RESEARCH ON SHEET METAL FORMING FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING OF THE CAR BODY APPLICATIONS

Dao Chi Cuong

Dao Chi Cuong Department of Automobile Technology, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

Keywords: Incremental sheet forming (ISF), toolpath, formability, rapid prototyping

Abstract

Computer-aided manufacturing is widely used in the sheet forming industry. Conventional press forming, in which an entire plate is deformed at once, has been the effective for mass production. To achieve flexible manufacturing requirements, a new forming technology called incremental sheet forming (ISF) that gradually and locally deforms sheet metal has been developed. Unlike conventional large-capacity press forming, this technology does not use upper and lower dies. This technology has been beneficial for the rapid production of prototypes and small batch production (rapid prototyping technology). The product is made incrementally by using a CNC machine or a robot that can control the path of the tool moving along the trajectory of the outer shape of the product. Nowadays, the application of this flexible manufacturing technology has expanded into a variety of asymmetric and symmetric stockpile products such as the front end of a high-speed train, aircraft shell components, and dental parts. This study briefly summarizes the basic mechanism of ISF and a few applications of the technique in forming products of complex shapes.

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