Sustainable profile bending: Wood-based forming tools

Abstract

To enhance flexibility in a production age characterized by mass customization and individualization complying geopolitical climate targets at the same time, more sustainable approaches to profile bending are required to adapt to the corresponding manufacturing processes. Metal based rigid tooling systems consume a lot of material and energy resources, particular when aiming for high flexibility, low batch size or individualization. To reduce the overall resource consumption and to meet climate restrictions, non-metallic tooling approaches can counteract these issues when aiming for flexibility and individualization in profile and tube bending. Compared to conventional metal-based tooling approaches, wood-based forming tools may provide a potential resource reduction (e.g., carbon footprint) and offer a sustainable tooling alternative for tube and profile bending. For typical bending applications with low batch sizes and production volumes (e.g., freeform bending), the substitution of conventional rigid metal tools may reduce the environmental impact without compromising the economic objectives. Although the mechanical performance of wood is lower than that of conventional tool steel, certain wood-based forming tools can potentially be implemented for these bending applications. To layout the design of wood-based composite forming tools, a deeper understanding of the mechanical performance is required. In this work a feasibility study of wood-based tooling materials is carried out to investigate the mechanical performance on metal tubes and profiles for rotary draw and freeform bending. To determine the performance, different composite structures (thickness, orientation, base material) and geometries are investigated for wooden forming tools of black locust (robinia pseudoacacia). Finally the results are summarized to outline a potential process window for wooden forming tools for tube and profile bending.