Investigating the surface roughness of calamine brass in incremental sheet metal forming

Abstract

Incremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) is an emerging metal sheet forming technique. ISMF does not require any special/dedicated dies for shaping the metal sheet into a desired part. The forming technique is an alternative for customized part generation, prototype making, and low-volume product manufacturing. The experimental investigation is focused on finding the significance of process parameters on the average surface roughness of the ISMF part. Limited process parameters were taken that majorly influenced the ISMF. Calamine brass (Cu67Zn33) is preferred for home alliance and grocery items because of its sustainability and corrosion-resistant properties therefore thin sheets of it were taken as worksheets. The surface roughness of the formed part was measured through atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique. Statistical analysis confirmed that the step-down size, feed rate of the tool, wall angle, and the thickness of metal sheet whose P-values were 0.013, 0.052, 0.030, and 0.036 respectively were significant for average surface roughness. Their contribution was calculated as 76.71%, 0.025%, 13.67% and 0.89% respectively.