Mechanical Properties and Chain Orientation in Single Point Incremental Forming of Semi-Crystalline Polyamide

Incremental forming is an emerging technique for reducing the cost of tooling, increasing the flexibility and reducing the thermal energy usage in forming of thermoplastic polymer surfaces. This paper examines the effect of Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) on the mechanical properties of a semi-crystalline Polyamide (Nylon 66) material. The effects of incremental depth and tool rotation speed on these properties, and on the sheet temperature during forming are quantified. Differential Scanning Calorimetry and X-ray Diffraction are performed to understand changes in crystallinity and chain orientation of the polymer due to SPIF. It is found that the formed material has a substantial higher toughness and ductility, but reduced yield stress and Young’s modulus, as compared to the formed material. Stress relaxation tests show similar relaxation behavior for the formed and unformed polymer. The effect of SPIF on the chain orientation and its link to the mechanical properties are discussed.