Management and Production Engineering Review

Volume 6 • Number 4 • December 2015 • pp. 55–59

DOI: 10.1515/mper-2015-0036

APPLICATION OF INCREMENTAL SHEET FORMING

Krzysztof Karbowski
Cracow University of Technology, Institute of Production Engineering, Poland

Corresponding author:
Krzysztof Karbowski
Cracow University of Technology
Institute of Production Engineering
Al. Jana Pawła II 37, 31-864 Kraków, Poland
phone: (+48) 12 628-32-47
e-mail: karbowski@mech.pk.edu.pl

Received: 3 September 2015 Abstract

Accepted: 14 September 2015 This paper describes some manufacturing aspects and an example of application of the In-
cremental Sheet Forming (ISF) technology which was used for production of the craniofacial
prosthesis. The brief description of prosthesis designing was presented as well. The main
topic of the paper is comparison of milling and ISF technologies for preparing the tools for
prosthesis thermoforming.
Keywords
sheet forming, milling centre, prosthesis.

Introduction The ISF process has been described in scientif-

ic and technical literature. Park and Kim [2] have
The name “Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF)” is demonstrated results of investigation for production
used for a variety of processes, all characterized by of aluminium sheet components. They draw atten-
the fact that at any time only a small part of the tion to difficulties to form sharp corners and showed
product is actually formed, and that the area of local the results of stretching and strain distribution sim-
deformation is moving around the entire product [1] ulations.
(Fig. 1). However Kopac and Kampus [3] showed the ISF
process, realized on CNC-milling center and they de-
scribed technological aspects of the process.
On the other hand Araghi et al. [4] proposeed the
hybrid technique – incremental sheet forming com-
bined with stretch forming.
Kim and Yang [5] analysed the geometrical and
mechanical aspects of incremental sheet forming
process.
Similar aspects have been described by Shim and
Park [6].
ISF application for customised medical products
was described by Ambrogio et al. [7] and forces analy-
sis during ISF process was presented in article [8].

Incremental sheet forming

The presented article describes one of the vari-
ants of ISF process – Single Point ISF. The process
Fig. 1. Principles of ISF process [1]. schema illustrates Fig. 2.

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tween passes in Z-axis was variable in a range of 0.1–

0.3 mm. The distance value has been calculated us-
ing Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software
(CATIA – Advanced Machining Module) assuming
the maximum scallop height 0.02 mm. The fixed oil
has been used as lubricant. Following machining pa-
rameters have been applied: feed rate 1700 mm/min;
tool rotation 40–60 rev./min depending on tool di-
ameter for minimizing the tool slide.
The results of ISF process realized by the punch
tools of diameter 10 mm and 13 mm are shown at
Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Skinning during ISF process.

Fig. 2. Process schema.
The high unit pressure caused skinning of the
The process is realized on CNC milling centre and stock.
is similar to Z-level milling process (the tool goes The three components of machining force have
through trajectories, which are equidistant of the fi- been measured during process realized by the punch
nal product in parallel sections in Z-axis). The punch of diameter 17 mm (dynamometer type 9257B and
tool is mounted in the spindle and rotates for mini- amplifier type 5019A made by Kistler). The max-
mizing of the tool slide and the tool abrasive wear. imum values of Fx and Fy forces achieved 250 N;
The sheet plate is mounted on the support (Fig. 3), maximum value of Fz achieved 500 N respectively,
which has the shape of the top of final product. where Z-axis was parallel to tool’s axis.
Next the designed and manufactured shapes have
been compared (Fig. 5).

Fig. 3. Support for ISF process.

The ball punch tool was made of steel NC6. The

3 types of punch tools of various diameters have been Fig. 5. Deviations between designed and manufactured
tested: 10 mm, 13 mm, 17 mm. The distance be- shapes.

56 Volume 6 • Number 4 • December 2015

 Management and Production Engineering Review

Based on deviations analysis two main conclu- area of final product (Ps ) – the area ratio (r) has
sions can be formulated (Fig. 6): been defined as (Fig. 8):
• reverse curvature (Fig. 6) – the metal sheet is Pp
formed as free-form shape without die block. It in- r= . (1)
Ps
creases the shape’s errors;
• steep walls (Fig. 6) – the variation of sheet thick- The convenient format for describing geometry in
ness due forming increases the shape’s errors as above situation is STL (STereoLithography [9]). The
well. geometry is defined by triangles (Fig. 8), which can
be used for calculating the area ratio (1). Therefore
the final local thickness (as ) is calculated as:
as = r · ap , (2)
where ap is the thickness of semi-finished plate.

Fig. 6. Designed shape’s influence on process realization.

Described problems determined change of the

sheet forming method.
The incremental sheet forming has been evolved
to mould-incremental sheet forming (Fig. 7). The
die-block can be a support for sheet plate in reverse
Fig. 8. Area ratio.
curvature areas. The modified process is similar to
traditional sheet forming with die-block, but without
complicated press tool. It gives a chance to decrease The software calculates the final thickness (thick-
costs, because universal ball punch tool can be used ness of a final product) and generates the STL file
instead of a complicated shape tool. which contains the geometry of equidistant surface,
which is a base for die-block surface. Subsequently
the generated surface is the base for preparing the
machining program for the 3-axis milling centre.
The modified ISF process has been implemented
for preparing new element. As a result shape errors
have been decreased (Fig. 9).

Fig. 7. Die-block for mould-incremental sheet forming.

Special software has been elaborated in order to

minimize shape’s error on steep wall.
The sheet thickness can be calculated based on
relation between local area of plate (Pp ) and local Fig. 9. Shape errors after modification of ISF process.

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Management and Production Engineering Review

Application

The described mould incremental sheet forming

process has been used for making the skull prosthesis
(Fig. 10).

Fig. 12. Implanted prosthesis.

Conclusions
Fig. 10. Skull hole and hole filling.
The described mould incremental sheet forming
process gives a chance for preparing free-form shapes
The skull hole was a result of craniectomy in the piece or short-run production. The process re-
surgery. The virtual skull model has been prepared, quires die-block, but the complicated and expensive
based on the analysis of computed tomography im- press tool is replaced by universal ball punch.
ages [10]. The developed software can be used for calcula-
The prosthesis was produced by medical materi- tion sheet thickness after forming, however the mould
als company using polypropylene and polyester knit- enables forming the sheet with convex and concave
ted yarn, which was next thermoformed [11]. (reverse curvature) shapes.
The base for prosthesis thermoforming was the The mould incremental sheet forming process has
form, which was designed based on the virtual mod- been used successfully for preparing skull bone pros-
el of the skull [12] (Fig. 11). thesis, which has been implanted to the patient dur-
ing cranioplasty surgery.

References

[1] Emmens W.C., Sebastiani G., van den Booggard

A.H, The technology of Incremental Sheet Forming
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Processing Technology, 210, 981–997, 2010.

[2] Park J.-J., Kim Y.-H., Fundamental studies on the

incremental sheet metal forming technique, Journal
of Materials Processing Technology, 140, 447–453,
2003.

[3] Kopac J., Kampus Z., Incremental sheet metal form-

ing on CNC milling machine-tool, Journal of Ma-
terials Processing Technology, 162–163, 622–628,
2005.
Fig. 11. Prosthesis form.
[4] Araghi B.T., Manco G.L., Bambach M., Hirt G., In-
vestigation into a new hybrid forming process: Incre-
The form has been manufactured using mould in- mental sheet forming combined with stretch forming,
cremental sheet forming process. Manufacturing Technology, 58, 225–228, 2009.
The thermoformed prosthesis has been implanted [5] Kim T.J, Yang D.Y, Improvement of formability for
during cranioplasty surgery (Fig. 12). the incremental sheet metal forming process, Inter-

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national Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 42, 1271– al forming, Archives of Materials Science and Engi-
1286, 2000. neering, 35, 2, 107–116, 2009.

[9] http://www.ennex.com/∼fabbers/StL.asp
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[7] Ambrogio G., De Napoli L., Filice L., et. al., Appli-
[11] http://codubix.com/characteristics-of-codubix-
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