DOE Approach for THF Process to Reduce Number of FEA Simulations through LCRSM.

The manufacturing process of hydro formed parts is in direct relevance to engineers attempting to build some aircraft and automobile parts. A newly proposed design of experiments technique was presented to predict the protrusion height of “Tee-shaped” hydroformed parts. Low Cost Response Surface Method (LCRSM) was utilized to facilitate the economical prediction and optimization of this height as a function of geometrical parameters subject to thinning of the wall thickness at the protrusion region. The same methodology is also proposed for the economical investigation of other geometries and conditions. As a result of this study, not only were known and expected trends of effect of parameters verified, but also numerical values within a practical range of parameters at certain conditions were obtained. In addition, interactions between factors were also revealed as predicted. Moreover, this information was gained from a substantially reduced number of finite element analysis simulations through low cost response surface method compared to standard response surface method or factorial techniques, avoiding costly physical experimentation.