Forgive the simple question, but while I am experienced in general structural FEA, I have never analyzed nonlinear sheet metal forms. I need to assess the fatigue life of a piece of spring steel that will be initially formed into a particular shape, and then cycled around that deformed shape X times over its life. This is a new one for me.
Any hints as to how I might approach this in Simulation? Can shell elements handle such a problem? I would hope so, but the bending component worries me. Forget the cylic problem for now -- I'd just like to get a good first crack at the process of plastically deforming a piece of spring steel from a normalized state into a "product" state. Hints?
Thanks,
jim andrews
