Rigid-plastic reproducing kernel particle method for three-dimensional bulk metal forming with arbitrarily-shaped dies

The meshless method is applied to the analysis of three-dimensional(3D) bulk forming processes.On the basis of rigid-plastic flow formulation,the fundamental theories and basic equations for the three-dimensional rigid-plastic reproducing kernel particle method(RKPM) are developed.In order to improve the generality and automation of the meshless simulation system,arbitrarily-shaped die surfaces are represented by triangular elements and a three-dimensional non-linear contact treatment algorithm is given.The meshless simulation of 3D bulk forming with arbitrarily-shaped dies is realized.Forging of a square block with a hemispherical punch is simulated.The numerical results are compared with finite element ones.The effectiveness of the developed methods is demonstrated.