Experimental and simulative results in sheet incremental forming on CNC machines

The use of light weight components in automotive industries is very important in improving engine efficiency and reducing fuel consumption and pollution. In the same way the development of new production technologies, characterized by high flexibility in sheet forming (like the flexible forming process, the dieless sheet forming process or the sheet fluid forming process), allows the use of new concept products. The present research reports the results obtained from a new sheet forming process based on a general purpose CNC machine equipped with a special tool. All the tool components are designed by FEM simulations which have furnished the value of the applied loads. The experimental results show that the sheet incremental forming by CNC machines has good potential for use in producing prototypes of industrial components. When complex shapes are referred to, a preliminary study for the identification of the optimal process parameters needs to be done in order to obtain safe parts. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.