Patent ID: 7415400

Claim:
A computer implemented method of designing a tool used to form a part, the method comprising: receiving final desired dimensions of the part; simulating the tool used to form the part with a finite element model of the tool; simulating the part, the simulation including residual internal forces at an intermediate stage of the formation of the part; identifying one or more mesh node locations on the simulated part that correspond to one or more mesh node locations on the simulated tool respectively, and thereafter modifying the finite element model of the tool to account for the residual internal forces at the intermediate stage of the part such that the residual internal forces deform the part to the final desired dimensions, thereby compensating for springback deviation resulting from any of the residual internal forces; wherein the compensation is initially applied in a normal direction to each element of one or more of the finite element models, and wherein the compensation is subsequently applied only in a stroke direction if the initial compensation is unsatisfactory.