Defining design guidelines for single point incremental forming-rules to a good design of container and tunnel like parts manufactured by incremental forming

摘要

Incremental sheet forming processes like single point incremental forming have been majorly studied since the beginning of the 2000's. With the consistent results it is now possible to obtain, the process dissemination around the industrial companies is starting. Besides the applications in the prototyping field, SPIF can also be used for the manufacture of unique parts and small batches. Despite being a free form manufacture process, it has some geometric limitations, mainly due to the forming mechanics and formability limit of the materials. Thus, it is important to establish well defined rules to the part design so that the parts are both manufacturable, reliable and sustainable. The design orientation defined by bibliography for container like parts is systematised and completed. It is explored the definition of the shape, thickness and material when designing a new part. Furthermore, a new proposal for the design of not only container like parts but also tunnel and semi-tunnel like parts is defined. Defined guidelines are validated through simulation and experimental work.