THE ANNALS DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

FASCICLE V, TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE BUILDING, ISSN 1221-4566

2006

A Review of the Sheet Metal Forming Methods

Using Reconfigurable Dies
PhD. Eng. Viorel PUNOIU, PhD. Eng. Alexandru EPUREANU,
PhD. Eng. Dumitru NICOAR, PhD. Eng. Ovidiu CIOCAN
Dunrea de Jos University of Galai, Faculty of Mechanics
E-mail: viorel.paunoiu@ugal.ro
ABSTRACT
Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) are designed for rapid change
in the system configuration, their machines and controls. In the field of sheet
metal forming could be identified a number of such types of methods. In the paper
are analysed these deformation methods, to point out their advantages and
applications.
Key words: reconfigurable manufacturing systems, sheet metal forming,
incremental forming, spinning, hydroforming, multipoint deformation

1. Introduction
Reconf igur ab le Manufactur ing Systems
( R MS) i s de s ign ed for r ap id change i n th e
system conf igur ation, th eir mach in es and
c on tro ls . In th is way RMS off er an
add itional
app roach
of
adjusting
produ ction cap acity and functionality
qu ick ly to n ew produ cts as w ell as in
r espon se to ma r k e t chang es.
Fro m economical p o in t o f v iew, RMS
go beyond th e obj ectiv es of ma ss, le an,
and f lex ible ma nuf actur ing and allow
flex ib ility no t on ly in produ cing a v ariety
of p ar ts, but also in ch ang ing th e system
i t s e lf .
I n the f i e ld o f me t a l f o r mi n g p r o c e s s e s ,
th e app lication of reconfigu rability is
limited
du e
to
the
produ ction
c h ar a c ter i s tic s :
- a great var iety of sh ap es and
d ime ns ion s ;
- a great quantity of parts;
- e a ch p ar t de ma n ds a sp ec if ic too l,
each chang e in par t design d e ma nds
a n ew too l;
- less flex ib ility in co mp arison with
ma c h i n in g , w h er e the s a me s e t o f
cu tting too ls can be used to produce
a w id e v ar iety of f in ish ed shap e s.
In th e las t d e cad es imp or tan t effor ts
were ma d e to in crease the flex ib ility in
me tal forming pro c esses. Th is led tod a y to
cou ld
iden tif y
so me
reconf igur ab le
s y s t e ms f o r t h is te ch n o log y.

As it fo llows it will pr es en ted some o f

th e me tal for ming processes wh ich b e long
to th e r e conf igur ab le techno log y.

2. Incremental Forming
In th is me thod, a simple g eo metr y too l ( a
h e misph er ica l too l) is mo un ted on a
v er t ic a l ax is o f a ma c h i n e and th e mo t i o n
of
th is
too l
along
th e
too l-p ath
progressiv e ly fo rms the sheet me tal to its
f in a l shap e b y in ser tion of small r eg ions of
con tro lled p lastic d eformation s. Fo r the
pro cess, univ ersal 3 or mo re ax is CNC
ma c h in ing ce n tre c an b e u sed .
Two ma in v ar ian ts o f the d ie le ss
in cremen tal for ming pro cess are known :
t h e so - c a l led n ega t iv e f o r mi n g p r o ce ss
and th e positiv e for ming pro cess.
In
neg a tiv e
in cremen tal
forming
( Figu re s 1 and 2) , a b a ll pun ch mo v es on a
sheet me tal, accord ing to a progr amme d
t o o l p a th. Th e she e t i s c l a mp ed a t t h e
p er ipher y by bo lts on a suppor t f rame.

- 45 -

Punch
Blankholder

Frame
Blank

Fig. 1. Negative Incremental Forming Process

[12]

THE ANNALS OF DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

In positive incremental forming (figure 3)
the blank 2 is put on the upper plate 3, and is
fastened on all sides by a fixed plate 5, which
can move along the guide pillars 7. A forming
tool 1 presses the sheet into a punch core 4 and
moves along the contour line under the control
of the machine until the required shape is
formed.

F ig . 3 . S e t-u p s ys t e m f o r n eg a t iv e
in cremen tal fo rming [13 ]
Dur ing
the
for ming
pro cess,
the
c o mpu ter con tro ls the too l s moveme n t in
x- y d ir ection and the gr adual mo veme n t in
z d ire c tion. W ith in the la yer of th e s a me
h e igh t,
the
fo r ming
too l
ma ke s
a
curv ilinear mo v e me n t on th e x-y p lane.
W hen a la ye r i s f in ishe d, th e too l mo ve s
d o w n a s ma l l d i s tan c e o f h a lo n g the z - ax i s
and con tinues to pro cess th e n ex t la yer till
a l l l a y er s a r e f o r med. 8 is th e p ie c e
ob tained .
1

2
7

6
4

FASCICLE V

1-5 millimeters). Anoth er adv an tage of

d ie le ss formin g is tha t th e too ling co s ts
are 510% of conv en tion al stamp ing. Th e
for min g process is slow. Thu s th is pro cess
is su itab le for low volu me production in
th e ma gn itud e of 1500 p ieces p er mo n th .
W ith th is n ew proc e ss , too ls cou ld b e
d is c ard ed and d ie les s f or ming ma c h ine s
can be emp lo yed to produ ce par ts upon
d e ma nd. This system is id eally suited for
r ap id pro to typ ing a s dev e lop me nt time a nd
tr you t co s ts ar e gr e a tly r educ ed.
No h ard too ling is r equ ir ed and de s ign
CAD d ata c an b e tr ansf err ed to th e
mach ine con tro ller easily. D epending on
th e par t s ize , a p ro to typ e pan e l cou ld b e
produ ced in approx imately one week upon
r ec e ip t o f the CAD d a ta .
Th e ac cur acy is aff e c ted b y spr ing b ack ,
t h e sh ap e o f t h e f o r me d p ar t, th e sha p e an d
s iz e of the too l, th e for min g too l p a th,
ma ter ial and thickn ess of th e b lank.
A ccur a c ie s o f b e twe en 1 , 5 m m a n d 2 mm
h ave be en ac h iev ed.
3. Spinning with Reconfigurable Mandrel
Sp inn ing sh eet me tal is an ex cellen t
me th od fo r qu ick ly pro to typ ing r ound
ho llow me tal shap es.
A fo rce is app lied un ifor mly to th e
s h e e t me t a l b y r o ta t in g th e b l an k a n d i ts
in tended form ( mandr el) at v er y h igh rp ms ,
thus th e sheet me tal is d eformed ev en ly
w ithou t any wr ink ling or w arble. Th e
s pinn ing pro ce ss a llow s for the r ap id
p r o d u c t ion o f mu l t i p le p ar t s a s w e l l a s
qu ick reiteration since on ly the ma n dr e l
n eed be mod if ied.
To ov er come th is dr awba ck, it wa s
propo sed a n ew me thod o f d efor mation in
wh ich th e ma n dr e l is r e conf igur ab le
(f igur e 4 ).

Fig. 3. Positive Incremental Forming Process

[20]
Co mp ar ed to th e tr ad ition a l for ming
p r o ce ss , inc r e me n t a l f o r mi n g p r o c e ss h a s
h igh er
ex tensib ility,
finen e ss
and
smo o thness of th e wo rk p iece. In add ition,
i t c a n b e u s ed f o r ma c h in ing co mp l i ca t ed
c u r v ed su r f a c es , w h i ch c a n n o t b e d o n e b y
t h e trad i t io n a l me t h o d ( co mp l ex sha p e o u t
of me tal sh eet up to 2.4 me ters b y 1.4
me ter s at var iou s th icknesses r ang ing fro m

- 46 -

Fig . 4. Sp inn ing w ith reconf igur ab le

ma n dr e l [23]

FASCICLE V

THE ANNALS OF DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

Fo r th is , the ma n dr e l is co mp os ed f ro m
a nu mb er of telescop ic bu shes, wh ic h mov e
ax ia l, accord ing to presen t conf igur ation.
Th e
conf igur ation
is
estab lished
nu me r ical, d epend ing upon th e p iece
g eo metry.
Th e
me thod
is
still
in
e xper ime n tal s tag e.

4. Hydroforming with
Reconfigurable Punch
H ydrofo r ming constitutes a subgroup of
sheet me tal forming pro cesses u tilizing a
pr es sur ized f or ming me d iu m. Th e p roc es s
of
sh eet
h ydrofor min g,
un lik e
conven tionnal
stamp ing,
invo lv es
suppor ting th e bo tto m of the sh eet w ith a
b ed of v iscou s f lu id dur ing the for ming
pro cess.
Th e
ad v an t age s
of
the
sh ee t
h ydrofor mi ng process are nu me rou s and
th e process is receiv ing sign if ican t
a tten tion fro m bo th th e au to mo tiv e and
a er o sp ac e in d u str ie s. A d v an tag es , i n c lu d e
imp rov ed formab ility of th e b lank du e to
th e app lied pr es sur e b y th e f lu id , low we ar
r a te o f d ies and pun ch, a better
d is tr ibu tion o f p las tic d efor ma tion wh en
c o mp ared to conv en tion a l she e t me ta l
for min g, sign if ican t econo mic sav ing s
a s soc i a t ed w i th the d ec r e a sed too li n g , an d
th e po ten tia l for reducing th e amo un t of
f in ish ing work requ ir ed.
A

A
A-A

po lyme r or rubb er to p reven t th e d imp ling

ph eno menon. Th e me thod is also in
e xper ime n tal s tag e.

5. Multipoint Deformation
D iscr e te die for ming is an eng in eer ing
concep t d ev e loped mor e th an f if ty year s
ago, in itially design ed for sh eet me tal
for min g.
Using
a
geo metr ically
r econ f igurab le d ie, pr eciou s produ ction
time is sav ed b e cau se several d ifferen t
produ cts can be ma d e w ithou t ch ang ing
t o o ls . A l so a l o t o f e x p en se s are s av ed
b ecause
th e
ma nufactur ing
of
ver y
expen s ive r ig id d ies is reduced.
Th e w o r k ing sur f a ce o f th e d ie is ma d e
up of h e misph er ical ends of ind iv idu al
p ins , wh er e e a ch p in h as a squ are c ros s
s e c tion
and
can
be
indep end en tly
d isp la ced .
D epend ing on a typ e of application,
d iscrete d ie forming is app lied in two
v arian ts:
- for s tr e tch f or mi ng. In t h i s c as e on l y a
sing le d ie is n e cessary (f igur e 6). Th e
ma t e r i a l i s d ef o r me d a c co r d in g t o two
ma in typ es of me thod s d epend ing upon th e
for c e sequ en ce s. Th e f ir s t is s imp le s tr etch
for min g in wh ich the ma te r ia l is s imp ly
wr apped around the too l and is used for
s imp ly curv ed g eo me tr y. The me thod is
r ar e ly u sed because th e b lank is no t
un ifor mly d e for med and th e spr ing b ack is
v er y importan t. Th e second is stretch
for min g w ith a supp le me n tar y ma ter ial
d efor ma tion a nd cou ld b e app lied in th re e
ma n n ers :
a . p re- s tr e tch and w rap , ( f igure 7, a). In
th is me thod sh eet me tal is first p restretch ed with fo rce F 1 above its yield
stress, and th en is w rapp ed around th e too l
wh ile ma in ta in ing the force F 1 constan t;

Fig . 5. H ydrofor min g w ith r e conf igur ab le

pun ch [23 ]
A me thod, who offers a gr eat
flex ib ility
in
co mp arison
with
the
conven tion al on e, is presen ted in figur e 5.
In th is me thod, th e pun ch is co mpo sed
f r o m a n a r r a y o f p in s , w h i ch ar e
ind epend en tly sh if ted in v er tic a l dir ec tion ,
a c co r d in g w i th the p i ec e p r o f ile . Th e
conf igur ation is estab lish ed numer ical,
d epend ing upon the piece g eo metr y. The
activ e par t of th e p ins is cov ered w ith a

- 47 -

Fig. 6. Discrete Die for stretch forming [4]

THE ANNALS OF DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

b. wr ap and po st stretch (dr ap e
formin g), (figure 7, b). The sh eet me tal is
f ir s t wr app ed around the too l and af ter th at
an add itional tensile stress is impo sed on
th e p art;
c. pr e-stretc h, wr ap and post- str e tch
( s tre t ch-wr ap for mi ng) (f igur e 7 , c). Sh ee t
me tal is first pre-stretc hed with force F 1
above its yield str ess, and th en is wr apped
around the too l and f in a lly an add ition al
tensile stress F2 (po s t- stretch) is imp o sed
on th e p ar t;
F1

F1

F1
M

F1

M
M

F1
F1

F1
a.

F2

F1

F2
b.

F2

c.

F2

Fig . 7. Typ es of op er ation s in stretch

for min g [17]
- for d e ep dr aw ing. In th is c ase in
l i t e r a tur e th e n a me o f me t h o d is c a l led
mu ltipo in t d eformation (MPF) and is u sed
two oppo site d ies (f igure 8).
Th e mov eme n t of each punch is
con tro lled ind epend en tly b y MPF pr ess,
a n d M P F i s a f l e x ib le p r o ce ss in g
te chn iqu e. On e of the ma in adv anta ge s of
MP F is tha t th e fo rmin g pa th of me ta l
s h e e t c an b e adj u s t ed f r e e l y, an d a sh e e t
produ ct can be ma nuf actu red along an
op timu m f or ming p a th w ith le a s t r isk o f
for mi n g f a i lur e.

FASCICLE V

d efor mation is th e predo min an t defor mation ; con tact bound ary is a mu lti-po in t,
d iscon tinuou s on e between sheet and
pun ches
dies,
and
is
mu ch
mor e
c o mp l i ca t ed th an th a t o f f o r mi n g .
Th is me thod is most suitab le fo r the
for min g of larg e d ime n s ion sh e ll- like
p ar ts , such a s the she ll of sh ips and larg e
v es se l s, e t c.

6. Conclusions
An alys e pr esen ted in th is p aper , b ased
on imp or tan t nu mb er s of referen c es,
c lar if ied the new tenden c ie s in the f ie ld of
s uc ce ss
ma n uf ac tu re
by
p las tic
d eformation o f curved , mu lti-ax ial, mu ltip ly
p ar ts .
Th e se
n ew
me thod s
of
d eformation ev en actu ally are u sed ma in ly
a s rap id pro to typ ing te chn iqu es , h ave a
g r ea t n u mbe r o f adv an t a g e s b e caus e the i r
r econ f igurab le char a c ter.

7. Acknowledgements
Th e work repor ted h ere w as an activ ity
in the frame o f the CE EX Ro ma n ia
P rogra m
( CEEX-P-CD
no.
22/10.10.05)
Mod eling, simu lation me th ods and v ir tu a l
ma n uf ac tu ring ba sed on co mmu n ica tion
a nd infor ma tion te chno log y d ed ic a ted to
th e n ew g ener a tion of r econf igur ab le
ma n u f ac tu r ing . The aut h o r s ap p r e ci a t e th e
con tinu ing encour ag emen t and suppor t of
th is progr am.
Bibliography

Fig. 8. Multipoint deformations die [24]

Mu ltipo in t formin g of sh eet me tal h a s
th e fo llowing ch aracteristics: d eformation
of ma terials in MPF is no t as larg e as th at
i n f o r mi n g ; i n - p l a n e f o r c e s a r e s ma l l e r
th an those in for ming and b end ing

1. Hardt, D.E., Siu, T.-S., Cycle to Cycle Manufacturing

Process Control, First Annual SMA Symposium, Singapore, Jan.
2002.;
2. Hardt, D.E., Rzepniewski, A., Pi, A., Cycle-to-Cycle
Feedback Control and its Application to Sheet Metal Forming,
Proceedings of the JSME/ASME International Conference on
Materials and Processing, Oct. 2002;
3. Webb, R.D., Hardt, D.E., A Transfer Function Description
of Sheet Metal Forming for Process Control, ASME Journal of
Engineering for Industry, 1990;
4. Papazian, J., Tools of Change. Mechanical Engineering,
Feb. 2002, pp. 31-40;
5. Hardt, D.E., Norfleet, N.A., Valentin, V.M, Parris, A.,
In-Process Control of Strain in a Stretch Forming Process,
Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 123, octombrie 2001;
6. Valjavec, M. and Hardt, D.E., Closed-loop Shape Control
of the Stretch Forming Process over a Reconfigurable Tool:
Precision Airframe Skin Fabrication, Proceedings of the ASME
Symposium on Advances in Metal Forming, Nashville, Nov. 1999;
7. Socrate, S., Boyce, M.C., A Finite Element Based Die
Design Algorithm for Sheet Metal Forming on Reconfigurable
Tools, Proceedings of the ASME Symposium on Advances in
Metal Forming, Orlando, Nov. 2000;
8. Hardt, D. E., Boyce, M. C., Ousterhout, K. B., Karafillis,
A., Eigen, G. M., A CAD Driven Flexible Forming System for
Three-Dimensional Sheet Metal Parts, Sheet Metal and Stamping

- 48 -

THE ANNALS DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

FASCICLE V, TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE BUILDING, ISSN 1221-4566
2006
Symposium, Int. Cong. and Exp., Detroit, MI, SAE Technical
Paper Series 930282, pp. 6976, 1993;
9. Karafillis, A. P., and Boyce, M. C., Tooling Design in
Sheet Metal Forming using Springback Calculations, Int. J. Mech.
Sci., 34, pp. 113131,1992;
10. Karafillis, A. P., and Boyce, M. C., Tooling and Binder
Design for Sheet Metal Forming Processes Compensating
Springback Error, Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 36, pp. 503526,
1996;
11. Webb, R. D. and Hardt, D. E., A Transfer Function
Description of Sheet Metal Forming for Process Control, ASME J.
Eng. Ind., 113, pp. 4454, 1991;
12. M. Strano, Incremental forming processes: current and
potential applications, SME technical, paper No. MF03-114, 2003;
13. Pohlak, M., Majak, J. & Kyttner, R. Manufacturability
Issues in Incremental Sheet Forming, 5th International DAAAM
Baltic Conference "Industrial Engineering Adding Innovation
Capacity of Labour Force and Entrepreneurs" 2022 April 2006,
Tallinn, Estonia;
14. Punoiu, V., Oancea, N., Nicoara, D. Simulation of
Plates Deformation Using Discrete Surfaces, Materials Processing
and Design: Simulation and Application, NUMIFORM, 2004,
OHIO State University, American Institute of Physics 0-73540188-8, pag. 1007-1010;
15. Gavan, E., Paunoiu, V., Dimache, A. Comparative
Study for Single-Curved Plates Forming with Continuous and
Reconfigurable Die-Punch Assembly, Analele Universitii
Dunrea de Jos din Galai, Fasc. V, 2004, pag. 81-85, ISSN 12214566 ;
16. Gavan, E., Paunoiu, V., Dimache, A, Cylindrical
Thick Plate Forming with Reconfigurable Die-Punch Tool,

TMCR, Chiinu, 20035, pag. 400-404, ISBN 9975-99753-2

17. Modiga, M., Dimache, A., Paunoiu, V., Model matematic
al procesului de deformare a tablelor pe dorn, A XXVI-a
Conferin Naional de Mecanica Solidelor, Brila, ISBN 9738132-28-2, pag. 49-54, 2002;
18.
Owodunni, O.O., Diaz-Rozo, J., Hinduja, S.,
Development and Evaluation of a Low-Cost Computer Controlled
Reconfigurable Rapid Tool, Computer-Aided Design and
Applications, 1, 1-4, 2004, 101-108;
19. Papazian, J. M., Anagnostou, E.L., Christ, R. J.,
Hoitsma Jr.D., Ogilvie, P., Schwarz, R.C., Tooling For Rapid
Sheet Metal Parts Production, 6th Joint FAA/DoD/NASA Conf. on
Aging Aircraft, San Francisco, CA, USA, September 16-19, 2002.
20. Hirt, G., Ames, J., Bambach, M. Kopp, R., Forming
strategies and Process modelling for CNC Incremental sheet
forming, Annals of the CIRP, 53, 1, 2004, 203-206.
21. Leach, D., Green, A.J,. Bramley, A.N., Sheet production
without dies or special punches, Metallurgia, 68, 2, 2001, p. FT12;
22. Ambrogio, G., De Napoli, Filice, L., Muzzupappa, M.,
Improvement Geometrical Precision In Sheet Incremental Forming
Processes, Proc. of ESDA04, 7th Biennial conf. on Engrg Systems
Design and Analysis, July 19-22, 2004 Manchester, United
Kingdom;
23. Finckenstein, E.V., Kleiner, M., Flexible Numerically &
Controlled Tool System for Hydro-Mechanical Deep Drawing,
Annals of the CIRP, v40, n1, 1991, p. 311-314;
24. Cai Z.Y., Li, M.Z., Digitized die forming system for sheet
metal and springback minimizing technique, Int J Adv Manuf
Technol (2006) 28: 10891096, p. 1089-1096.

- 49 -

THE ANNALS OF DUNREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY OF GALAI

FASCICLE V

Studiu privind tehnologiile de deformare cu matrite

reconfigurabile
Rezumat
Sistemele reconfigurabile (RMS) de fabricare permit adugarea, nlturarea sau
modificarea unor capabiliti de proces specifice controlului, software-lui sau
structurii mainii pentru a rspunde modificrilor cerute de tehnologie sau de pia.
n domeniul tehnologiilor de deformare plastic se pot identifica cteva astfel de
procedee. n lucrare se prezint o detaliere a acestor tehnologii, cu evidenierea
principalelor avantaje i domenii de aplicaii.

Ein Berichte des Blechs, das Methoden Mit

Reconfigurable Matrize Bildet
Zusammenfassung
Reconfigurable Fertigungssysteme (RMS) sind fr schnelle nderung in der
Anlagenkonfiguration, in ihren Maschinen und in den Kontrollen bestimmt. In
auffangen des Blechs konnte der Formung gekennzeichnet werden eine Anzahl von
solchen Arten Methoden. Im Papier werden diesen Deformation Methoden, ihre
Vorteile und Anwendungen zu unterstreichen analysiert.

- 50 -