Study of Tool Trajectory in Incremental Forming

Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is an innovative flexible sheet metal forming process which can be used to produce complex shapes from various materials. Due to its flexibility, it attracts a more and more attention in the recent decades. Several studies show that besides the major operating parameters, namely feed rate, tool radius, and forming speed etc., tool path is also an important processing parameter to affect the final forming component. In view of that, the present paper studies the influence of tool paths on the work piece quality by the finite element method coupled with the Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) model. The formability of incremental forming in different tool paths is also analyzed.