Experimental study on force measurements for single point incremental forming

An experimental platform capable of measuring forces in process during an incremental forming procedure is described and some of the earliest measurements of forces in incremental forming with the changes induced on the measured load are reported. Using a table type force dynamometer with incremental forming fixture mounted on top, three components of force were measured throughout the forming process. They were found to vary as the parts were made. The reported experimental test program was mainly focused on the influence of four different process parameters on the forming forces: the vertical step size between consecutive contours, the diameter of the tool, the steepness of the parts’ wall and the thickness of the sheet metal being formed. The effect of lubrication and the geometry of the test part in the incremental forming process were investigated by a set of initial experiments. Part failure prediction based on the shape of the force curve is explained. For the tested materials, analytical results demonstrating the relationship between the respective process parameters and the induced forces are presented in this paper.