Numerical and experimental investigation of single point incremental forming of two layer sheet metals

In this research, formability of two layer sheet metals of Al1050 and St12 in single point incremental forming (SPIF) has investigated using numerical and experimental approaches. In order to study the sheet metal formability in this process, the tool paths defined in ABAQUS and CNC machine so that an increasing wall angle is created until the sheet metal reaches its maximum allowable angle and fracture is occurred. Since in this process, the tool exerts local stresses on the sheet metal, 3D simulation of the process is needed. In order to study the effect of process parameters, the analysis is done in three levels of tool radius and vertical step size. In order to derive fracture depth of sheet metal, the force diagram is considered in simulations. It is shown that the outer sheet subjected to higher plastic strains and therefore failure occurred initially at the outer layer. Results also showed that increasing the tool radius and vertical step size speed up process but they have inverse effect on the forming limit angle. For experimentally study and also to validation of simulation results, full factorial experiments with respect to forming speed up to three levels designed and carried out. The difference between FEM and experimental results is about %2.1 in forming limit angle.