Manufacture of absorber fins for solar collector using incremental sheet forming

Abstract

This article sets out to present a new manufacturing process applied to create absorber fins for solar collectors. Using Incremental Sheet Forming, a flexible process that can be performed at a CNC production center, it is possible to make prototypes of absorber fins with collector riser fittings, which also enables the development of new fin designs using different materials in a wide range of thicknesses. This article analyzes parameters of the Two Point Incremental Forming process, with a partial die for solar collector absorber fin manufacturing using a 1mm thick aluminum AA1200-H14 in order to determine the influence of the step down and the tool's rotation speed on the sheet's formability, being thus able to determine the most appropriate combination of these parameters to obtain a process with the greatest quality and productivity. A series of 16 experiments was proposed to manufacture a small absorber fin comparing the rotation speed values of S = 50, 200, 400, and 800rpm, with step down values of Δz=2, 1, 0.5, and 0.2mm. The feed rate value was kept at F=250mm/min, and each experiment was performed until the first crack occurred in the sheet. In this study, it was possible to indicate the feasibility of the process under more efficient parameters for manufacturing absorber fins using the step down of 2mm and the rotation speed of 50rpm.