Study of thinning rate in incremental forming with hydraulic pressure supports based on taguchi design

Abstract

Abstract Incremental sheet forming technology has great potential for forming thin-walled parts. However, the excessive thinning rate and uneven thickness distribution seriously affect the performance of forming. To reduce the sheet thickness reduction rate during the incremental forming process, hydraulically supported incremental forming technology is adopted, the thickness reduction rate of parts with different pressures, sheet thicknesses, and sizes was experimentally investigated and optimized by using Taguchi’s method. The results show that in the designed experimental scheme, the most significant elements affecting the thickness reduction rate are the forming angle and hydraulic pressure; the optimum thickness reduction rate is obtained by selecting the appropriate hydraulic pressure, lower forming angle, and larger sheet thickness. In incremental forming, this helps to enhance the thickness uniformity of parts, the quality, and the formability of the form.