Herstellung frei geformter, selbst tragender Faltstrukturen aus Stahlblech mit der inkrementellen Blechumformung (IBU)

Free-formed, self-supporting folding structure made of metal sheets using the incremental sheet forming (ISF).

Sheet forming is traditionally a costly process that requires expensive tools as well as forms such as winds or dies with customized punches, which are only profitable when producing high quantities. However, the incremental sheet forming (ISF), a novel forming technique, works highly differential. In contrast to the common single-stage jacking process, the incremental metal forming is a sequential process in which a forming instrument circumscribes the part contour and warps the sheet repeatedly. This process can easily be adjusted to a variety of individual thin sheet forms. In view of this fact, the ISF is a highly flexible process that allows to craft series of geometrically different components efficiently. ISF appears to be an ideal production-related instrument to realize the principle of lightweight constructions in space folding structures and multilayer folding structures that form the basis of self-supporting building envelopes or facades made of thin sheet. The actual characteristics and conditions of the constructive realization of a free-shaped, two-layered envelope formed with the incremental metal forming procedure has been analyzed during a research project between the Chair of Structures and Structural Design (Lehrstuhl für Tragkonstruktionen - TRAKO) and the Institute of Metal Forming (Institut für Bildsame Formgebung - IBF) of the RWTH Aachen University.