Desenvolvimento de um programa de planificação de chapas metálicas utilizando linguagem VBA

Abstract

The bending process is highly used by the industry due to its low cost and simplicity in the process. This process has wide applications in the automotive, aerospace, civil construction, shipbuilding, etc. However, defining parameters to understand project specifications is becoming increasingly complex. This work has as main objective to develop a sheet metal planning application using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) language. Determining a more accurate flattened sheet measure will help metallurgical industries when it comes to process, manufacturing, and cost over those products that require a high level of accuracy. The bending process requires considering the elastic recovery of the material (springback), in order having the exact dimensions of the folded part. Springback is a critical issue associated with bending accuracy and remains a challenge for many researchers in sheet forming techniques. Due to this springback, the neutral line ends up moving along the cross section of the plate. The K factor is the ratio of the position of the neutral surface to the thickness of the material. The adjustment of the K factor is determined empirically and is directly linked to the processes involved in manufacturing. For this work, the planning calculation methodology will be the same used by the Solidworks software. Throughout the results presented, it can be concluded that the developed application presents results equivalent to the real one only for folded profiles whose bending angles are equal to 90°. In order to adapt the results to the different values of α, it is necessary to make a more indepth study through an experimental and analytical way.