Optimization design of stamping die for large-size three-dimensional curved thick plate

Stamping is a highly efficient and precise way to fabricate metal plates with complex shapes, commonly used in practical engineering. Lowering the weight of die components is essential to reduce manufacturing and operational costs. Despite using a single topology optimization process, the previous study experienced difficulty in gaining the optimal structural configurations and their specific dimensions while considering structural performance and die weight. Therefore, a three-phase optimization procedure is proposed, namely model preparation, conceptual design, and detailed design. Firstly, using the proposed node-to-node load mapping strategy, the history of the load distribution across the die face is transferred to multiple loading cases in static analysis models. Then, the solid isotropic microstructure with penalization (SIMP) method based topology optimization is employed to achieve better structural configurations. Finally, a multiple-surrogate-models-based size optimization approach is implemented to obtain the specific dimensions. Applications on stamping die for large-size three-dimensional curved thick plate were conducted. The results showed that topology optimization could deliver more efficient structural configurations, which reduced the weight of the upper die, restrike punch, and lower die by 22.6%, 48.7%, and 39.9%, respectively, while still meeting most of the performance requirements. Furthermore, after size optimization, an increase of the restrike punch weight by 22% was obtained to meet the performance constraints, while the upper and lower dies had a further reduction in weight of 19.1% and 8% without violating the performance constraints. Therefore, the proposed optimization procedure is verified to be effective in reducing the die weights while meeting all performance requirements.