Deformation Analysis of Multi-Stage Incremental Sheet Forming

This paper presents an analytical and numerical study of deformation analysis for multistage incremental sheet forming processes, with a truncated conical part is used as an example. Unlike in the single-pass incremental forming where the sheet deformation is dominantly plane strain in the axial direction when forming a conical part, the sheet is also deformed in the circumferential direction when it is incrementally formed subsequently. Ideal deformation kinetics is assumed in the analytical derivations of strain distributions, which should be valid as long as the increment in deformation from one stage to the next is small. Numerical simulations with LS-DYNA are also conducted in an effort to understand the fundamental deformation mechanics of multistage incremental forming. The simulation result for a five-stage incremental forming process is presented. It is also used to correlate the analytical solution. An improved analytical equation for strain distributions is derived, which compares favorably with simulation results.