A new sheet metal forming system based on incremental punching, part 2: machine building and experiment results

Abstract

The paper is the second of the two papers on a new sheet metal forming system of incremental punching. In the first paper, the mechanics model is introduced, and the computer simulations are carried out. This paper consists of two parts: the design and building of an incremental punching machine and experiment results. The machine is a three-axis computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine with a high-speed hydraulic punching head. Given a part, the punch path can be generated using commercial CAM systems with some modifications. Then, the machine takes over forming the part punch by punch. The formability of this system is also investigated giving the maximum forming angle. Following the first paper, two examples are studied in details. The experiment results indicate that the new system is effective for sheet metal rapid prototyping. Finally, some future research topics are discussed.