Incremental sheet forming

About: Incremental sheet forming is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 877 publications have been published within this topic receiving 13132 citations.

Review on the influence of process parameters in incremental sheet forming

Abstract: Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a relatively new flexible forming process. ISF has excellent adaptability to conventional milling machines and requires minimum use of complex tooling, dies and forming press, which makes the process cost-effective and easy to automate for various applications. In the past two decades, extensive research on ISF has resulted in significant advances being made in fundamental understanding and development of new processing and tooling solutions. However, ISF has yet to be fully implemented to mainstream high-value manufacturing industries due to a number of technical challenges, all of which are directly related to ISF process parameters. This paper aims to provide a detailed review of the current state-of-the-art of ISF processes in terms of its technological capabilities and specific limitations with discussions on the ISF process parameters and their effects on ISF processes. Particular attention is given to the ISF process parameters on the formability, deformation and failure mechanics, springback and accuracy and surface roughness. This leads to a number of recommendations that are considered essential for future research effort.

Research and Progress in Incremental Sheet Forming Processes

Abstract: Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is an emerging metal-forming technology in which the tool motion is controlled numerically. The process is economical to form complex parts in small to medium batches and provides a short and inexpensive way of forming products having a relatively simple but interesting shape. In this article, a review of the present state-of-the-art technologies and the potential applications of incremental sheet metal forming are presented in brief. This article seeks to address the approaches and methods that are prevalently applied. Furthermore, the article also seeks to guide researchers for future work, by identifying inadequacies of the current approaches and potential for valuable contributions in the field of incremental forming.

Improved SPIF performance through dynamic local heating

Abstract: The limited accuracy of the single point incremental forming process [J. Jeswiet, F. Micari, G. Hirt, A. Bramley, J. Duflou, J. Allwood, Asymmetric single point incremental forming of sheet metal, Annals of CIRP 54(2) (2005) 623–650] has been identified as its major deficiency [J.M. Allwood, G.F. King, J. Duflou, A structured search for applications of the Incremental Sheet Forming process by product segmentation, Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Part B, Journal of Engineering Manufacture 219(2) (2005) 239–244]. Improving the process by introducing either fixed [J.R. Duflou, B. Lauwers, J. Verbert, F. Gelaude, Y. Tunckol, Medical application of single point incremental forming: cranial plate manufacturing, in: Proceedings of the VRAP 2006 Conference, Leiria, September 2006, pp. 161–166] or programmable support structures [J.M. Allwood, N.E. Houghton, K.P. Jackson, The design of an incremental sheet forming machine, in: Proceedings of the Shemet 2005 Conference, Erlangen, April 2005, pp. 471–478; H. Meier, O. Dewald, J. Zhang, incremental forming of sheet metal by two industrial robots, in: AMST’05 Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technology 2005, vol. 486, Springer, Wien, New York, pp. 437–444], tends to reduce the flexibility of the process and increases the complexity of the control system. In the presented research, the authors have opted for an alternative approach in which the material properties are differentiated by localised temperature variations. In this way, different zones can be created in the sheet metal part being processed. By means of a dynamic heat, input in the direct vicinity of the stylus, a ductile area with low-yield strength is generated. By synchronising the movement of the heat source over the sheet metal surface with the stylus feed rate and direction, and by using appropriate cooling of the surrounding area, a temperature gradient can be assured between this area and the workpiece zone where no deformation is envisaged. Effects of such strategy are reduced forces on the stylus and, in consequence, a better localised deformation and thus a higher precision. Furthermore, higher forming limit angles have been demonstrated for materials with low strainability at room temperature. An experimental setup has been built to test this dynamic, local heating principle and is described in the paper. The effects on the process performance are demonstrated by means of experimental results.