An experimental study is described in which active drawbead technology is used to attempt to optimize the sheet metal forming process. Non-axisymmetric AA 6111-T4 panels were drawn in a series of tests using various drawbead trajectories. The selection of drawbead trajectory has a dramatic effect on maximum attainable draw depth at fracture. Increasing drawbead penetration from zero to 5 mm in the early stages of the drawing process and retracting midway through the draw resulted in a 40 percent increase in draw depth compared to using a fixed 5 mm penetration.
