Automatic Path Programming For The Manufacturing Of Sheet Metal Components Using Incremental Forming Technology

Asymmetric Incremental Sheet Forming (AISF) is an unconventional forming technology that involves localized and progressive plastic deformation of a sheet using a tool, typically a punch, following a continuous and numerically controlled path. Due to its specific characteristics and advantages, such as flexibility and relatively low implementation cost, it is considered a technology with great potential for competitively producing small series of sheet metal components. However, there are still some challenges, such as the lack of specific CAM tools for this technology, which has hindered its industrialization. Although the process may appear simple, with a 3D path sufficient to transform the original flat sheet into the final part, it has been observed that the manufacturing of real designs requires extensive knowledge of the technology to choose the appropriate path based on the target geometry. In this regard, this study presents a new solution developed by Tecnalia that incorporates expert process knowledge and enables automatic programming of Incremental Forming paths. Specifically, the solution allows programming paths aimed at manufacturing different geometric features commonly found in sheet metal components. This development has been validated through the manufacturing of several parts in a robotic cell implemented at Southeast University in Nanjing.