Deakin showcases 3D sheet metal forming at Numisheet 2014

Deakin has played a key role in organising Numisheet 2014, the 9^th International Conference and Workshop on Numerical Simulation 3D Sheet Metal Forming Processes.

Held in Melbourne from 6-10 January, the world class forum was hosted for the first time in the southern hemisphere, where it was attended by almost 300 delegates.

The conference featured industry keynote speakers from such global leaders as Boeing, Alcoa, Ford, AutoForm Engineering, WISCO and KIMS. It also challenged participants prior to the conference to predict the results of specified manufacturing processes, in four benchmark projects.

Professor of Applied Mechanics and Joint Head of Advanced Manufacturing at Deakin, Professor Jeong Whan Yoon, who joined Deakin in July 2013, chaired the Numisheet organising committee, while Professor Peter Hodgson from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials, and Professor John Beynon from the University of Adelaide were co-chairs.

“This conference was a great success,” said Professor Yoon. “It allowed us to showcase Deakin’s work in this field and it aligned perfectly with our research work in metal forming and numerical modelling.”

Professor Yoon said that Numisheet was particularly successful in drawing almost ninety per cent of delegates from overseas, with over 25 per cent representing industry. He explained that this attendance reflected the breadth of materials and applications of the technology, ranging from aerospace, to automotive, software and packaging.

During the conference Professor Yoon was unanimously re-elected as Chair of the Numisheet Steering Committee, which he will lead for the next three years, until the next conference in 2016.

The delegates explored current challenges in sheet metal forming, including investigating new manufacturing techniques, as well as issues related to prediction, limit states and failure, constitutive issues and multiscale modelling.

They were also given the opportunity to inspect Deakin’s facilities, with 72 undertaking a tour of the Technical Precinct at Waurn Ponds on the final day of the conference.