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Limited geometric accuracy in incremental sheet forming is a major obstacle for its wide adoption in industry. This paper develops a generic methodology, suitable for arbitrary part geometries and various ISF processes, for addressing one of the main causes of geometric inaccuracy, i.e., in-process springback. The methodology consists of three main elements: determination of key control points to treat geometric complexity, simplified simulation models to predict springback offline, and in-situ toolpath modification during forming. It is shown experimentally that the method provides an efficient and robust solution for various geometries with negligible setup cost.

A novel method using special featured tools is proposed for double-sided incremental hole-flanging (DSIHF), which can perform successful hole-flanging in one-step due to the globally cumulated deformation mode. Tools with complementary-shape section curves are used to constrain the material flow for better part geometry. The proposed method has been verified by two cases: an axisymmetric circular flanging and an asymmetric clover flanging. Experimental results demonstrate that the new method is feasible for flanging of complex shapes with simplified tools, reduces processing time and improves geometric accuracy. Moreover, numerical simulations were conducted to show that the proposed method has a different deformation mode compared with the conventional incremental forming. Specifically, the circumferential strain becomes the dominant strain, and its value depends on the in-plane curvature and the distance from the part edge.

Incremental sheet metal flanging is efficient and cost-effective in prototyping and low-volume production. However, how the sheet metal fails and how the overall formability is enhanced during incremental sheet flanging are still not well understood. This study attempts to provide an updated level of understanding for the deformation mechanics in fabricating a clover hole-flange with complex in-plane curvatures by double-sided incremental forming. Compared with traditional flanging methods, higher formability has been achieved for both stretch flanging and shrink flanging on a single part. Additionally, numerical simulation is conducted complementarily to reveal the strain evolution, based on which failure modes and reasons are analyzed. Moreover, DMV (Donell–Mushtari–Vlasov) equations are employed to analytically study the shrink flanging process. The investigations lead to the conclusions that meridional tension has positive effect in improving the formability during shrink flanging, while an adverse effect is found in the formability during stretch flanging.

The utilization of a supporting tool in Double-Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF) imposes a stabilizing compressive stress through the sheet’s thickness, increasing, thereby, the material’s formability and fatigue life. However, these favorable effects strongly depend on a steady tool-metal contact condition. This work presents a general DSIF control scheme, which augments the conventional position servo-loop with explicit force feedback control. The algorithm is examined for its robustness and effectiveness using complex geometries with varying curvatures and wall angles. The resulting parts have demonstrated enhanced material formability and geometric accuracy.

Woven composites are considered as a promising material choice for lightweight applications. An improved non-orthogonal material model that can decouple the strong tension and weak shear behavior of the woven composite under large shear deformation is proposed for simulating the preforming of woven composites. The tension, shear and compression moduli in the model are calibrated using the tension, bias-extension and bending experiments, respectively. The interaction between the composite layers is characterized by a sliding test. The newly developed material model is implemented in the commercial finite element software LS-DYNA® and validated by a double dome study.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) enable unprecedented communication between product designers and manufacturers. Effective use of these technologies both enables and requires a new paradigm of methods and models to identify the most profitable and environmentally friendly production plans for a manufacturing network. The operating system for cyber-physical manufacturing (OSCM) and the paired network operations administration and monitoring (NOAM) software are introduced. These technologies guide our development of a mixed integer bilevel programming (BP) model that models the hierarchy between designers and manufacturers as a Stackelberg game while considering multiple objectives for each of them. Designers select and pay manufacturers, while manufacturers decide how to execute the order with the payment provided by the designer. To solve the model, a tailored solution method combining a decomposition-based approach with approximation of the lower level Pareto-optimal solution set is proposed. The model is applied to a case study based on a network of manufacturers in Wisconsin and Illinois. With the proposed model, designers and manufacturers alike can take full advantage of CPS to increase profits and decrease environmental impacts.

The success of a toolpath in double-sided incremental forming (DSIF) is strongly related to the specified tool gap. It is hypothesized in this work that maintained contact between tools and the sheet can improve the distribution of sheet thickness and hence, improve material formability and prevent premature fracture. Simulation and experimental studies reveal that thickness prediction models solely dependent on the local wall angle are inadequate for general part geometries. A ‘Shamrock’ geometry is proposed leading to the development of a novel improved thickness correction model that incorporates wall angle, in-plane curvature, and tool direction.

Core needle biopsies are widely adopted medical procedures that consist in the removal of biological tissue to better identify a lesion or an abnormality observed through a physical exam or a radiology scan. These procedures can provide significantly more information than most medical tests and they are usually performed on bone lesions, breast masses, lymph nodes and the prostate. The quality of the samples mainly depends on the forces exerted by the needle during the cutting process. The reduction of these forces is critical to extract high-quality tissue samples. The most critical factors that affect the cutting forces are the geometry of the needle tip and its motion while it is penetrating the tissue. However, optimal needle tip configurations and cutting parameters are not well established for rotating insertions. In this paper, the geometry and cutting forces of hollow needles are investigated. The fundamental goal of this study is to provide a series of guidelines for clinicians and surgeons to properly select the optimal tip geometries and speeds. Analytical models related to the cutting angles of several needle tip designs are presented and compared. Several needle tip geometries were manufactured from a 14-gauge cannula, commonly adopted during breast biopsies. The needles were then tested at different speeds and on different phantom tissues. According to these experimental measurements recommendations were formulated for rotating needle insertions. The findings of this study can be applied and extended to several biopsy procedures in which a cannula is used to extract tissue samples.

Double-Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF) uses two small, independently moving, hemispherical tools on either side of the sheet to form a desired shape by following a predefined tool path. This study was motivated by the observation that the relative tool position of the tools, specified in the tool path generation algorithm, affects the formed geometric accuracy. A methodology for defining the relative tool positioning in the tool path generation algorithm based on local part geometry is proposed using simplified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and sample physical experiments combined with Gaussian Process modeling techniques. This approach can take into account the mechanics of deformation in DSIF explicitly and physical compliance of the DSIF machine implicitly. Physical experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Double-sided incremental forming (DSIF) is a subcategory of general incremental sheet forming (ISF), and uses tools above and below a sheet of metal to squeeze and bend the material into freeform geometries. Due to the relatively slow nature of the DSIF process and the necessity to capture through-thickness mechanics, typical finite element simulations require weeks or even months to finish. In this study, an explicit finite element simulation framework was developed in LS-DYNA using fully integrated shell elements in an effort to lower the typical simulation time while still capturing the mechanics of DSIF. The tool speed, mesh size, element type, and amount of mass scaling were each varied in order to achieve a fast simulation with minimal sacrifice regarding accuracy. Using 8 CPUs, the finalized DSIF model simulated a funnel toolpath in just one day. Experimental strains, forces, and overall geometry were used to verify the simulation. While the simulation forces tended to be high, the trends were still well captured by the simulation model. The thickness and in-plane strains were found to be in good agreement with the experiments.

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) has gained much attention in the low volume production and rapid prototyping fields due to its inherent flexibility, low-overhead cost, and die-less nature. However, the geometric inaccuracy of the final achievable parts hinders this process from becoming commercially viable. One of the major sources of geometric inaccuracy is springback, which predominately occurs when the formed sheet metal is unloaded by the forming tools and released from the clamps. This paper focuses on the latter case. A practical annealing method that does not rely on complicated setups and geometry-specific compensation algorithms is proposed to reduce the springback that occurs after the unclamping process. Two clamping devices were developed, which have been demonstrated to significantly reduce the amount of springback. The capability of reducing springback by the proposed method and its potential of integrating it with other geometric accuracy improvement methods will enhance the ISF process towards future industrial applications.