Complex geometric shapes and details of various purpose objects and figures are rapidly increasing nowadays in various fields of industry and everyday life. Despite the fact, that modern computer hardware and software greatly facilitates the creation of such objects / shapes during the design phase, the actual production of such objects is very complicated and expensive. For this reason, the incremental forming of sheets, mainly made from metals, is being investigated and used nowadays. This machining method allows a significant reduction in time and cost. Among other things, the incremental sheet forming allows the production of objects / shapes of extremely complex geometric shape which would be very difficult or even impossible to produce by traditional methods. The scientific literature revealed that the incremental sheet forming can be successfully applied in the polymer (plastic) sheet formation, but no further information on the process sequence and the parameters to be applied has been provided. Therefore, the aim of this project is to research and develop a technology for incremental sheet forming of polymer (thermoplastic). The aim of the project is to carry out theoretical and experimental research with the dual purpose of investigating the formation of a polymer (thermoplastic) sheet using a point contact tool and the selection of suitable temperature-forming modes and polymers.
Project funding:
KTU Research and Innovation Fund
Project results:
During the theoretical research, the heating parameters of thermoplastic and the obtained shapes with different fixtures of sheets were determined. During the experimental research, two thermoplastic heating possibilities were tested – air (global, non-contact) and using a newly developed heater (local, contact). It should be noted that using a newly developed thermoplastic heater, the formed workpiece is heated in the zone before forming, and the formed area is cooled by conducting heat through the forming tool itself. The project developed and tested a universal feedback system for robotized incremental sheet forming suitable for use with both polymer and steel or other metal sheets. This system ensures that the tool to be formed is constantly pressed against the workpiece, regardless of the deformations obtained during the process. Various workpiece forming parameters influence on the formation process, such as forming temperature, forming wall angle, tool radius and type, step size, initial sheet thickness and material, etc., were investigated. Four different geometric shapes and materials – products were manufactured which showed that using the developed technology it is possible to form objects of complex geometric shapes. Due to their complex and asymmetrical shapes, plastic products formed by incremental sheet forming could be used in aviation, automobiles (eg various aerodynamic parts), medicine (eg implantable parts of skulls after various injuries), etc. industries. This technology makes it possible to produce products of various complex shapes, which have better strength properties compared to the currently rapidly popular 3D plastic printing technology.
Period of project implementation: 2020-04-14 - 2020-12-31
