International Deep-drawing Research Group IDDRG 2007 International Conference 21-23 May 2007, Győr-Hungary INTEGRATED PROCESS SIMULATION AND DIE-DESIGN IN SHEET METAL FORMING Miklós Tisza * , Zsolt Lukács † and Gaszton G. Gál † * Department of Manufacturing Engineering University of Miskolc 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary e-mail: mettsz@uni-miskolc.hu, web page: http://www.met.uni-miskolc.hu † Metal Forming Division University of Miskolc 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary e-mail: lzsolt@kugli.met.uni-miskolc.hu, web page: http://www.met.uni-miskolc.hu Key words: process simulation, die design, FEM integration Summary. During the recent 10-15 years, Computer Aided Process Planning and Die Design evolved as one of the most important engineering tools in sheet metal forming, particularly in the automotive industry. This emerging role is strongly emphasized by the rapid development of Finite Element Modelling, as well. The purpose of this paper is to give a general overview about the recent achievements in this very important field of sheet metal forming and to introduce some special results in this development activity. Therefore, in this paper, an integrated process simulation and die design system developed at the University of Miskolc, Department of Mechanical Engineering will be analysed. The proposed integrated solutions have great practical importance to improve the global competitiveness of sheet metal forming in the very important segment of industry. The concept described in this paper may have specific value both for process planning and die design engineers. 1. INTRODUCTION In the recent years, the role and importance of metal forming processes in manufacturing industry have been continuously increasing primarily due to its material- and cost-effective nature. It is further emphasised by the recent advances in tools, materials and design, which in turn provide significant improvements in the mechanical properties and tolerances of the products. Moreover, in the recent years metal forming develops in the direction of net-shape or near-net-shape manufacturing to reduce the need for subsequent machining operations and to minimise the total manufacturing cost. Consequently, in metal forming both the process planning and the tool design represent very important and complex tasks. The global competition also requires that manufacturing industry – besides the skill and the experience accumulated in the shop practice – should increasingly utilise proven techniques of Computer Aided Engineering for rapid and cost effective process design and tool manufacturing. The application of various methods of Computer Aided Engineering has become one of the most important topics in manufacturing industries and particularly in the automotive industry.