Numerical simulation and experiment research on forming of two-step channel based on rubber pad pressing

Rubber pad pressing is one of advanced materials processing technologies. With the cooperation of both rubber pad and metal mold, the plate is accurately formed into the required shape. Not only the surface of the plate remains a good quality but also the springback is substantially reduced. In this paper, a new kind of two-step channel formed by the rubber pad pressing is researched. Both convex and concave metal molds are considered in the researches. All kinds of geometrical parameters like channel width, edge fillet, depth ratio, and second-step shape are discussed in this paper. In order to obtain a good two-step channel by rubber pad pressing, both FEM and real pressing experiments are done. Based on both FEM and experiment results, channel can be formed by rubber pad pressing with both convex and concave molds. The plate formed by convex mold can be better than that formed by the concave one.