Optimization of the UltraSTEEL dimpling forming process for energy absorption

The UltraSTEEL dimpling forming process forms plain steel sheets into dimpled steel sheets, which have higher energy absorption performance. The energy absorption performance of dimpled products can be further improved through optimizing the forming depth in the UltraSTEEL process. In this paper, forming depths have been optimized through numerical simulations. Explicit dynamics finite element simulations were carried out to analyze the effect of forming depth on material properties as well as the effect of geometry on energy absorption separately. It has been found that yield strengths are maximized when the forming depth is approximately 1mm, and the energy absorption performance is optimized when the forming depth is approximately 0.9 times of the gauge thickness.