Process Limits of Stretch and Shrink Flanging by Incremental Sheet Metal Forming

ncremental Sheet Forming (ISF) is a manufacturing technology for individualized and small batch production. Among the opportunities this technology provides there is the possibility of a short ramp up time and to cover the whole production chain of sheet metal parts by one machine setup. Since recent works showed that manufacturing of industrial parts is feasible, finishing operations such as flanging and trimming gain importance. This paper shows first works on the technological capabilities of using ISF for stretch and shrink flanging. Due to the localized forming zone the absence of surrounding clamping devices for ISF results in differing material flow behaviour. The influences of tool path characteristics, flange length as well as radii are analysed to set up a process window.