Laserondersteunend incrementeel Omvormen.

Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is a flexible manufacturing process in which sheet metal blanks are gradually formed into sculptured, 3D parts by means of a generic tool styluIntelligent control of this tool allows to incrementally form the sheet in a layer by layer fashion. The process thus does not require any dedicated tooling, making it a versatile solution for prototyping and small series production.In order to allow processing high strength materials or materials with limited formability a laser assisted variant of the process has been developed (LASPIF). In this process a warm spot is generated in the vicinity of the contact between the tool stylus and the workpiece. The LASPIF process has proven to offer advantages in terms of increased formability, reduced inaccuracy due to undesirable elastic springback and reduced process forces. Optimizing the formability and accuracy achievable with LASPIF however requires strategic choice for the many process parameters involved. The proposed research project wants to investigate the relations between the different process parameters and the resulting process output in order to better understand the process mechanisms and to allow systematic optimization of the LASPIF process for a wide range of materials and sheet thicknesses. For this purpose it is necessary to model the process and to systematically explore the influence of the respective process parameters on the part quality, while closely monitoring the resulting material properties.