ENABLING COIL-DATA RESPONSIVE FORMING VIA DRAW-IN MONITORING AND GLOBAL CONTROL PARAMETER TUNING

Variability of mechanical properties in steel sheet materials is expected—according to current scientific discussions—to be affected by the transition to CO₂-neutral steelmaking, although the degree and nature of this effect remain subjects of ongoing research. This anticipated variability arises not only from differences in the metallurgical processes associated with alternative production routes—such as increased scrap content or specific implementations of ironmaking processes—but also from the asynchronous adoption of these technologies across steel producers. As a result, materials produced via different routes may all conform to the same grade specification while exhibiting a broader scatter in forming behavior.Industrial sheet metal forming processes are typically developed and optimized using finite element simulations, which assume idealized control conditions. In these virtual environments, evaluation of the effect of blank holder force (BHF) on draw-in behavior, as well as on the risk of forming cracks or buckles, consistently indicates that the process is fully responsive and controllable through this global parameter. When material variability is introduced into the simulations, the predicted outcomes suggest that its influence can be effectively mitigated by adjusting the BHF alone—reinforcing the notion that global process parameters can be used to compensate for material scatter. In reality, however, industrial forming processes often deviate from these assumptions. Some processes exhibit full or partial insensitivity to global control parameters such as BHF, with local tuning—typically through equalizer block adjustments—required to mitigate defects and maintain part quality.