Metal forming is the act of bending/squeezing/pressing metal into the right shape. The governing equations are those of solid mechanics and plasticity, by which the metal "flows" into the right shape. In some sense, this is similar to a non-Newtonian fluid.

Unlike in fluid dynamics, however, the mathematical modelling in metal forming is decades old. There are no dimensionless parameters used, and very little use of asymptotics or other approximations. There are no simple analytic models to validate numerics against. There is not even an obvious set of governing equations to write down! My current quest is to change this (or run out of funding trying).

In this talk, I will describe the simplest possible metal forming process I can come up with; the metal forming equivalent of incompressible inviscid flow around a cylinder. The process is sheet metal rolling, and I will describe my group's attempts at modelling this process using techniques that should be familiar to most fluid dynamicists. In so doing, I will show an interesting effect that we found that was previously unknown, and could have major ramifications in industry.