USING FEA SIMULATION TO DESIGN MULTI-STAGE MICRO DIES TO FORM STAINLESS STEEL 304 MICRO TUBES

摘要

In this study, a combination of micro laser trim and multi-stage micro deep drawing process was proposed to produce stainless steel 304 micro tubes. In order to validate this idea, a few sets of multi-stage micro dies were designed through the aid of LS-Dyna. However, only the results of the first two sets were provided. Experiments on stainless steel 304 foils with 100 pm and 50 urn thicknesses were conducted to verify the simulation results of the first set. The lessons learned from the first set were used to design the second set of multi-stage micro dies which were verified by simulations only. It was proven that forming micro cups with inner diameter (ID) < 1 mm and the ratio of cup height and ID (CH/ID) > 3 is feasible through the proposed hybrid process. Then, the desired micro tubes can be obtained after the bottom of the cup is trimmed by laser.