Incremental Sheet Forming
Kathryn Jackson1st December 2005
Overview
• What is ISF?• Why is ISF potentially very useful?• Why is ISF not more widely applied already?• What are my research projects?
1. What is ISF?
Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is metal forming by a progression of
localised deformation
y
zx
Tooling and Workpiece Support
2. Why is ISF potentially very useful?
Why sheet metal forming?• A practical way to form a thin 3D shell
Why sheet metal forming?• Metal properties are desirable for many
applications
Why sheet metal forming?
Sheet Metal Applications
Why choose ISF over other sheet metal forming processes?
Pressing
Stamping
Deep drawingSpinning
Flow forming
Hydroforming
Peen forming
Incremental sheet forming
Laser forming
Evaluation of ISF
Economic
EcologicalMechanical
Mechanical Evaluation of ISFMin Requirement Max Requirement
Maximum dimension 20mm 5m
Surface finish ‘good’ ‘Very good’
Wall angle 0o 90o
Geometric tolerance 0.5mm 5mm
Minimum feature radius 1mm 50mm
Sheet thickness 0.4mm 3mm
Mechanical evaluation shows overlap of process window with typical requirements is good
Economic Evaluation of ISF
Cost per product or speed per product
Batch size
~200 to 1200 parts
Processes requiring dies (stamping, deep drawing)
Incremental sheet forming
Economic viability for small batch sizes
Economic Evaluation of ISF
Medical
Repair/replacementDecorative
Architectural
Industrial
Personalisation
Possible Applications
Ecological Evaluation of ISF
✔✔Smaller machines
✔Lower forming forces
✔✔Reworking instead of reprocessing or scrapping
✔Localised production –reduction of transportation
✔✔No die required
Materials savings
Energy savings
ISF has strong ecological advantages
Summary of Evaluation
ISF is potentially a very useful sheet metal forming process….
….But there is hardly any application in industry already
3. Why is ISF not more widely applied already?
Why?
In reality the ‘optimum’ mechanical capabilities are usually not achieved
Major Challenges for ISF• There is a complicated interaction between the
process design and process capabilities, which means the process is usually not optimised
• Accuracy relies on complicated tool path optimisation or expensive workpiece support
• Machinery and tooling design restrict the ‘design space’
• Not well known
4. What are my research projects?
ISF Research at the IfM4. Flexible support of the workpiece1. Tool force and geometry prediction
y
zx
2. Sandwich panel forming
3. Real time process control using force feedback
5. Design of the ‘ideal’ incremental sheet forming machine
Thank you!
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