The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2021) 116:389–401

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07422-7

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Digital twin–based stamping system for incremental bending

Chenghui Zhou 1 & Feifei Zhang 2,3 & Bo Wei 1 & Yangjun Lin 1 & Kai He 2,3 & Ruxu Du 1

Received: 25 November 2020 / Accepted: 3 June 2021 / Published online: 18 June 2021
# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
With the rapid development of science and technology, the traditional manufacturing industry is facing huge pressure and
therefore requires to make changes and to combine new technologies in the situation of the fourth industrial revolution.
Digital twin, which is a virtual representation of a physical object or system across its lifecycle, using real-time data to enable
understanding, learning, and reasoning, is the core technology of industry 4.0. Here in this paper, digital twin is applied in the
deformation of the sheet metals based on the novel incremental bending process. First, the framework of the digital twin-based
stamping system (DTSS) is illustrated, then the experimental related works, including the setup and the working principle, are
presented, and last, DTSS is applied to the incremental bending process to achieve the metal plates with single curvature and
variable curvature, respectively. Results show that the information on the loading path and punch speed can be obtained, and the
real-time data about the punch force and the support force can be compared with the corresponding simulation results in DTSS.
The proposed DTSS is proved to have good accuracy, high efficiency, and good feasibility. DTSS helps to better understand and
judge the working situation of the incremental bending device, and therefore helps to make appropriate decisions on whether to
make adjustments to the novel sheet metal-forming process.

Keywords Digital twin . Incremental bending process . Data mapping . Numerical simulation

1 Introduction

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution led by smart

manufacturing [1]. It aims to support research, develop and
innovate a new generation of revolutionary technologies in the
* Feifei Zhang
ff.zhang@siat.ac.cn industrial field, and transform traditional manufacturing to
smart manufacturing by making full use of the following
Chenghui Zhou methods as much as possible [2]: Combine the technologies
wiethanzhou@mail.scut.edu.cn of informatization and automation; apply bar code, radio fre-
Bo Wei quency identification devices (RFID), QR code, and some
msbowei@mail.scut.edu.cn other mark and indicate technologies in warehouse manage-
Yangjun Lin
ment, intelligent batching, and production tracing, to form a
201810103217@mail.scut.edu.cn system of intelligent auto logistics and product lifecycle man-
agement (PLM); improve the synergy of relevant equipment,
Kai He
kai.he@siat.ac.cn making it possible to produce processes becoming more flex-
ible through the interconnection of equipment; make robot
Ruxu Du
duruxu@scut.edu.cn
and equipment more intelligent using machine vision and ar-
tificial intelligence; and find solutions to save energy, reduce
1
South China University of Technology, Shien-Ming Wu School of consumption, and build green factory by the means of moni-
Intelligent Engineering, Guangzhou, China toring and analyzation of energy and materials consumption.
2
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Digital twin, as one of the indispensable elements of
Sciences, Shenzhen, China Industry 4.0, has aroused the extensive attention of the acade-
3
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Precision Engineering, mia and industry all over the world as a new research field. It
Shenzhen, China is an approach for integrating physical items with virtual
390
counterparts that replicate the operation of real machines [3].
It plays a vital role in improving efficiency, optimizing pro-
duction cycle time, increasing production flexibility, and im-
proving intelligent production performance.
The earliest similar ideas about digital twin could be
searched from NASA’s Apollo project and US Air Force strat-
egy [4, 5]. NASA established identical space vehicles to mir-
ror the real flight data and operating conditions of space vehi-
cles, while the US Air Force applied it into aircraft. But the
insightful digital twin concept was introduced by Michael
Grieves in 2002 at the University of Michigan Executive
Course on Product Lifecycle Management [6, 7]. It contains
three main parts: (a) physical products in real space, (b) virtual
products in virtual space, and (c) the connections of data and
information that tie the virtual and real products together, that
is the link for data flow from real space to virtual space and the
link for information flow from virtual space to real space and
virtual sub-spaces. Tremendous efforts are made by scholars
and researchers to explore digital twin applications in different
fields in recent years.
In the aspect of production, Soderberg et al. [8] mentioned
that digital twin was a system that could use simulation to
realize real-time control and production optimization. They
studied a sheet metal assembly and used a virtual assembly
model to control production and to check errors together with
inspection data. Botkina et al. [9] described a digital twin
scheme for a cutting tool, and recorded tool items, assembly
items, and cutting data. ISO 13399, the current international
information exchange standard, was adopted to realize ex-
change efficiency and communication quality. Data flow at
every stage of manufacturing enabled operators a better un-
derstanding of the cutting process. Zidek et al. [10] presented a
digital twin of smart manufacturing assembly system for the
purpose of dealing with quality production check of belt con-
veyors and an automatized line. They used an RFID reader to
identify products and a vision system to inspect part assembly
completeness and to measure dimension. The proposed way
was limited to an experimental manufacturing assembly sys-
tem and needed further research. Zheng et al. [11] made use of
digital twin technology to build up a welding production line
system based on the actual production line of a local equip-
ment company. Real-time data of production is collected and
monitored, making it possible to map and interact data and
model, and thus realizing interaction between physical and
virtual welding production line. Ma et al. [12] proposed a
production management system aimed at heavy-duty vehicle
gearboxes driven by digital twin, involving design and
manufacturing plans. In this research, Ma was more con-
cerned about production scheduling management, rather than
production machines’ conditions.
In the aspect of fault diagnosis and health monitoring,
Kalpana and Arunachalam [13] put forward a digital twin-
based information sharing platform for grinding process and
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
combined wheel life predictive methods to identify wheel sur-
face condition. The proposed method lacked a discussion
about the integration of physical data and virtual data.
Shangguan et al. [14] developed an executable digital twin-
based framework in the satellite system. They realized seam-
less interactions between the physical space environment and
virtual space and generation of valuable information from col-
lected data, which could monitor, diagnose, and maintain the
satellite system. Luo et al. [15] adopted the advantages of
existing current predictive maintenance methods and present-
ed a hybrid approach based on digital twin and conducted a
study on CNC machine cutting tool life prediction. Liu and
Zhou [16] proposed an application of digital twin technology
in parts wear, and designed parameters of real-time wear de-
tection model for parts and real-time wear detection model
panel, which guaranteed mechanical automation and un-
manned automatic production operate smoothly.
Besides, digital twin was also applied in aircraft assembly
[17], historical masonry buildings [18], medical surgery and
treatment, additive manufacturing [19, 20] and so on. Some
leading companies, such as Siemens, GE, and Ansys, are mak-
ing a difference in this digital twin market.
In reference to the above discussions, no researchers and
scholars have applied digital twin technology into the
stamping process currently. It is undoubtedly that stamping
is one of the important methods for processing formed parts
in the machinery manufacturing industry, and its application
range is very wide, from household appliances and electronic
instruments to the military, marine, automotive, and aerospace
industries [21]. The level of stamping production represents
the level of industrialization of a country to a certain extent.
Stamping is also a complicated process, which involves the
press, the tool, the plastic and elastic deformation of the
forming sheet, the speed of the press, the force of the tool,
and so forth [22, 23]. Thus, in this research, digital twin and
Industry 4.0 elements are introduced to the stamping process
industry.
The traditional stamping process is highly efficient and
accurate and it is widely used for mass production.
However, for some metal plates with complex curvatures used
in aerospace or shipbuilding fields, the required mount is quite
small. The die fabrication cost using the traditional stamping
process to manufacture such metal plates is too high, so the
stamping process is not suitable for small batched production.
Recently, one novel flexible sheet metal forming, called incre-
mental bending process, is proposed to achieve the small
batched metal plates with complex curvature. During the in-
cremental bending process, the deformation of the plate is
achieved by bending step after step at different punching po-
sitions with different punching depths, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
This flexible incremental bending process has great applica-
tion potential in shipbuilding industries. But in the past exper-
iments [24, 25], it is often time-consuming and laborious and
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of incremental bending process
lacks dynamic monitoring of the incremental bending process.
The real-time monitoring and simulation are vital for improv-
ing the bending process flexibility. Digital twin technology
can help manufacturers improve production efficiency, save
production costs, and make it possible for workers to keep
abreast of manufacturing conditions. In a word, for better
displaying pressing machine incremental bending process, a
new concept of digital twin–based stamping system is put
forward and studied.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 presents the frameworks of digital twin–based
stamping system and the connections in the system. For the
sake of investigating the feasibility and validity of digital twin,
experimental implementation is elaborated and application
examples are introduced in Section 3. Section 4 describes
the experimental results and discussion. The conclusion and
future work are summarized in Section 5.
2 Digital twin–based stamping system
Digital twin–based stamping system (DTSS) includes physi-
cal stamping system (PSS), virtual stamping system (VSS),
Fig. 2 Architecture of digital twin-based stamping system (① CNC machine, ② supporting system, ③ computer control system, ④ three-dimension
vision scanning system). a Physical stamping system. b Virtual stamping system
391
and connections between PSS and VSS, as illustrated in Fig.
2. In the system, the model control panel is designed, the
punching demand can be set, the motion of stamping is
shown, the condition of the stamping process is monitored,
and the data can be collected and analyzed. The advantage of
digital twin is that it offers a near real-time linkage between
the physical and digital worlds. As a result, data and informa-
tion displaying in the interface could enable manufacturers to
recognize the novel incremental bending process.
2.1 Physical stamping system
In order to verify, the feasibility of the research framework of
the stamping process based on the digital twin, we made some
modifications to the stamping machine that the previous team
designed and experimented with [25–27]. In general, PSS
mainly includes the following items, a CNC machine, a
supporting system, a computer control system, and a three-
dimension vision scanning system, as shown in Fig. 2. The
computer control system is to control the punch loading path
and supporting system motion according to different incre-
mental bending demands. The other items of PSS are intro-
duced as follows.
392
2.1.1 CNC machine
The CNC machine is composed of a working table and a
vertical column, which can achieve three-dimension motion.
The working table can move along the X and Y direction,
which is controlled by the computer control system. The spin-
dle is installed on the vertical column with a working stroke of
500 mm along the Z direction. The force sensor is mounted on
the punch tool as shown in Fig. 3 for the purpose of collecting
punch force data in different experiments.
2.1.2 Supporting system
The supporting system can move along the X-axial or Y-axial
direction with the motion of the working table controlled by
several motors. The metal plate is installed on the supporting
pillars used by four screws. The cooperation of the screws and
the fixed part on the spherical joint bearing constrains the
metal plate from moving during punching, and can only make
the bearing rotate around the joint center. The distances be-
tween the centers of adjacent columns along the X-axial and
Y-axial are 360 mm and 240 mm, respectively. The distance
can be adjusted according to different stamping demands.
Four tension and compression sensors are mounted to collect
support force data in different stamping cases (denoted as SLR
(sensor left rear), SLF (sensor left front), SRR (sensor right
rear), SRF (sensor right front)). Note that the sensors are one-
dimension strain sensors, collecting force data in Z-axial di-
rection because the magnitude of support force in X and Y
directions can be ignored relative to the force in Z-axial direc-
tion during the incremental bending process.
2.1.3 Three-dimension vision scanning system
Three-dimension vision scanning system (as shown in Fig. 2)
is used to inspect metal plate deformation conditions by means
Fig. 3 Illustration of the sensors
setup on the support pillars. a
Supporting system without metal
plate. b Supporting system with
metal plate. c Setting of the origin
position on the metal plate
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
of scanning the metal plate surface after punching. The system
scanning feedback could provide the result that the error be-
tween target deformed the shape and actual deformed shape is
within tolerance or not. If not, the punch loading path needs to
be amended to achieve the target shape.
2.2 Virtual stamping system
The same scale dimension stamping machine model is built in
the Visual Components software, which is defined as virtual
stamping system (VSS), as shown on the right side of Fig. 2.
When creating a virtual system, we must make sure that it
mirrors their physical counterparts well. As many physical
components as possible should be kept in VSS to reflect the
high fidelity of VSS. The same behavior of the stamping ma-
chine in VSS could be achieved as physical stamping machine
in PSS, which is driven by the physical signals.
2.2.1 Establishment of VSS
High fidelity modeling requires the consistency of both geom-
etry and state between virtual entity and physical entity. The
establishment of digital twin model includes the following
aspects: geometric characteristics, model attributes, motion
logic, and interactive behavior. CNC machine needs to be
considered a series of components to design, construct, and
integrate. In our research on incremental bending based on
digital twin, CNC machine can be divided into the mechanical
system, electrical system, and control system. Mechanical sys-
tem modeling mainly includes punch tool, work table, support
system, and feed system. The attributes of model, such as the
maximum of punch motion stroke, should be carefully de-
fined. Besides, during the incremental bending, different time
periods correspond to the behavior logic of different compo-
nents; for example, after the punch returns to the origin posi-
tion, the support system starts to move along the center.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
Electrical system involves the start/stop of CNC machine,
servo drive, and PLC. The control system controls the speed,
displacement of punch, and support system. The electrical
system and control system are embedded into DTSS. In addi-
tion, the mechanical characteristics of the punch, supports,
and the deformed metal plate are integrated into VSS through
numerical simulation method to make sure the deformation
behavior of the metal plate is the same as that in PSS. Based
on the above principles, all relative conditions are taken into
consideration to fulfill the full-element VSS.
2.2.2 Data mapping
Data mapping mainly includes three parts, data time-series
analysis, data synchronization, and data post-processing.
During the incremental bending process, data mapping is
reflected in the time-series analysis and data synchronization.
The punch force and the compression force on the support
pillars are compared with the virtual and physical data at dif-
ferent punching stages. It is also reflected in the metal plate
deformation comparison of the target metal plate and experi-
mental metal plate after incremental bending is finished based
on data in storage module through 3D scanning system. The
key of real-time synchronization is to connect VSS controller
with the physical PLC. The connection of signals from differ-
ent sensors to the VSS could enable the synchronization of the
stamping machine during the incremental bending. The sensor
signals are connected to PLC service, then links to the Visual
Components software with the OPC UA interface through the
gateway, as shown in Fig. 4. OPC UA is a supplement to the
OPC industry standard already in use and aims to obtain real-
time and historical data by offering a complete, safe, and reli-
able cross-platform architecture. The original intention of
OPC is to enable the unimpeded exchange of information
between different platforms and to achieve zero-cost and
time-consuming seamless connection. The gathered data are
uploaded to DTSS and transform to unified formats based on
data transform algorithms.
2.2.3 Connections between PSS and VSS
Connections between PSS and VSS include data flow and
information flow. Data flow mainly is composed of punch
Fig. 4 Integration from sensors to the Visual Components software
393
force and support compression force, while information flow
consists of punch moving speed, punch displacement in the Z-
axial direction, and path of the working table in the X-axial
and Y-axial direction. Force data of punch and support in PSS
come from sensors sampling, and the corresponding virtual
data in VSS are calculated from numerical simulation based
on the finite element analysis software. In this simulation, the
static implicit method is adopted to achieve accurate results.
The virtual results could be used as a reference in the process
of forming the curved metal plate. Not only relevant kinematic
information but also metal plate deformation along with the
motion of punch can be seen in DTSS. It should be noted that
we use another interface to show the deformation of the metal
sheet over time, for the reason that Visual Components is
unable to integrate the deformation of metal plate into
stamping machine motion and cannot display this part infor-
mation with the motion of the punch. Therefore, a detailed
DTSS Graphical User Interface is shown in Fig. 5. Interface
1 could provide a clear understanding of the metal plate de-
formation for manufacturers. Punch speed information, the
displacement of punch in the Z-axial direction, and the motion
of the working table in the X-axial or Y-axial direction can be
obtained from interface 2 and interface 3, respectively.
Physical and virtual punch force data are exhibited in interface
4. Interfaces 5 and 6 show compression force virtual and
physical data. Data could be saved in the data storage module
for further analysis when the incremental bending is finished.
3 Experimental implementation
During the incremental bending process, when the punch
moves down to press the metal plate according to the punch
loading path, the metal plate is deformed to the target shape.
Different punching positions and punching displacements
lead to corresponding different punching forces and compres-
sion forces.
The speed of the working table moving along the X-axial
and Y-axial directions is set to 1000 mm/min and the
punching speed in the moving up phase is set to 500 mm/
min for the sake of increasing forming efficiency, while the
punching speed in the moving down phase is set to 100 mm/
min in order to keep the stability of forming process.
394
Fig. 5 Illustration of DTSS Graphical User Interface
The material of the metal plate used in the experiments is
Q235. The dimensions of the metal plate are 460 mm × 330
mm, and the thickness is 3 mm. Four holes with a diameter of
6 mm are disposed around the metal plate. The origin position
on the plate is shown in Fig. 3c. The center axis of each hole is
50 mm away from the boundary along the X-axial direction,
and the distance from the center axis of each hole to the
boundary is 45 mm along the Y-axial direction.
The forming type of metal blank could be chosen and the
designed curvature could be set in DTSS according to differ-
ent bending demands. After that, the punch position and
punch depth can be calculated according to the minimum
energy method theory. Virtual data can be obtained from sim-
ulation according to the punch position and punch depth.
Through these procedures, the metal blank would be bent into
the target workpiece step by step.
First, in this study, digital twin–based incremental bending
process is applied in single point punching. The experiment
plan is listed in Table 1, and it should be noted that multiple-
step punching procedures are operated to achieve the required
punching depth in Cases 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 18, and 20. Single-
point punching experiments are used to verify the feasibility
of virtual data obtained from finite element analysis compared
with physical sampling data.
Second, digital twin–based incremental bending process is
used to produce single curvature metal plate. We could know
from single-point stamping that when forming single
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
curvature metal plate, as shown in Fig. 1, we only need to
punch some specific positions along the centerline to obtain
the corresponding curvature. Loading path for forming single
curvature metal plate can be seen in Table 2.
Last, DTSS is applied to form variable curvature metal
plate, and the corresponding loading path is listed in
Table 3. Different from forming single curvature plate, punch
positions are distributed on three strips of the plate (y = −100
mm, y = 0 mm, and y = 100 mm).
During the experiment, all the sensors’ signals will be
shown in DTSS. In the state of punch moving down, punch
force and support compression force should be observed. The
compression can reflect spatial force distribution information.
In the state of punch moving up, the deformation of the plate
can be known from the moment when the punch force disap-
pears and the moment when the pressure on the support re-
mains unchanged. When incremental bending is finished, the
metal sheet deformation condition is also needed to be con-
sidered through the three-dimension vision scanning system.
4 Results and discussion
4.1 Single-point stamping result verification
All the information and data during the incremental bending
process can be saved in the data storage module of DTSS for
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401 395

Table 1 Experiment plans

Case Punching position Punching depth Case Punching position Punching depth
number (mm) (mm) number (mm) (mm)

Case 1 (0,0) 20 Case 11 (0,30) 20

Case 2 (0,0) 40 Case 12 (0,30) 40
Case 3 (0,0) 20/40 Case 13 (0,30) 20/40
Case 4 (0,0) 60 Case 14 (0,30) 60
Case 5 (0,0) 20/40/60 Case 15 (0,30) 20/40/60
Case 6 (50,0) 20 Case 16 (50,30) 20
Case 7 (50,0) 40 Case 17 (50,30) 40
Case 8 (50,0) 20/40 Case 18 (50,30) 20/40
Case 9 (50,0) 60 Case 19 (50,30) 60
Case 10 (50,0) 20/40/60 Case 20 (50,30) 20/40/60

Table 2 Loading path for

forming single curvature metal Punch Punch position/ Punch depth/ Punch Punch position/ Punch depth/
plate number mm mm number mm mm

1 (0,0) 33 4 (−75,0) 32
2 (−26,0) 34 5 (95,0) 30
3 (54,0) 34

further analysis. Single-point stamping experiment cases are
used to verify the feasibility of DTSS. The system can show
six types of key data of the incremental bending and makes
sure that the delay of real-time data is no more than 0.5 s.
Figure 6 displays the comparison between physical and virtual
maximum punch forces in different punch positions. In gen-
eral, the maximum punch forces obtained by simulation are
larger than the data obtained by real sampling, but the error
between them is within an acceptable range, fluctuating about
10%. Figure 7 demonstrates the comparison between the
physical and virtual maximum compression forces of four
supporting pillars. The errors between simulation results and
experiment results are also acceptable. As a result, the punch
force and compression force data acquired by simulation
could be used as the virtual data of DTSS and provide a ref-
erence for bending metal plate with target curvature.
4.2 Application of DTSS for metal plates with
objective curvatures
The metal plates with single curvature can be achieved by
digital twin–based stamping process. From Fig. 8, it also can
be found that punch force distribution when forming single
curvature metal sheet. Results show that there are five times
punching steps in forming single curvature metal sheet. After
the punch leaves the surface of the plate and arrives at the
origin position, the working table moves along the required
loading path in x-axial and y-axial direction, which leads to
the situation that the value of the punch force is at 0 N for
some time. When punching the second position, the second-
punch force is slightly less than the first-punch force because
the second position is near to the first position. The maximum
punch force in the following strokes increases as the punch
moves far away from the initial punch position. When

Table 3 Loading path for

forming variable curvature metal Punch Punch position/ Punch depth/ Punch Punch position/ Punch depth/
plate number mm mm number mm mm

1 (0,−100) 24 6 (−57,0) 29
2 (15,−100) 26 7 (0,100) 70
3 (−26,−100) 27 8 (26,100) 71
4 (0,0) 26 9 (−45,100) 72
5 (25,0) 40
396 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401

Fig. 6 Comparison between

physical and virtual maximum
punch force. a Punch position
(0,0). b Punch position (50,0) c
Punch position (0,30) d Punch
position (50,30)

Fig. 7 Comparison between physical and virtual maximum compression force. a Data of SLF. b Data of SRF. c Data of SLR. d Data of SRR
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401 397

Fig. 8 Punch force data distribution when forming single curvature metal plate

Fig. 9 Compression force data distribution when forming single curvature metal plate
398 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401

Fig. 10 Punch force data when forming variable curvature metal plate

punching to the specific depth, the virtual force data and the not be accurate enough and cannot totally simulate the same
physical force data does not map as well as other positions. plastic and elastic deformation of the metal plate. In addition,
That is because the material model used in the simulation may Fig. 9 shows the compression forces of four supports when

Fig. 11 Compression force distribution when forming variable curvature metal plate
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401 399

Fig. 12 Single curvature metal plate forming. a Comparison of designed forming curve and experimental forming curve at different positions. b The
error between the designed forming curve and experimental forming curve at different positions

forming a single-curvature metal plate. It can be seen that
there are always two supports suffering similar force distribu-
tion. That is because the punching positions are always along
the center line of the metal plate. When the punch moves back
to leave the metal plate, there is still little compression force
(as shown in the marked circle) due to the residual stress
caused by the fixing bolts.
The punch force distribution when forming variable curva-
ture metal sheet is displayed in Fig. 10. To form variable
curvature metal plate, nine punch steps are carried out on the
plate along different punching strips. But when punching
along y = 100 mm, the maximum punch force is clearly less
than the other punch states even though the punch depth is
larger than other depths. That is because the previous
punching steps have already caused the metal plate to deform
to a certain extent.
As can be seen from Fig. 11, the four support pillars show
different force distributions. In state 1, punch positions are far
away from support A and support B compared with support C
and support D, so the compression force of support A and
support B is much smaller than the other two supports. But
in state 3, the situation is just contrary to state1, and support A
and support B undertake more compression force.
Compression force distribution could provide a different view
on metal deformation.
Figures 12 and 13 display the formed single curvature and
variable curvature metal plate from three perspectives. The
errors of single curvature metal plate and variable curvature
metal plate with target shape are 7.4% and 10.5%, and it is
acceptable in metal-forming industry.
5 Conclusion and future work
In this paper, an application framework of DTSS is proposed
to build the interconnection and interoperability between PSS
and VSS. DTSS is used to deform the metal plate with the
objective shape. On the basis of the implementation of digital
twin for the incremental bending process, the key conclusions
are summarized as follows.
1. During incremental bending process, the motion synchro-
nization of the punching machine in PSS and VSS makes
up for the defect that the metal plate can only be checked

Fig. 13 Variable curvature metal plate forming. a Comparison of designed forming curve and experimental forming curve at different positions. b The
error between designed forming curve and experimental forming curve at different positions
400
after punching is completed. Various data are monitored
during the incremental bending process in DTSS.
2. On the basis of real-time punch loading force, supporting
system compression force, and deformation behavior of
the metal plates, the results can help avoid the risk of
failure. As a result, the technology of digital twin could
help humans better understand and judge the working
condition of stamping equipment, and therefore make ap-
propriate decisions on whether to make the adjustment to
the manufacturing process.
The application framework of digital twin for incremental
bending process provides valuable information and ideas for
manufacturers interested in Digital Twin and lays an impor-
tant foundation for practical exploration applied in other areas.
In the Industry4.0, one thing we need to take into serious
consideration is the security and safety of digital twin data in
the system. DTSS will be developed and applied in a large
stamping shopfloor which involves more production devices.
All the related device information will be integrated and
linked to a complete system. Besides, DTSS will be used to
achieve other metal plates with complex curvature such as
saddle-shaped metal plate.
Author contribution Chenghui Zhou wrote the paper and studied the
frameworks of digital twin and carried out the experiments; Feifei
Zhang helped with the framework of the paper and gave some data anal-
ysis and revision suggestions; Bo Wei helped with the experiments;
Yangjun Lin helped with data processing; Kai He provided the experi-
mental condition; Ruxu Du contributed to the main idea of digital twin
applied for incremental bending process.
Funding The research is supported by SIAT-CUHK Joint Laboratory of
Precision Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences and SIAT Innovation Program for
Excellent Young Researchers (2019Y9G031).
Data availability All data generated or analyzed during this study are
included in this published article
Declarations
Ethical approval and consent to participate Not applicable
Consent for publication All authors have read and agreed to the pub-
lished version of the paper.
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
References
1. Cinar ZM., Nuhu AA, Zeeshan Q, Korhan O (2019) Digital twins
for Industry 4.0: a review. Global Joint Conference on Industrial
Engineering and Its Application Areas 2019, 2-3 September 2019,
Gazimagusa, Turkey
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
2. Redelinghuys AJH, Basson AH, Kruger K (2019) A six-layer ar-
chitecture for the digital twin: a manufacturing case study imple-
mentation. J Intell Manuf 31(6):1383–1402. https://doi.org/10.
1007/s10845-019-01516-6
3. Tao F, Liu WR, Liu JH, Liu XJ, Liu Q, Qu T, Hu TL, Zhang ZN
(2018) Digital twin and its potential application exploration.
Comput Integr Manuf Syst 24(1):1–18. https://doi.org/10.13196/j.
cims.2018.01.001
4. Grieves M, Vickers J (2016) Digital twin: mitigating unpredictable,
undesirable emergent behavior in complex systems. Transdiscipl
Perspect Complex Syst:85–113
5. Glaessgen EH, Stargel DS (2012) The digital twin paradigm for
future NASA and U.S. Air Force vehicles. 53rd AIAA/ASME/
ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials
Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii.
6. Grieves M (2014) Digital twin: manufacturing excellent through
virtual factory replication. White paper 1:1–7
7. Grieves M (2005) Product lifecycle management: the new para-
digm for enterprises. Int J Prod Dev 2(1/2):71–84
8. Soderberg R, Warmefjord K, Carlson JS, Lindkvist L (2017)
Toward a digital twin for real-time geometry assurance in individ-
ualized production. CIRP Ann Manuf Technol 66(1):137–140.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2017.04.038
9. Botkina D, Hedlind M, Olsson B, Henser J, Lundholm T (2018)
Digital twin of a cutting tool. 51st CIRP Conference on
Manufacturing Systems. Proc CIRP 72:215–218. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.178
10. Zidek K, Pitel J, Adamek M, Lazorík P, Hosovsky A (2020) Digital
twin of experimental smart manufacturing assembly system for
Industry 4.0 concept. Sustainability 12(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/
su12093658
11. Zheng Y, Yang S, Cheng HC (2018) An application framework of
digital twin and its case study. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput
10(3):1141–1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-0911-3
12. Ma J, Chen HM, Zhang Y, Guo HF, Ren YP, Mo R, Liu LY (2020)
A digital twin-driven production management system for produc-
tion workshop. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 110(5-6):1385–1397.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05977-5
13. Kalpana K, Arunachalam N (2018) A digital twin for grinding
wheel - an information sharing platform for sustainable grinding
process. J Manuf Sci Eng 141(2). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.
4042076
14. Shangguan DS, Chen LP, Ding JW (2020) A digital twin-based
approach for the fault diagnosis and health monitoring of a complex
satellite system. Symmetry 12(8):1307. https://doi.org/10.3390/
sym12081307
15. Luo WC, Hu TL, Ye YX, Zhang CR, Wei YL (2020) A hybrid
predictive maintenance approach for CNC machine tool driven by
Digital Twin. Robot Comput Integr Manuf 65. https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.rcim.2020.101974
16. Xie FC, Zhou ZY (2019) Discussion on the application of digital
twins in the wear of parts. Proceedings of the 9th International
Conference on Computer Engineering and Networks. Adv Intellig
Syst Comput 1143:145–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-
3753-0_15
17. Liang B, Liu W, Liu K, Zhou MD, Zhang Y, Jia ZY (2020) A
displacement field perception method for component digital twin
in aircraft assembly. Sensors 20(18). https://doi.org/10.3390/
s20185161
18. Grigor A, Dario C, Giuliana C (2020) Development of the simula-
tion model for Digital Twin applications in historical masonry
buildings: the integration between numerical and experimental re-
ality. Comput Struct 238:106282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
compstruc.2020.106282
19. Gaikwad A, Yavari R, Montazeri M, Cole K, Bian L, Rao P (2020)
Toward the digital twin of additive manufacturing – integrating
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:389–401
thermal simulations, sensing, and analytics to detect process faults.
IISE Transac 52(11):1204–1207. https://doi.org/10.1080/
24725854.2019.1701753
20. DebRoy T, Zhang W, Turner J, Babu SS (2016) Building digital
twins of 3D printing machines. Scr Mater 135:119–124. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2016.12.005
21. Uriarte L, Zatarain M, Axinte D, Yagüe-Fabra J, Ihlenfeldt S, Eguia
J, Olarra A (2013) Machine tools for large parts. CIRP Ann Manuf
Technol 62(2):731–750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crip.2013.05.009
22. Xu D, Liasi E, Guo WZ, Du RX (2005) Visual comparison of
multiple tonnage signature by using snake skeleton graph.
Mechan Syst Singnal Proc 19:311–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0888-3270(03)00098-0
23. Du RX, Guo WZ, Xu D, Liasi E (2003) Snake skeleton graph: a
new method for analyzing signals that contain spatial information.
Trans ASME 125:294–302. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1590683
24. Dang XB, He K, Zhang FF, Zuo QY, Du RX (2019) Multi-stage
incremental bending to form doubly curved metal plates based on
bending limit diagram. Int J Mech Sci 155:19–30
401
25. Zuo QY, He K, Dang XB, Feng W, Du RX (2017) A novel incre-
mental sheet bending process of complex curved steel plate. J
Manuf Sci Eng 139(11):111005. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.
4037428
26. Zhang FF, He K, Dang XB, Du RX (2018) Experimental and nu-
merical study on one flexible incremental bending process. Int J
Adv Manuf Technol 96(5-8):2643–2655. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s00170-018-1777-4
27. Zhang FF, Zhang J, Zuo QY, Dang XB, He K (2019) Experimental
and numerical study on deformation behavior of doubly curved
metal plates during incremental bending process. Int J Adv Manuf
Technol 104:2739–2750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-
04144-9
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdic-
tional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.