The AutoForm previously used the membrane element and it accomplished sheet metal forming analysis. The membrane analysis has been widely applied to various sheet metal forming processes because of its time effectiveness. However, it is well-known that the membrane analysis can not provide correct information for the processes which have considerable bending effects. In this research experimental results were compared with the analysis results obtained by using the shell element which is applied newly in the AutoForm commercial software. The shell element is a compromise element between continuum element and membrane element. The Finite element method by using shell element is the most efficient numerical method. From this research, it is known that FEA by using shell element can predict accurately the problems happened in actual experimental auto-body panel.
