Incremental sheet forming with a robot system for an industrial application

This paper introduces new results of the single point incremental forming process of an industrial sheet metal component. Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is an innovative and compared to conventional forming technologiers which does require forming tools like a specific die and punch, a cost-effective forming method for prototyping and limited-lot production. Moving a hammering tool on a generated path above the sheet process and due to the low forming forces since using a high frequent hammering tool a common industrial robot can be applied. A robot with handling payloads of 400 kg was sufficient. Thus this ISF-process enables production of sheet metal parts and preliminary models at low costs.