Abstract
Although multi-stage incremental sheet forming has always been adopted instead of single-stage forming to form parts with a steep wall angle or to achieve a high forming performance, it is largely dependent on empirical designs. In order to research multi-stage forming further, the effect of forming stages (n) and angle interval between the two adjacent stages (Δα) on thickness distribution was investigated. Firstly, a finite element method (FEM) model of multi-stage incremental forming was established and experimentally verified. Then, based on the proposed simulation model, different strategies were adopted to form a frustum of cone with wall angle of 30° to research the thickness distribution of multi-pass forming. It is proved that the minimum thickness increases largely and the variance of sheet thickness decreases significantly as the value of n grows. Further, with the increase of Δα, the minimum thickness increases initially and then decreases, and the optimal thickness distribution is achieved with Δα of 10°. Additionally, a formula is deduced to estimate the sheet thickness after multi-stage forming and proved to be effective. And the simulation results fit well with the experimental results.
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Foundation item: Project(51005258) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(CDJZR12130065) supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China
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Li, Jc., Yang, Ff. & Zhou, Zq. Thickness distribution of multi-stage incremental forming with different forming stages and angle intervals. J. Cent. South Univ. 22, 842–848 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-015-2591-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-015-2591-x