Single Point Incremental Sheet Forming of Polymer on Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Milling Machine Tool

Abstract

The idea of incrementally forming sheet metal with a single point tool, called ‘dieless forming’, was patented by Leszak [1] well before it was technically feasible. There have been many studies, which have lead to the present situation [2-9]. The new processes are attractive because manufacturing sheet metal can be accomplished by any facility having a three-axiscncmill. Sheet metalspifis an innovative, flexible sheet metal-forming technology that uses principles of layered manufacturing. It transforms the complicated geometry information into a series of parameter of two-dimensional layers and then the plastic deformation is carried out layer-by-layer through the computer numerically controlled. The basic principle ofspif(Fig. 1) is that the forming tool moves around the outline of the part along the predefined tool path and extrudes the sheet metal point by point so that the local plastic deformations occur incrementally [8, 10]. The forming tool paths have a great effect on the surface quality, forming time and dimensional accuracy. Although the movement mode of the forming tool is similar to one of the cutters in thecncmilling machine, the forming process based on the plastic deformation and milling process is totally different, so the requirements for the tool paths are different. As a result, there are some specific characteristics which should be considered in forming tool path generation. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of producing low-cost polymer sheet components by means ofspif. Three different thermoplastic materials were incrementally formed on a conventionalcncmilling machine. Experiments are conducted to determine the formability, failure modes and significant process parameters. Even though considerable amount of research work has been done in the field, these aspects are not completely defined and only limited number of materials has been tested.