Analysis of a multi-stage forming operation using ALPID

by Ramnath, Sandhya

This study deals with the analysis of a multi-stage form- ing operation using ALPID. ALPID is a finite ele- ment software package loaded currently on the VAX-INTERGRAPH system. ALPID (Analysis of large plastic incremental deformation) adopts a rigid-plastic /rigid-viscoplastic ap- proach in its analysis of metal flow. The purpose of the study is to form an axisymmetric part by using the following operations: 1. Upsetting. 2. Pot forging. 3. Extrusion. The current version of ALPID does not have a preproces- sor but a postprocessor FEMGRA is available. FEMGRA uses the INTERGRAPH plotting subroutines to output stress con- tours, strain rate contours, effective strain contours, nodal velocities and grid distortions. An interpolation program developed by the author allows for the accumulation of strain over each stage to present a more accurate picture of the deformation.