Wall Thickness Uniformity in ISF of Hydraulic Support: System Design, Finite Element Analysis and Experimental Verification

Uniform wall thickness plays an essential role in avoiding forming failure in incremental sheet forming. However, it is challenging to promote the uniform distribution of wall thickness in single-pass forming of high wall angle and complex three-dimensional thin-walled parts using flexible dieless incremental sheet forming technology. In this article, based on the hydraulic support single-point incremental sheet forming technology, the finite element software is used to simulate and analyze the influence of different support pressure on the wall thickness distribution and the uniform critical angle of single-pass incremental sheet forming truncated pyramid parts. The results show that the hydraulic support can effectively improve the thickness uniformity and critical forming angle. In addition, a single-point increment experiment system of hydraulic support is designed, and the uniform critical angle of wall thickness corresponding to different support pressure is obtained. The experimental results are consistent with the finite element simulation results. Therefore, this article provides guidance for manufacturing high wall angles and complex parts with uniform wall thickness in single-pass incremental sheet forming.