Abstract
Nowadays the customer requirements are in permanent changing and according with them the tendencies in the modern industry is to implement flexible manufacturing processes. In the last decades, metal forming gained attention of the researchers and considerable changes has occurred. Because for a small number of parts, the conventional metal forming processes are expensive and time-consuming in terms of designing and manufacturing preparation, the manufacturers and researchers became interested in flexible processes. One of the most investigated flexible processes in metal forming is incremental sheet forming (ISF). ISF is an advanced flexible manufacturing process which allows to manufacture complex 3D products without expensive dedicated tools. In most of the cases it is needed for an ISF process the following: a simple tool, a fixing device for sheet metal blank and a universal CNC machine. Using this process it can be manufactured axis-symmetric parts, usually using a CNC lathe but also complex asymmetrical parts using CNC milling machines, robots or dedicated equipment. This paper aim to present the current status of incremental sheet forming technologies in terms of process parameters and their influences, wall thickness distribution, springback effect, formability, surface quality and the current main research directions.
Highlights
In the last few decades, the competition between the product manufacturers becomes increasingly tighter
Based on the shape of the manufactured part, the ISF can be [4] : x symmetric incremental forming (SIF) - for axis-symmetric manufactured parts; x asymmetric incremental sheet forming (AISF) –for asymmetrical manufactured parts; From the contact surface between the forming tool and the blank point of view, the ISF can be [4, 7]: x single point incremental forming (SPIF) – one single contact point; x incremental forming with counter tools – in this type of ISF, another tool offer support from the other side of the blank in the same area with the forming tool; x two points incremental forming (TPIF): the deformation takes place in more one point in the same time; it can be with partial die support or with full die support
A lot of components from all the industries are made from steel sheets and its derivates, these materials are investigated if it is possible to be formed with ISF process, especially cold presing steel like deep drawing and extra deep drawind steel [24, 28] There are research to evaluate the possibility to incremental deform the polymer sheets, for a low volume with a low cost production [29]
Summary
In the last few decades, the competition between the product manufacturers becomes increasingly tighter. Parts have more complex shapes and the customer requirements are to decrease the products price In this case, the conventional sheet forming processes are not suitable because of the tool complexity and costs, and because of the high time from design to manufacturing (large die-preparaton time and costs). The researchs were focused on new processes and methods to meet the customer demands, innovative and flexible processes for small batches products with low costs and less time from design to manufacturing. In incremental forming, a simple shaped tool produces a local plastic deformation in the sheet, using layered manufacturing principles, converting the part geometry into many layers in forming direction, in each layer, the forming tool follows a two dimensional contour This step is repeated layer by layer until the final shape of the part is obtained. The ISF combines the advantages of these two predecessors with CNC technologies and has become one of the most flexible process in sheet metal forming industry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
