Numerical validation of an optimized cooling system for hot stamping die

Abstract

Numerical analysis of hot stamping process is very complex mainly due to thermomechanical processes involved. Many variables such as heat transfer coefficient, density, young modulus and other thermal parameters are temperature and pressure dependent. The paper presents results of CFD analysis on the near optimized cooling system of hot stamping die for automotive structural part. By using actual parameters obtained from the industry production line, this research is aimed at comparing the performance of actual cooling system with the results obtained by CFD simulation using commercial software. The die and blank were modelled as 3D volume mesh in a closed position thus ignoring blank history data prior to stamping operation. Temperature distribution representing hardness of the simulated final part is an agreement with the QA data of the actual part thus showing viability of this method to be used in cooling system design.