Abstract
The U-draw bending operation is known as a representative test method for springback evaluation of sheet metals since the sheet in U-draw bending operation undergoes stretching, bending and unbending deformations occurred at the stamping process. In this study, a simplified approach was proposed for predicting springback and side-wall curls of tailor-welded blank in U-draw bending operations, using moment-curvature relationships derived for sheets undergoing stretching, bending and unbending deformation. Two different welded strips were adopted to compare the effects of weld-line locations on the springback. One (type A) was welded along the centerline of the strip-width and the other (type B) was welded along the centerline of the strip-length. To investigate the effect of different thickness combination on the springback, the tailor-welded strips were joined by the laser welding process and consisted of three types of thickness combinations of sheets, SCP1 0.8t * SCP1 1.2t, SCP1 0.8t * SCP1 1.6t and SCP1 0.8t * TRIP 1.0t. Some calculated results by the simplified formula were compared with experimental results.