These instructions are common for all three benchmarks. This document includes details of the material data files and how they are organized, how to register benchmark participation and submit results. The instructions may also be previewed online prior to downloading.

If there is a time delay from when a participant downloads the files for a specific benchmark and the date they decide to officially register for that benchmark, it is important for them to check “Benchmark Latest News” on the Benchmark homepage prior to registering their participation to be sure that no changes have been made to the benchmark specifications. It should not be necessary to check “Benchmark Latest News” after registering for a specific benchmark participation since notification of updates will be automatically sent to each registered participant, but it is safest to double check for new announcements before submitting final results in case there is some network problem that causes these notifications to be lost.

Deadlines pertinent to the submission of benchmark results are listed on the website under “Important Dates”.

Data and instructions for specific benchmarks are described in the instruction document for each benchmark that can be downloaded from the web page for the specific benchmark. The download files include an Instruction File in Word format, several Standard Material Files in Excel format, and for the two application benchmarks, one or more IGES and NASTRAN files to describe the blank shape, tooling geometry and other features. In addition, a Report File template in Excel format is provided for reporting the results for the benchmark. Additional material properties are also available for downloading as explained below.
 

It is also important to note that the DP 600 material used in Benchmark 2 has different thickness and properties from the DP 600 used in Benchmark 1. These differences can be seen comparing the respective Standard Material Files, BM2_DP600.xls and BM3_DP600.xls.

In order to participate in the Benchmark Study, the participant must notify the Benchmark Analysis Committee by sending an email to the address obtained in “Request To Submit Results”. This request must contain the following information:

1. A designated Primary Contact Person including:

   1. Name:

   2. Organization:

   3. Email address:

   4. Fax and phone number:

2. How many sets of Registration ID's are requested for Benchmark #1:

3. How many sets of Registration ID's are requested for Benchmark #2:

4. How many sets of Registration ID's are requested for Benchmark #3:

5. Any additional people and organizations that are associated with the analysis:

6. Is this a request for ADDITIONAL Registration ID's of a previously registered participant? (Yes/No):
   (If Yes, enter only the additional requested ID's in items 2-4 above.)

7. If you are a previously registered participant and do not intend to submit results using some or all of the assigned Registration ID's numbers, enter the benchmark number and the Registration ID numbers
   that will not be used:

Registration may be done at any time up to one week before the Benchmark Submission Due Date. However, early registration is recommended most importantly because it ensures immediate notification of any changes or other notifications pertinent to the specific benchmarks. These notices will be sent only to the Primary Contact Person. In addition, early registration is useful in planning analysis and conference resources. Registration is considered to only imply an intention to participate, not a commitment to participate and/or attend the conference.

Each participant who registers will be issued by return email a Registration ID number for each benchmark they indicate they intend to submit results. Also, additional numbers will be issued if the participant indicates that they wish to submit more than one set of predictions for the same benchmark, for example using different material models, or different FE codes. The Benchmark Analysis Committee uses the Registration ID’s to manage and classify submitted results. This is the reason for the unique numbers required for each submission.

Note: Each benchmark involves one or two processing conditions and two, three, or four materials. To clarify, there is no need for multiple Registration ID numbers to do a complete set of analyses for all processing conditions and materials for a given benchmark. The need for additional Registration ID numbers arises only if the participants want to use more than one material model, or other numerical variation of the analysis. It is expected that each submission will use the same procedure and will be complete for all materials and processing conditions specified in the benchmark with all fields completed in the Benchmark Report File template.

Participants may request additional Registration ID’s for the same benchmark at a later date through another “Request To Submit Results”, but the second time indicating only the additional number of analyses they intend to submit for each benchmark. However, to avoid duplication of notices to the Primary Contact Person or group, the request should identify the same Primary Contact Person and mention that this is a request for additional ID’s. Also, the Primary Contact Person (only) is encouraged to use “Request To Submit Results” to notify the Benchmark Analysis Committee by email that they do not intend to use one or more of the specific benchmark Registration ID numbers that have been issued to them. The email should indicate both the benchmark number and the registration numbers that will not be used.

Results are to be reported using the Benchmark Report File template that is included in the download for the specific benchmark:

The participant must copy the requested results from their analyses into the appropriate cells of the Benchmark Report File and rename the file replacing “TMP” with the Registration ID. For example, if the participant registers to provide two analyses for Benchmark #1 using two different material models and is provided Registration ID numbers 007 and 008, then the Benchmark Report File must be copied and renamed as:

The Primary Contact Person must submit the completed Benchmark Report File by email to the Benchmark Registration Contact on or before the Benchmark Submission Due Date. To avoid the potential of data capacity limits or other problems, each Benchmark Report must be attached in a separate email. Results (as well as other communications above) will only be accepted from the Primary Contact Person.

If the file size of the Benchmark Report is too large to be sent by email in a non-compressed form due to server restrictions, the participant may zip the file prior to attaching it to the email. If the file is compressed, it is necessary to rename the file by stripping suffixes, “.xls” and “.zip” from the file after zipping. In the above example, the two files may be submitted in zipped form in individual emails with the attached files named as follows, respectively. It is requested that the files not be zipped if it is possible to send the larger files. The lack of the “.xls” suffix is sufficient to indicate that the file is zipped.

When entering the data in the requested cells of the Report File Excel spreadsheet, the participants must follow these additional general guidelines:

1. Do not rename the worksheets, relocate cells or otherwise alter the structure of the Report File. The Benchmark Analysis Committee will rely on this fixed format for efficient data analysis, graphing, and other processing.

2. Do not insert additional data in unused cells or add graphs to the Report File. If participants want to create their own graphs of their results or do their own analysis in other cells of the Excel spreadsheet, these additions should be done in a copy of the Report File rather than the file to be submitted to the Benchmark Analysis Committee.

3. Enter the number of points used for each requested distribution in the indicated column of ROW 10 above each distribution in the spreadsheet. The Benchmark Analysis Committee uses this information to efficiently include all of the participant’s results in the analysis.

4. Carefully check the list of data required for the specific benchmark in the Benchmark Instructions File to be certain that all data fields are completed in the spreadsheet. Depending on the screen settings/resolution, it is possible that not all of the data entry fields are visible at one time.

5. Enter one of the following indices in Column B to the right of the material name under Yield Surface on the General Information worksheet. If the yield surface is not listed, enter “0” in Column B and describe the yield surface model in the Remarks Section at the bottom of the worksheet.

Any files not following these instructions will be returned for correction. The Benchmark Analysis Committee will make every effort to include all submissions in their study and report that are received before the Benchmark Submission Due Date. However, since each submission will be treated as a Read-Only file, any modifications required to satisfy the above requirements are expected to be made by the participants in a timely manner to meet the committee’s deadlines.