Abstract
Additively manufactured polymer tools are evaluated for use in metal forming as prototype tools and in the attempt to make sheet metal more attractive to small production volumes. Printing materials, strategies and accuracies are presented before the tools and tested in V-bending and groove pressing of 1 mm aluminum sheets. The V-bending shows that the tools change surface topography during forming until a steady state is reached at around five strokes. The geometrical accuracy obtained in V-bending is evaluated by the spring-back angle and the resulting bend radius, while bending to 90° with three different punch nose radii. The spring-back shows additional effects from the elastic deflection of the tools, and the influence from the punch nose radius is found to be influenced by the printing strategy due to the ratio between tool radius and the printed solid shell thickness enclosing the otherwise less dense bulk part of the tool. Groove pressing shows the combined effect of groove heights and angular changes due to spring-back. In all cases, the repeatability is discussed to show the potential of tool corrections for obtaining formed parts closer to nominal values.
Highlights
Sheet metal forming can be used to create a variety of complicated three-dimensional parts from flat sheet metal by, e.g., bending and deep drawing
Sheet metal forming is often limited to mass production [1]
This paper demonstrates the application of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to produce tools for sheet metal forming, exemplified by V-bending and grove pressing of aluminum sheets
Summary
Sheet metal forming can be used to create a variety of complicated three-dimensional parts from flat sheet metal by, e.g., bending and deep drawing. Some of the advantages of sheet metal forming are the beneficial mechanical properties of the formed part, the minimal amount of scrap that is generated and the high production capacity that can be attained. The main disadvantage of the method is the cost and time necessary for setting up a new process line. Sheet metal forming is often limited to mass production [1]. One of the major costs related to sheet metal forming is the development and production of the forming tools. The tool is designed by a tool designer and machined out of metal, which can take a long time and be quite costly. A tool may go through one or more revisions before reaching its final form
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