This paper introduces a new technique for deep drawing of elliptic cups through a conical die without
blank holder or draw beads. In this technique an elliptic-cup is produced by pushing a circular blank
using a flat-headed elliptic punch through a conical die with an elliptic aperture in a single stroke. A 3D
parametric finite element (FE) model was built using the commercial FE-package ANSYS/APDL. Effects
of die and punch geometry including, half-cone angle, die fillet radius, die aperture length and punch
fillet radius on limiting drawing ratio (LDR), drawing load and thickness strain of the cup have been
investigated numerically for optimal process design. A die with half cone angle of 18◦ has shown the best
drawability for the new technique. An experimental set-up has been designed, manufactured, and used
for experimental production of elliptical shaped sheet-metal cups. A total of seven punches having aspect
ratios ranging from 2 to 2.25 and a die with an aspect ratio of 2 have been manufactured and used. Tensile
tests were carried out to obtain the stress–strain behavior for the formed sheet metal. Experiments were
conducted on blanks of brass (CuZn33) with initial thicknesses of 1.5, 1.9, 2.4 and 3 mm at different
clearance ratios (c/t). Effects of blank thickness and clearance ratio on limiting drawing ratio, drawing
load and thickness strain were numerically and experimentally investigated. Finite element model results
showed good agreement with experimental results. An elliptic cup with a limiting drawing ratio (LDR)
of 2.28 has been successfully achieved using the proposed technique and set-up.