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17th International Conference on Metal Forming, Metal Forming 2018, 16-19 September 2018,
17th International Conference on MetalToyohashi,
Forming, Metal
Japan Forming 2018, 16-19 September 2018,
Toyohashi, Japan
A new flexible sheet metal forming method of incremental bending
AManufacturing
new flexible sheet Society
Engineering metalInternational
forming method
Conferenceof incremental
2017, MESIC 2017, bending
28-30 June
2017,
Xiaobing Dang a, Vigo (Pontevedra), Spainb, Ruxu Dua
*, Kai Hebb, Feifei Zhang
Xiaobing Dang *, Kai He , Feifei Zhangb, Ruxu Dua
a,

Costing models forandTechnology,

capacity optimization 1068in ofIndustry Hong4.0: Trade-off
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
a

Department
Shenzhen
b a
of Mechanical
Institutes of Advanced Automation Engineering,
Chinese AcademyThe
of Chinese
Sciences,University
Xueyuan Hong Kong,Shenzhen
Avenue, Kong
andSAR, China
518055, China

between used capacity and operational efficiency

Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1068 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen and 518055, China
b

Abstract A. Santanaa, P. Afonsoa,*, A. Zaninb, R. Wernkeb

Abstract
Flexible sheet metal forming is important a for many
University industrial
of Minho, sectors
4800-058 such asPortugal
Guimarães, shipbuilding, chemical engineering and shell
Flexible
structure sheet metal forming
construction. For thin isandimportant b for many industrial sectors such as shipbuilding, chemical engineering and shell
small sheet metal, incremental
Unochapecó, forming SC,
89809-000 Chapecó, can Brazil
be used. But for thick and large sheet metal, it is
structure construction.
not applicable. For thin
We present and small
a new sheet
flexible metal,
sheet incremental
metal forming forming
method can be used. Butbending
of incremental for thickbased
and large sheet metal,
on minimum it is
energy
not applicable. We present a new flexible sheet metal forming method of incremental bending based
principle. In the presented method, sheet metal is formed by continuous bending operations. The minimum energy principle is on minimum energy
principle. In the presented
used to calculate method, sheet
bending trajectory. In thismetal
paperismultiple
formed tools
by continuous bendingis operations.
bending strategy presented toThe minimum
improve energy
forming principle
efficiency. Theis
Abstract
used to calculate
presented methodbending trajectory.
is tested In this paperprototype.
in a customized multiple tools
A kindbending strategy curvature
of variable is presentedsheet
to improve forming
metal has beenefficiency.
formed. The
The
presented
experimentalmethod
resultsisshow
tested
thatinthea presented
customized prototype.
method A kind
is effective of variable curvature sheet metal has been formed. The
and efficient.
Under the concept
experimental of that
results show "Industry 4.0", method
the presented production processes
is effective will be pushed to be increasingly interconnected,
and efficient.
information based on
© 2018 The Authors. a real time
Published basis and,
by Elsevier B.V. necessarily, much more efficient. In this context, capacity optimization
© 2018
© 2018 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.
B.V.maximization,
goes beyondunder
Peer-review
Peer-review the traditional
under responsibility
responsibility aim ofof
of thecapacity
the scientific
scientific committeeof
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the also for
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17th International organization’s
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onMetal
Metal Forming. and value.
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Indeed, lean management and continuouscommittee
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific improvement of the 17th International
approaches Conference
suggest capacityon Metal Forming. instead of
optimization
Keywords: Bending;
maximization. TheMetal forming;
study Incremental
of capacity forming; Flexible
optimization andsheet metal forming
costing models is an important research topic that deserves
Keywords: Bending; Metal forming; Incremental forming; Flexible sheet metal forming
contributions from both the practical and theoretical perspectives. This paper presents and discusses a mathematical
model for capacity management based on different costing models (ABC and TDABC). A generic model has been
1. Introduction
developed and it was used to analyze idle capacity and to design strategies towards the maximization of organization’s
1. Introduction
value. The trade-off capacity maximization vs operational efficiency is highlighted and it is shown that capacity
Flexible sheet
optimization mightmetal
hide forming is important
operational for many industrial sectors such as shipbuilding, chemical engineering
inefficiency.
andFlexible
shell sheet
structuremetal forming
construction. is For
important for many
example, industrial sectors
in shipbuilding industrysuch as shipbuilding,
forming hull surfacechemical
is one engineering
of the key
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
and shell
processes. structure
The hull construction.
surface is For
always example,
complex, in shipbuilding
non-expandable industry
metal forming
plate that is hull surface
streamlined is appearance.
in one of the The
key
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference
processes. The hull surface is always complex, non-expandable metal plate that is streamlined
streamlined surface gives ship good propulsion and minimal resistance. The surface can be divided into two
2017.
in appearance. The
streamlined surface
categories: one givescurvature
is simple ship good propulsion
metal plate usedand minimal
in the middle resistance. The and
of hull surface; surface can be
the other divided curvature
is complex into two
categories: one is simple curvature metal plate used in the middle of hull surface;
Keywords: Cost Models; ABC; TDABC; Capacity Management; Idle Capacity; Operational Efficiency and the other is complex curvature

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 39434237; fax: +852 26036002.
* E-mail
Corresponding
address:author. Tel.: +852 39434237;dangxiaobing@gmail.com
xbdang@mae.cuhk.edu.hk, fax: +852 26036002.
The cost
E-mail of idle
address: capacity is a fundamental
xbdang@mae.cuhk.edu.hk, information for companies and their management of extreme importance
dangxiaobing@gmail.com
in modern©production
2351-9789 systems.
2018 The Authors. In general,
Published it isB.V.
by Elsevier defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
in several©ways:
Peer-review
2351-9789 tons
underThe
2018 of production,
responsibility
Authors. of theby
Published available
scientific
Elsevier B.V.hours of the
committee manufacturing, etc.Conference
17th International The management of the idle capacity
on Metal Forming.
Peer-review under
* Paulo Afonso. responsibility
Tel.: +351 253 510of thefax:
761; scientific committee
+351 253 604 741 of the 17th International Conference on Metal Forming.
E-mail address: psafonso@dps.uminho.pt

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
2351-9789 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 17th International Conference on Metal Forming.
10.1016/j.promfg.2018.07.355
 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305 1299
2 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

metal plate used in the bow and stern. Hull surface should be designed to satisfy hydro dynamic requirement. This
would reduce water resistance and increase ship speed. But it’s still a big challenge to turn designed model into real
product.
In practical application, hull surface is welded by different small pieces of sheet metal. Forming these kinds of
sheet metal become a fundamental aspect. One of the widely used methods is line heating [1]. It uses heat induced
thermal stress to bend sheet metal. The heating source is usually gas torch, which is moved along designed trajectory
with a cooling gun to enhance temperature gradient. This technique requires a small number of equipment. However,
the prediction about where to heat is difficult. It is deeply relied on worker’s experience. The process is mainly
conducted by manual labor. It is inefficient. A worker always takes several days to complete a single part. In
addition, repeated heating and cooling will cause heat damage such as recovery and recrystallization. Because of the
heating operation, the worker must suffer from exhaustive heat and air pollution. Most ship yards are trying to find
an alternative method.
In the past several decades, incremental forming [2-4] is intensively developed to carry out flexible sheet metal
forming. It’s a die-less process. Sheet metal is only plastically deformed around forming tool area. Then the local
deformation would expand to whole plate by appropriate forming trajectory. Different kinds of sheet metal can be
formed. The deformation is mainly dominated by shearing and stretching [5]. Its formability is significantly
enhanced [6]. To improve its accuracy and formability, some other variations have been presented, such as laser
assisted incremental forming [7] and two points incremental forming [8, 9].
We have been working on incremental forming for a long time. In 2010, we presented incremental punching [10,
11], in which the sheet metal is formed by continuous small punches. The minimum energy principle is used to
predict the shape of workpiece. The initial shape of workpiece is only determined by punching positions. Due to the
effect of energy, the workpiece would be driven to its lowest energy state, in which its final shape is determined.
Because of constraints of punching tools, the surface of workpiece is not very smooth. In 2014, we presented
another method called water jet incremental forming [12], in which a high-pressure water-jet is used as forming tool.
The surface quality of workpiece is improved. Because the diameter of water-jet is small, very small workpiece with
complex pattern can be formed. The method is also used to form metal bellows [13]. But in incremental forming,
blank holders are used, which in turn, limits its application in thin and small sheet metal. If we use the method to
form thick and large sheet metal, its forming force would be excessively high. In shipbuilding, hull surface is always
thick and large metal plate. Incremental forming is not applicable. We presented a new method called incremental
bending [14-16], in which the sheet metal is bended step by step. Its bending trajectory is generated according to
minimum energy principle. The bending force is minimized as it only bends where it needs to bend.
Following our previous research, this paper investigates the forming trajectory by using more than one bending
tool. Two bending strategies can be used here. One is unconstrained multiple tools bending and the other one is
constrained multiple tools bending. The presented method is tested in a customized prototype. A typical variable
curvature sheet metal is formed. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the forming
principle. Section 3 describes the experimental results. Finally, Section 4 draws the conclusions.

2. Forming principle

2.1. Fundamental theory of incremental bending

Incremental bending is carried out by continuous bending steps. Its detailed description is presented in our
previous paper [14]. We discretize the sheet metal into a series of strips. Then the bending operation is conducted
along these strips as shown in Fig. 1(a). At every step, the bending tool only steps down a little. The sheet metal is
deformed accordingly as shown by the yellow curve. After removal of bending tool springback happens and the
shape recovers a little as shown by the blue curve. This kind of bending and springback repeat until final workpiece
is formed.
Following the forming principle, we have built a prototype as shown in Fig. 1(b). The prototype has three main
parts: the bending tools, the flexible supporting pillars and the vision-based scanner. The bending tools have three
punches that are driven by servo motors. The flexible supporting pillars have 20 pillars that are driven by hydraulic
cylinders. The vision-based scanner is mounted on the top of prototype. It is used to measure the shape of workpiece.
1300 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 3

The scanner (manufacturer: Shenzhen 3DOE Technology Co., Ltd., model: PTS -- S800) is a commercial equipment.
Its accuracy is 0.03-0.08 mm. An individual scanning operation can be finished within 5 seconds.

(a) (b)

Fig. 1. Schematic of incremental bending: (a) basic forming principle and (b) custom-built prototype.

To get the punching and supporting positions, the energy along every strip is calculated first. It can be described
by Euler-Bernoulli theory,

2
𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 1 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥,𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡) 2 1 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥,𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡)
𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 = ∫𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 2 � 𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 � � − 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 � � + 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥, 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡)𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥, 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡)� 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 , (1)
1 2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 2

where V is the strip energy, u is the mass per unit length, w(x, t) is the bending curve of strip, E is the Young’s
modulus, I is the second moment of area, q(x, t) is the external force, x is the coordinate along the strip, t is the time,
and interval x1 and x2 are start and end points of strip. The meaning of the equation is very clear. The first term
represents kinetic energy, the second term represents potential energy caused by internal force, and the third term
represents potential energy caused by external force. Because the bending speed is very low, about 200 mm/min, the
bending procedure is regarded as quasi-static deformation. We can ignore the velocity related term and simplify the
equation as,

2
𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 1 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥)
𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 = ∫𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 2 �− 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 � � + 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥)𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤(𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥)� 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 . (2)
1 2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 2

By calculating minimum value of this equation, we can draw a conclusion that if the external force is positive,
the minimum energy point would be the minimum point of the bending curve, and if the external force is negative,
the minimum energy point would be the maximum point of the bending curve. The minimum point is supporting
point, and the maximum point is punching point.

2.2. Multiple tools bending strategies

In actual application, we always use more than one bending tools to carry out forming operation. The advantages
of adding bending tools are obvious. Firstly, the efficiency would be significantly improved. If using only one tool,
one strip is only bended at a time. If using more than one tool, several strips are bended at a time. The forming time
is reduced. Secondly, by adding tools the bending procedure is much more stable. In incremental bending blank
holder is not used. Sheet metal is only supported by flexible supporting pillars. If using only one bending tool and
when the bending position is around the edge of sheet metal, it is very easy to cause plate unstable. The sheet metal
 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305 1301
4 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

would slide away by excessive bending force. The other side of plate would also be tipped up, jumping away from
supporting pillars. By adding more tools, the sheet metal would be more stable.
Two bending strategies can be used for multiple tools bending: one is unconstrained multiple tools bending, and
the other is constrained multiple tools bending.
In unconstrained multiple tools bending, the tools move freely without any constraints in horizontal plane. The
bending trajectory along every strip is calculated individually. We use minimum energy principle to calculate
punching positions along every strip. The calculation procedure is presented in our previous paper [14]. Fig. 2(a)
shows an example. Three strips are discretized, and their punching positions are calculated individually. The three
strips are bended simultaneously as shown by punching sequence number. Because the punching positions along
each strip are calculated only according to minimum energy principle, their x coordinates for the three
corresponding punches may be different at the same step. Step 3 is a case of this condition. In particular, the
numbers of punching position are also different. Strip 1 has 10 punching positions, but Strip 2 has 11 punching
positions. However, the bending tools should be able to move to their corresponding positions simultaneously.
Every tool should be controlled in both x and y direction individually. The three bending tools should have a total of
six degrees of freedom in horizontal plane. This will increase design difficulty for the prototype.
In constrained multiple tools bending, the tools move in horizontal plate with some constrains. The bending
trajectory along every strip is not calculated individually. The interactive geometric information between strips is
also considered. We use minimum energy principle to calculate punching trajectory along one main strip. The
punching trajectories along other strips are calculated according to the punching positions from the main strip and
the interactive geometric information between strips. Let us assume that the bending position along the main strip at
Step i is (xmi, ymi, zmi) and the shape of the designed metal plate is f(x, y). The bending position along other strips are
calculated by:

𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓�𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �

𝑧𝑧𝑧𝑧 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑧𝑧𝑧𝑧 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , (3)
𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓�𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �

where (xoi, yoi, zoi) is the bending position along other strips at Step i. The x coordinates for these strips at Step i can
be selected as the same as that for the main strip. All the punching positions along x direction are the same at the
same step, namely xmi = xoi. The y coordinate is just the strip coordinate, and it is determined by initial strip
discretization. Figure 2(b) shows an example of this case.

Fig. 2. Example of punching positions shown in x-y plane: (a) punching positions for unconstrained multiple tools bending and (b) punching
positions for constrained multiple tools bending.
1302 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 5

The constrained multiple tools bending significantly simplifies design of prototype. Because at a bending step the
x coordinates of punching positions for the three strips are the same, the three bending tools can have a constrained
degree of freedom along this direction. Fig. 3 shows the design of bending tools. The three bending tools are
mounted in a tool holder. The tool holder can take the three tools to move along x direction. At the same time the
three bending tools can move individually along y direction. The three bending tools have a total of four degrees of
freedom. But the prototype can still carry out incremental bending operation.

Fig. 3. Design of bending tools.

3. Experimental results

3.1. Material property tests

The material of sheet metal used in the experiment is stainless steel. We have conducted tensile tests to measure
its mechanical properties. Five samples were prepared. The tests were strictly carried out according to the Chinese
standard GB/T 228.1-2010. The stress and strain curves are plotted as shown in Fig. 4. The evolutions of stress and
strain for the five samples are similar. The stainless steel experiences low proportionality stage and then extends to
work hardening stage. It shows no obvious yield plateau. The yield stress is determined by the conventional 0.2%
proof stress. The Young’s modulus is calculated by least square method. The ultimate stress is just the maximum
stress along the curve. The values for these mechanical properties are listed in Table 1. The average values for the
five samples are also calculated that the Young’s modulus is 109.6 GPa, the yield stress is 322.8 MPa, and the
ultimate stress is 664.6 MPa.

600
σ (MPa)

400
s-1
s-2
200 s-3
s-4
s-5
0
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5
ε
Fig. 4. Stress strain curves plotted from tensile tests.
 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305 1303
6 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

Table 1. Mechanical properties of stainless steel.

Sample No. Young’s modulus Yield stress Ultimate stress

(GPa) (MPa) (MPa)
1 118 329 676
2 100 322 671
3 103 317 661
4 113 323 660
5 114 323 655
Average 109.6 322.8 664.6

3.2. Bending experiment results

The designed sheet metal is a kind of variable curvature surface as shown in Fig. 5. The plate is bended along x
direction. Tts bending curvature varies gradually along y direction. At one side the curvature is small, but at the
other side the curvature is large. The plate size is 900 × 700 × 5 mm. Following the presented method, the sheet
metal is discretized into three strips. The distance between two adjacent strips is 325 mm. The positions of the three
strips lie at y = -325, 0 and 325, respectively.

Fig. 5. Strip discretization of variable curvature sheet metal.

The constrained multiple tools bending strategy is adopted. The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 6(a). The
plate is supported by flexible supporting pillars. Three bending tools are used to conduct the operations. The
bending trajectory is shown in Fig. 6(b). The main strip is the curve y = -325. Its curvature is the largest among the
three strips. Its bending trajectory is shown by the blue points. It is calculated strictly according to minimum energy
principle. The other two bending strips are shown by red and green points. They are calculated by Eq. (3). The
bending points start from the middle of the plate. After first several steps, the bending points alternatively expand to
the two sides of the plate.

(b)

0
-25 tool-1
tool-2
z (mm)

-50 tool-3
-75
-100
400
200 400
0 200
-200 0
-200
y (mm) -400 -400
x (mm)

Fig. 6. Experimental setup in bending variable curvature sheet metal: (a) photo of experimental setup and (b) bending trajectory.
1304 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 7

The bending operation took about 27 minutes. The photo of manufactured workpiece is shown in Fig. 7(a). The
black circles on the plate are marks used in vision scanning. These marks can be easily removed. The bending steps
are strictly controlled. The quality of workpiece is high with smooth surface. No punching dimple or plastic hinge
appears. The surface curvature along y direction varies gradually which is consistent with the designed model.
After finishing the bending operation, the vision-based scanning was followed immediately. We used this device
to scan the part and exported its 3D point cloud. Then the point cloud was converted to CAD model that can be
opened and modified by commercial CAD software. The scanned model is shown in Fig. 7(b).

Fig. 7. Experimental results from variable curvature sheet metal bending: (a) photo of workpiece and (b) scanned 3D model.

To examine the curvature variation, we have measured shapes of five cross-sectional curves along its surface.
The distance between two adjacent curves was 150 mm. Their shapes are shown in Fig. 8. From the figure we can
see that the variation of curvature is obvious. The curvature along y direction varies gradually.

Fig. 8. Experimental results of measured cross-sectional curves along part surface.

Springback is an important phenomenon in sheet metal forming. In incremental bending, workpiece is also
significantly affected by springback. As we can see from Fig. 6 the deepest punch step is about 100 mm. But in Fig.
8 the deepest point on the workpiece is only about 75 mm. Obvious springback happens in the bending procedure.
The springback is one of the main reasons to cause forming error. Prediction for the springback before bending is
important. In addition, feedback can be introduced into forming process. The error can be compensated by
subsequent bending based on scanned results.

4. Conclusions

In this paper, we have presented incremental bending. It is a new flexible sheet metal forming method. Based on
the discussion above, following conclusions can be drawn:
 Xiaobing Dang et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 15 (2018) 1298–1305 1305
8 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

(1) Incremental bending is a highly flexible forming method. It can be carried out by using more than one
bending tool. Several strips can be bent simultaneously, which in turn, improves forming efficiency. Two
strategies can be adopted: one is unconstrained multiple tools bending and the other is constrained multiple
tools bending. The constrained strategy would significantly reduce complexity of prototype. In constrained
multiple tools bending strategy, the trajectory along the main strip is calculated according to minimum
energy principle. The trajectory along other strips is calculated according to that along the main strip and
interactive geometric information between strips.
(2) The constrained multiple tools bending strategy can be successfully used in incremental bending. A kind of
variable curvature sheet metal has been formed by the method. The forming operation takes only 27 minutes.
The quality of final workpiece is high. Its surface is smooth, and no punching dimple or plastic hinge appears.
The change of curvature on the surface is obvious. The experiment results show that the presented method is
effective. It can be used in flexible sheet metal forming.
(3) Several issues still need to be addressed in future work such as springback. Springback is obvious during the
forming procedure. It would affect the forming accuracy. One possible way to improve forming accuracy is
to compensate forming error by subsequent bending based on scanned results.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (2150970) and the Key Cooperative
Program of the Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (172644KYSB20160024). The
authors would like to thank Taian Hualu Metalforming Machine Tool Co., Ltd. for the experiment support.

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