels will be tested by punching and measuring the resulting springback. Two different trilayer design setups will be tested, composite metal composite sandwich and metal composite metal sandwich, and will be compared with the deformation in a single layer metal channel. The outcome of these tests will determine which trilayer design will have the greatest success in reducing the undesirable springback effects.