Geometric estimation of strains in car body panels

The thesis focuses on the manufacture of car body panels at Austin Rover and in particular the phenomenon of spring-back. After pressing of a shallow drawn panel its shape is often flatter than required. This loss of shape control corresponds to areas of small strains. The aim of the thesis is to describe the generation of a database of small strain information at discrete points on a drawn panel, which could be used in the numerical modelling of the drawing process. [Continues.]