Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

DOI 10.1007/s00170-010-2634-2

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

A new sheet metal forming system based on the incremental

punching, part 1: modeling and simulation
Yuanxin Luo & Kai He & Ruxu Du

Received: 17 January 2010 / Accepted: 17 March 2010 / Published online: 14 April 2010
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2010

Abstract With the increasing demand for low-volume and

customer-made products, incremental sheet metal forming
(ISMF), a dieless sheet metal forming process, has become
one of the leading R&D topics in the industry today. We
developed a new ISMF system based on incremental
punching: a sheet metal is formed into the final shape by
a series of small incremental punches. This paper is the first
of the two papers and is focused on the theory. The
theoretical model consists of two parts. First, a mechanics
model is developed to predict the final shape based on the
minimum energy principle. In this model, an initial
geometric surface is formed by the punch positions; then
based on the fact that the energy will drive the sheet metal
to attain its lowest energy position, the geometry of the
final shape is derived. Then, another model is developed to
predict the strain and stress distributions of the part using
the inverse finite element modeling (FEM), also called the
one-step FEM. Several numerical examples are provided. In
the second part of the two papers, the design and the
building of an incremental punching machine, as well as
experiment results are given.

Symbols
S(x,y)
E (S(x,y))
a11
a22
11
12
22
xi,j
yi,j
Sij
Fij
n0
n
(x y z)
(X Y Z)
*
*
x1 ; x2

Keywords Rapid prototyping . Incremental sheet metal

forming . Minimum energy principle . Inverse FEM

R
[u]
[]
[]
[A]
[W]
[]
[m]
[P]
(xk, yk, zk)
rt
G(x, y)
E
v

Y. Luo (*) : R. Du
Institute of Precision Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, SAR, China
e-mail: yxluo@mae.cuhk.edu.hk
R. Du
e-mail: rdu@mae.cuhk.edu.hk
K. He
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology,
The Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
e-mail: Kai.he@sub.siat.ac.cn

X 1; X 2
*

middle surface of the sheet metal

energy of the surface
stretching stiffness in the x direction
stretching stiffness in the y direction
bending stiffness in the x direction
bending stiffness in the x and y directions
bending stiffness in the y direction
grid distance in the x direction
grid distance in the y direction
energy of node i, j
driven force of node i, j
initial normal vector of the node
normal vector of a final state element
initial position of a node
final position of a node
vectors of the first two edges of a element in
initial state
vectors of the first two edges of an element in
final state
translation vector between initial state and
final state
rotation matrix
displacement matrix of a final state element
true strains matrix of a final state element
stress matrix of a final state element
shape matrix of the initial element
the constants matrix
logarithmic strain matrix of an element
rotation matrix of principle strains
material properties matrix
a punch location
radius of the forming tool (mm)
geometric surface
Young's module
Poisson ratio

482

r
s
"p
h0

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

Lankford value
effective stress
effective strain
initial thickness of the blank

1 Introduction
Sheet metal stamping is one of the most commonly used
manufacturing processes. Every day, millions of parts are
formed by stamping. The conventional stamping method is
to form a part in one or several operations [1]. It is very
efficient but is not cost effective for small batch production
parts and/or prototypes as the dies are expensive and time
consuming to make. In recent years, dieless forming
processes, such as laser forming [2], free bending [3],
multi-point forming [4], and the incremental sheet metal
forming (ISMF) [6, 7], received much attention. These do
not depend on special tool and hence is cost effective for
small batch production parts and/or prototypes. In this
paper, we focus on ISMF. As an experienced smith, ISMF
uses a small generic tool to apply a sequence of operations
to deform the sheet incrementally. These small deformations accumulate to form the final shape of the part. As a
result, different parts can be made by a same setup.
According to literatures, a number of ISMF methods have
been developed. From the view of forming tools, many
variations have been explored, but by far the most widely used
tool is a solid hemispherical indenter. From the machine point
of view, the two most common configurations of ISMF are
computer numerical controlled (CNC) ISMF system [8] and
robot ISMF system [9]. The former is based on a CNC
machine while, the later is based on a robot arm. Each has its
advantages and limitations. The CNC-based system is easy
Fig. 1 Working principle of
incremental punching system.
a Without support. b With
support

to use, while using robot-based system is not affected by

friction force and would have a large envelop.
We developed a new ISMF system based on incremental
punching. The system consists of a three-axis CNC system, a
high-speed hydraulic cylinder with a hemispherical indenter
(i.e., the forming tool), and a PC-based CNC control system.
The forming tool provides the forming force to deform the
sheet metal with a constant stoke, while the CNC system
positions the part step by step and layer by layer. The CNC
control system control motions. When forming a part, the
forming tool punches the sheet metal along the contour of
the part punch by punch; when one layer of the part is
completed, the forming tool move down to the next layer,
and the process is completed till all layers are completed.
It should be mentioned that the proposed method does not
use the bottom support as shown in Fig. 1a. In comparison,
most existing ISMF systems use a bottom support, as shown
in Fig. 1b. As a result, the proposed method is simpler,
though the system with the bottom support could give better
accuracy and make more complex parts.
It is interesting to compare the ISMF process and the
shot peening process [5, 11]. In shot peening, the forming
tools are small steel balls about 0.052 mm in diameter
[10]. They impact on the sheet metal thousands of times in
a random manner. In the ISMF process, on the other hand,
the punches are highly structured and controlled by a CNC
machine. Though, both processes provide additional
strength to the formed part.
The key to success application of sheet metal forming
processes is to be able to predict the deformation and the strain/
stress of the part incurred during the forming process. Because
of the complexity of the problem, analytical models and
solutions may not be possible to compute the some processes.
It is possible however to use finite element modeling (FEM).

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

According to literature survey, there are several commercial

FEA software systems available for sheet metal forming
processes, such as ABAQUS, LS-DYNA, PAMSTAMP,
and SUPERFORM. For example, Wang et al. used ABAQUS to simulate only several steps in shot peening forming
[5]. Hong et al. also used ABAQUS to investigate single/
multiple shots impact on the sheet metal [11]. Similarly, these
software systems also can be used for ISMF process. Strano
et al. [12] conducted a FEA simulation of incremental
forming with a spherical punch hammer using PAMSTAMP. He studied the process parameters that affected
the formability and validated the results by experiments.
Yamashita et al. [13] studied the ISMF process using the
dynamic explicit code from a commercial FEA system
DYNA3D. While these studies are successful in simulating some simple cases, the simulations are very time
consuming, since ISMF would take thousands of steps
[14]. In fact, according to our experience using LSDYNA, a simple example would take up to 5 days to
complete on a high-end PC. Apparently, it will be
impractical for shop floor applications.
Some researchers tried to develop their own software
systems to model these complicated forming processes. For
example, Callegari et al. [15] studied the mechanics of two
ISMF processes: one with punch hammer and the other
with rotation tool. In their study, both analytical approximation and FEM are employed. Iseki [16] gave an
approximated analysis and an FEM analysis for the
incremental bulging of sheet metal. Silva et al. [17] studied
the fundamentals of single-point incremental forming using
the membrane model. Martins et al. [18] proposed a model
based on membrane model with bi-directional in-plane
contact friction. He focused on the extreme modes of
deformation that are likely to be found in single-point ISMF.
Raithatha et al. [19] proposed a new method for determining
plastic deformation of sheet metal. However, it can only deal
with a simple case with several forming steps. In short, an
effective model for ISMF process is still a topic of research.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2
presents a method to find the final shape based on minimum
energy principle. Section 3 presents a method to compute the
strain and stress distribution using Inverse FEM. Section 4
describes the implementation procedure. Section 5 gives two
numerical examples. Finally, Section 6 contains conclusions.

483

punch, the punch force is sufficient for the sheet metal to

deform. Punches on different locations will result in different
amounts of deformation. Also, in each punch, the contact
region and the blank holder region are constrained. The rest
of sheet metal beyond the vicinity of the contact area of the
sheet metal are free; however, it may have plastic deformation when its effective stress is large than the yield stress. As
a result, for a single punch, its effect region is not only to the
contact area, but also the region nearby. As the process goes,
the sheet metal attempts to reach a minimum energy state
forming the shape. Figure 2 shows a simple case of two
punches. The thick line is the geometric profile, while the
dash line is the predicted profile. Note that the geometric
profile follows the punch positions, while the predicted
profile is resulted from the minimum energy state of the
sheet metal. This method has been used by a number of
researchers, such as Tang et al. [20].
To model our ISMF process, following assumptions are
made:
(1) In the entire process, the sheet metal is secularly
clamped by the blank holder;
(2) Because the punching takes place in a very short
period of time, the effect of friction due to the contact
between the punch hammer and the sheet metal is
negligible (this assumption is the same as the
conventional one punch stamping);
(3) The initial energy of the sheet metal is zero;
(4) The sheet metal blank can be described by its middle
surface;
(5) The dynamic effect of each punching is negligible
(i.e., the vibration of the sheet metal is negligible);
(6) The volume of the sheet metal is conserved throughout
the process; and
(7) The material will not fracture during the process.
As stated in the previous section, during the ISMF
process, the sheet metal will deform to its lowest energy
state. At the mean time, it must satisfy the boundary
conditions, including the geometric surfaces of punches, as
well as the clamping condition. Accordingly, the final shape
of the surface can be found. To model the mechanics of the
process, we firstly define the energy function of the
deformed sheet metal. Hu et al. [21] defined the energy

Punch

Clamp

2 Finding the final shape based on minimum energy

principle
As abovementioned, the new incremental punching process
can be described as follows: A sheet metal blank is secularly
clamped by a blank holder and is incrementally stretched by
the punch to reach the final shape punch by punch. In each

Geometric profile

Predicted profile

Fig. 2 Illustration of a deformed sheet metal

484

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

function for NURBS surfaces. In this paper, it is utilized to

model deformed sheet metal. Denote the middle surface of

E S x; y


ZZ 
@S T @S
@S T @S
@2ST @2S
@2ST @2S
@2ST @2S
a22
b11

b
a11

b
dxdy
12
22
@x @x
@y @y
@x2 @x2
@x@y @x@y
@y2 @y2

where, a11 is the stretching stiffness in x direction, a22 is the

stretching stiffness in the y direction, 11 is the bending
stiffness in the x direction, 12 is the bending stiffness in the
x and y directions, and 22 is the bending stiffness in the y
direction. These parameters can be calculated based on the
material properties of the sheet metal.
Although Eq. 1 has no analytical solution, it can be
solved numerically. Expressing the surface in discrete grids,
the energy function can then be written in discrete form:
ES a11

the sheet metal as S(x, y); the energy function of the

deformed sheet metal can be represented as follows:

Xn;m  Si1; j  Si; j 2

i; j

xi; j

i; j

xi; j

Xn;m Si; j  Si;j1 2

a22

i; j
yi; j
!2
Xn;m 2  Si; j  Si1; j  Si1; j
b11 
i; j
x2i; j
!2
Xn;m 2  Si; j  Si;j1  Si;j1
b22 
i; j
y2i; j

Xn;m Si1;j1  Si1;j1  Si1;j1 Si1;j1 2
b12
i; j
4xi; j  yi; j
Xn;m Si;j1  Si; j
i; j
yi; j

2

Xn;m  Si; j  Si1; j 2

2
where, n and m are the number of nodes in the x and y
jxi1; j xi1; j j
jyi;j1 yi;j1 j
directions. xi; j
and yi; j
are the
2
2
distances between the nodes in the x and y directions,
respectively (by central difference).
Based on the minimum energy principle, for a point, Sij,
not in its lowest energy state, it will be driven to its lowest
energy state. From Eq. 2, the energy of Sij is:



 !
 
Si1; j  Si; j 2
Si; j  Si1; j 2

E Sij a11
xi; j
xi; j

2 
 !
Si; j1  Si; j
Si; j  Si;j1 2
a22

yi; j
yi; j
!2

2  Si; j  Si1; j  Si1; j
b11 
x2i; j
!2

2  Si; j  Si;j1  Si; j1
b22 
y2i; j


Si1; j1  Si1; j1  Si1;j1 Si1;j1 2
b12
:
4xi; j  yi; j
3

The resulting force on the node is

 
@E Sij
2Si; j  Si1; j  Si1; j
2a11
Fij
@Sij
x2i; j
2Si; j  Si1; j  Si1; j
2a22
y2i; j
2  Si; j  Si1; j  Si1; j
2b11 
x4i; j
2  Si; j  Si;j1  Si;j1
2b22 
y2i; j

Using Eq. 4, the minimum energy state of Sij, can be

found through iterative searching:
Sij t Sij t  1 c  Fij t  1

where, t is the times of iterations, c is a positive constant, the

driven force, Fij, is positive in the positive direction of z.
Note that some points are constrained by the boundary
conditions, including the contacting points of the punch,
and the contacting points to the blank holder. These points
will be invariant in the process. In addition, Eq. 5 assumes
the minimum energy state; Sij, has the same position as Sij
in the x and y directions. This may cause some error.
However, the error shall be small when the forming angle
in the z direction is less than 70. This will be further
discussed in Part 2 of our paper.

3 Finding the strain/stress distribution using inverse

FEM
The other major concern is the strain and stress incurred in
the forming process. Overstress may cause the sheet metal
fracture and hence, shall be avoided. We use the inverse
FEM, also called the one-step FEM, to compute the strains
and the stresses. Different from the conventional FEM, it
simulates the entire sheet metal forming process in one-step
and hence, is very fast, though its accuracy is not as good.
According to literatures, Batoz et al. [22] first developed an
inverse FEM approach with simple triangular shell elements. Lee and Huh [23] introduced a new inverse FEM
approach to predict blank shape and strain distribution.
More recently, Du et al. [24] discussed several important
issues in inverse FEM. Lan et al. [25] derived a new model

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

to predict the thickness strain distribution and Naceur et al.

[26] made some improvements for the inverse FEM. These
research results lay the foundation for our research.
In our ISMF process, the part is formed punch by punch.
In each punch, there is deformation (both plastic and
elastic), stress build-up, and strain hardening. In addition,
the result of each punch is dependent on the previous
punches. However, the final shape of the part shall follow
the minimum energy state. Based on the final shape of the
part, the inverse FEM can predict the thickness strain
distribution with reasonable accuracy. This will be further
discussed in Part 2 of our paper.

485

First, as shown in the figure, the upper element is the

final state and the lower element is taken as the initial
state. The initial state is in the XY plane, and its normal
vector is n0 =(0, 0, 1). On the other hand, the normal vector
of the final state element in the global coordinator is:
*

n X 1  X 2 Kx ; i Ky ; j Kz k
*

where, X 1 and X 2 are the vectors of the two edges of the

final state element. They can be expressed as follows:
*

3.1 The kinematics of the inverse FEM

In order to simplify the problem, it is assumed that the
strain is membrane strain, and the thickness is perpendicular to the sheet metal surface. In addition, the effect of
elastic deformation is negligible. Following the discussion
above, the minimum energy state is used as the final shape.
To find the strain and the stress, the inverse FEM starts
from the final shape and projects the final shape back to the
sheet metal blank. The difference between the projection
and the original shape is caused by the deformation and
hence, can be used to compute the strain and stress.
Figure 3 shows the geometric relation of a typical
element on the final shape and its project (the guess
solution) on the blank. It should be noted that the guess
solution is an approximation of the actual initial states.
The two states is essentially a transformation between the
part coordinate system (x, y, z) (the local coordinate system)
and the original blank coordinate system (X, Y, Z) (the
global coordinate system). Assume the element is a threenode triangle with straight sides (the so-called Constant
Strain Triangle or CST), then, the elongation strain
distribution of the element can be computed as shown
below [27].
Fig. 3 Illustration of the
mapping in the inverse FEM

X 1 J  I hx2  x1 ; y2  y1 ; z2  z1 i
*

X 2 K  I hx3  x1 ; y3  x1 ; z3  z1 i

Moreover, the angels between the two elements in the YZ

plane, , and the XZ plane, , can be described by using the
two normal vectors:


Ky ; Kz  h0; 1i

a arccos 
Ky ; Kz   jh0; 1ij

hKx ; Kz i  h0; 1i
:
jhKx ; Kz ij  jh0; 1ij

b arccos

Though, since n0 is perpendicular to the XY plane, it

cannot be used to compute the angle in the XY plane.
Fortunately, the* angle can be found by using the two
*
vectors x1 and X 1 , which are the first edges of elements in
the initial and the final states.
q arccos

hx2  x1 ; y2  y1 i  hX2  X1 ; Y2  Y1 i
jhx2  x1 ; y2  y1 ij  jhX2  X1 ; Y2  Y1 ij
10

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

Having aligned the finial state element in the XY plane,

the element can be then considered as a 2D element (since
0
zi is 0). In this case, the displacement [u], the true strains
[], and the stresses [] are defined as [27]:
2
3
2
3

s xx
lxx
ux
u
13
; l 4 lyy 5; s  4 s yy 5:
uy
lzz
s zz
Since the element is CST, the displacement will be linear
over the element. The displacements in terms of x and y can
be written as:
ux x; y W1 W2 x W3 y
uy x; y W4 W5 x W6 y

14

where, Wi are the constants.

The displacement of the element can be expressed as:
3 2 0
3
2
ux1
x1  x1
0
6 uy1 7 6 y  y1 7
7 6 1
7
6
6 ux2 7 6 x02  x2 7
7
7
6
6
15
u 6
76 0
7
6 uy2 7 6 y20  y2 7
4 ux3 5 4 x  x3 5
3
uy3
y03  y3

Fig. 4 The flowchart for finding the geometric surface

With the three angles, the rotation matrix can then be

found:
2
3
rxx rxy rxz
R 4 ryx ryy ryz 5
11
rzx rzy rzz
where,
rxx
rxy
rxz
ryx
ryy
ryz
rzx
rzy
rzz

cos cos
sin sin coscos sin
cos sin cos+cos sin
sin sin coscos sin
cos sin
cos sin sincos sin
sin
sin cos
cos cos.

To compute the strain, the coordinate system of the final

state needs to align to the coordinate system of the initial
0
state. This requires the movement Xi expressed below:
0

Xi RXi t

12

where,*Xi, i=1, 2, and 3, are the position of the node in final

state; t is the vector of the translation of the fist node
between final state and the initial state.

Fig. 5 The flowchart for finding the final shape

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

487

Fig. 8 The geometric surface of Example 1

Furthermore, Eq. 16 can be abbreviated to:

u AW 

17

where, [A] is the shape matrix of the initial element and is

the constants matrix. The constants matrix can be solved
using the following equation:


W  A1 u:
18
Based on the definition of strains and displacement, the
element strains can be determined as follows:
2
3 2 @ux 3 2
3
@x
lxx
W2
@uy
6
7
4 lyy 5 4
19
5 4 W6 5:
@y
@u
@ux
y
lzz
W

W
3
5

@x

Fig. 6 The flowchart of for finding the strain and stress distributions

or:
3 2
2
ux1
1
6 uy1 7 6 0
7 6
6
6 ux2 7 6 1
7 6
6
6 uy2 7 6 0
7 6
6
4 ux3 5 4 1
uy3
0

The direction of the principle strains is given by:

f

x1
0
x2
0
x3
0

y1
0
y2
0
y3
0

0
1
0
1
0
1

0
x1
0
x2
0
x3

Fig. 7 The CAD model of Example 1

32
3
W1
0
7
6
y1 7
76 W2 7
7
6
0 76 W3 7
7
7
6
y2 7
76 W4 7
5
4
0
W5 5
y3
W6

2lxy
1
arctan
2
lxx  lyy

so that,
2
16

@y

cos f
m 4  sin f
0

sin f
cos f
0

20

3
0
0 5:
1

Fig. 9 The predicted final shape of Example 1

21

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

Ilyushin's law, the Hill's anisotropic yield criterion can be

written as:
f s s  Ps T  s 2 0

25

where s  s xx s yy s xy  is the Cauchy plane stress,

and s is the equivalent stress. With the Lankford value r,
the anisotropic matrix can be written as:
2
3
r
0
1
 1r
r
1
0 5:
P 4  1r
26
212r
0
0
1r
By using the Hencky proportional deformation theory,
the plastic strain can be obtained as:

Fig. 10 The predicted strain distribution of Example 1

n
o 12
" " P"T

Hence, the principle strain is:

2

3
l1

 

4 l2 5 m1 l m1 T :
l3

22

To express large deformation in sheet metal forming, the

logarithmic strain is usually used. It can be expressed as:
3 2
3
"1
ln l1
" 4 "2 5 4 ln l2 5:
"3
ln l3

"xx
4 "xy
0

"xy
"yy
0

s K "0 "n :

28

In the presented study, only normal anisotropy is taken into

account, and thus, the constitutive relation is as follows:

23

The logarithmic strain in the local coordinator is:

2

where, " "xx "yy "xy . Suppose the material is

subject to the pre-strain constant law as follows:

s T

27

s
P1 "T :
" "0

29

This gives the stress distribution of the part.

4 Implementation procedure

0
0 5 m"mT :
"zz

24

3.2 Material continuation descriptions and stress

As the inverse FEM only considers the initial state and the
final state of the sheet metal, the resultant strain is
independent from the loading history. Thus, the assumption
of proportional loading is applied. According to Hency

The implementation procedure consists of three steps: (1)

finding the geometric surface based on the punch positions; (2)
finding the final shape based on the minimum energy principle
(as given in Section 2), and (3) finding the strain and stress
distribution using the inverse FEM (as given in Section 3).
4.1 Finding the geometric surface
The geometric surface can be obtained based on the
geometric relations of the blank holder, the sheet metal,

Fig. 11 A comparison of experiment and simulation results of Example 1

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

489

and the punch locations. Assume the punch is spherical and

its radius is rt. For a given punch location (xk, yk, zk), the
punch surface is:

r

2
2
2
Tk x; y zk rt 
rt  xk  rt  yk  rt :
30
Given all the punch locations, the geometric surface
G(x, y) can be then determined as:
Gx; y minT1 x; y    Tn x; y

31

where, n is the total number of punches.

In summary, the implementation flowchart is given in
Fig. 4.
4.2 Finding the final shape

Fig. 13 The geometric surface of Example 2

Based on the method given in Section 2, the final shape of

the part can be computed. The inputs include the geometric
surface and boundary conditions, and the output is the final
shape surface, which has the minimum energy position
(Fig. 5).

FEM method, it is necessary to code the final shape as a set

of CST elements. This can be done using commercial FEM
software systems.

4.3 Finding the strain and stress distributions

5 Numerical examples

Based on the inverse FEM method given in Section 3, the

strain and stress distributions can be found using the
flowchart in Fig. 6. Note that in the previous step, the final
shape is known. However, its topological structure has not
been constructed yet. Therefore, before applying the inverse

In order to demonstrate the presented method, two

examples are presented herein. The numerical simulation
results are given in this section, while the experiment
validation will be given in Part 2 of our paper.
In both examples, the material constants and the
geometric parameters of the sheet metal are the same as
listed below:
&
&
&
&
&
&

Fig. 12 The CAD model of the face mask

Stressstrain hardening curve s 576  1:0104 "p

("p is the effective strain)
Lankford value r=1.87;
Initial sheet thickness t0 =1 mm;
Original blank size 300.0300.0 mm;
Poisson's ratio v=0.3; and
Young's modulus E=206.00 GPa.

Fig. 14 The predicted final shape of Example 2

0:23

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

Fig. 15 The predicted strain

distribution of Example 2

5.1 Example 1: a tank

The part is a simple tank as shown in Fig. 7. The top is a
square, while the bottom is a circle. The punch head is
spherical with the diameter of 15 mm. Figure 8 shows its
geometric surface. It is seen that the center of the part is not
being punched. However, the minimum energy model predicts
the final shape just like the design, as shown in Fig. 9.
Moreover, Fig. 10 gives the thickness strain distribution. It is
seen that the highest strain occurs in the four sides of the part.
This result is similar when forming with a die. Also, it is
interesting to see there is a local strain distribution in each
punch location. This is due to the local deformation when the
tool punches on the sheet. A comparison of the design and the
simulation result in Section A-A (refer to Fig. 7) are shown in
Fig. 11. It shows that the simulation matches the design well
except around the edges. The error is caused by the sheet
metal trying to reach the minimum energy state. It can be
reduced by adding the bottom support.
5.2 Example 2: a mask
The second example is a face mask. Figure 12 shows the
CAD model of a face mask, which has many complex

Fig. 16 A comparison of the design and the simulation of Example 2

curves. A spherical punch with its radius of 15 mm was

used. The geometric surface is shown in Fig. 13 and the
predicted final shape is shown in Fig. 14. The predicted
strain distribution is shown in Fig. 15. The computations
take only 2 min to complete in a high-end PC. A detailed
study along the cross section B-B (refer to Fig. 12) is
shown in Fig. 16. It is seen that the simulation matches the
design well except around the edges. Similar to the
previous example, the maximum error between the design
and the simulation is attributed to the blank holding, near
where the sheet metal tries to retain the minimum energy
state. It can be reduced by adding a bottom support.

6 Concluding remarks
This paper is the first of two papers on our new system for
ISMF based on incremental punching. The paper focuses
on the theory. Based on the results presented above, the
following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The presented mechanics model can effectively predict
the final shape of the part, as well as the strain and
stress distributions of the part;

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:481491

(2) The predictions of the final shape are generally

accurate, though a significant error may occur around
the edges near the blank holding positions;
(3) The computation load is low, and
(4) Based on the simulation results, the punch mark will
be small when the feed step and layer thickness are
less than 1 mm.
In practice, the punch positions can be controlled by
CNC machines, and the punch heads can be changed to
optimize productivity. In the next paper, the machine
building and the experiment results are given.
Acknowledgment The presented research is partially supported by a
grant from University Grants Council of Hong Kong under grant No.
44P5014.

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