Three-dimensional sheet metal continuous forming process based on flexible roll bending: Principle and experiments

To effectively manufacture three-dimensional sheet metal parts with various curvatures produced in small batch quantities, continuous sheet metal forming, a new flexible forming technology is being developed. This process employs an upper flexible roll and two lower flexible rolls as a forming tool, and the shape of a flexible roll can be changed in vertical direction. With the rotation of flexible rolls, the sheet metal is bent in longitudinal and transverse directions simultaneously and is formed continuously. In the present study, the three-dimensional surface of formed part is described by sweep surface based on the characteristic of the forming process and the arc-length parametric equation for describing continuous forming part is developed. The three-roll bending deformation of sheet metal in longitudinal direction is analyzed and the longitudinal curvature equation of the formed part is derived. The shape of flexible roll axis controlled at a number of points is represented by the cubic spline curve and the transverse curvature of the formed part after springback is then calculated piecewise. Typically experiments for forming concave shape surface and saddle-type surface have been performed, the experiment results are measured and analyzed by a binocular stereo vision measurement system, it is demonstrated that the formed surfaces are in good agreement with the desired shapes and the presented equations are useful for the continuous forming process design.