Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507

Influence of some relevant process parameters on the dimensional

accuracy in incremental forming: a numerical
and experimental investigation
G. Ambrogio a , I. Costantino b , L. De Napoli a , L. Filice a,∗ ,
L. Fratini b , M. Muzzupappa a
a Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Calabria, Rende (CS), Italy
b Department of Technology, Mechanical Production and Management Engineering, University of Palermo, Italy

Abstract

As known, incremental forming is a flexible and innovative sheet metal forming process which allows complex shape shells forming
without the need for any die.
For these reasons, incremental forming is nowadays suggested for rapid prototyping and customised products.
The present paper is focused on material formability in incremental forming and, in particular, on the evaluation and compensation of
elastic springback. The latter significantly modifies the imposed shape.
For this purpose, a deeper assessment of the process was developed following three different approaches. First of all, a wide experimental
investigation on the influence of some relevant process parameters was developed. At the same time, an explicit FEM analysis of incremental
forming process was carried out in order to verify its effectiveness and, as a consequence, its ability to be used as a design tool. Furthermore,
the obtained parts were analysed by a reverse engineering technique and the measured geometry was numerically compared with the desired
one, with the aim to quantify the geometrical discrepancies.
In this way, an integrated numerical/experimental procedure is proposed in order to limit the shape defects between the obtained geometry
and the desired one.
© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Incremental forming; FEM; Geometrical accuracy

1. Introduction These considerations clearly show that current metal

Along with the traditional stamping processes, which are
nowadays still used in mass productions, several dramatic
changes in the last few decades occurred in order to sat-
isfy new relevant and impellent market demands. Among
them the production of customised products, the increasing
request of processes flexibility and the necessity to reduce
the time to market of the products are probably the most
important. On the other hand, metal stamping processes are
traditionally characterised by relevant equipment capital and
tooling costs and, for this reason, the industrial application
has to be economically justified with large scale productions.
Furthermore, it is not generally possible to fully satisfy the
above mentioned demand of flexibility.
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: abaqus@dtpm.unipa.it (I. Costantino), l.filice@unical.it
(L. Filice), abaqus@dtpm.unipa.it (L. Fratini).
stamping processes may maintain a relevant role in mod-
ern production routings just if cheaper and more flexible
technologies will be developed. In fact, very large research
efforts are spent all over the world in order to achieve
such objectives. Innovative sheet metal forming processes
have been proposed in the last years, opening unexpected
scenarios in the industry: water assisted sheet metal form-
ing processes, such as the hydroforming ones, are only a
relevant example [1].
Incremental forming may constitute a suitable solution,
especially if one or few parts are produced, with a very
simple and cheap approach. In fact, in the simplest pro-
posal, the final component shape is determined by the rela-
tive movement of a small punch with respect to the blank,
rather than by the dies shape. Such processes are usually
carried out on CNC machines, where it is possible to assign
and control the punch movement according to fixed paths
[2].

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.139
502 G. Ambrogio et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507
Nevertheless, incremental forming is not yet a mature
process [3], thus an intensive research activity is performed
moving toward different directions:
• knowledge acquisition on process mechanics;
• very complex shapes forming;
• incremental forming drawbacks reduction.
The first research line is aimed to clarify some aspects
related to the formability enhancing, obtained by using such
a process. In fact, due to the extremely localised deformation
imposed by a spherical tool, a very suitable stress–strain
distribution occurs, extending formability limits well beyond
classical formability curves [4].
An important and industrially suitable research line is
related to the production of complex parts [2]. Such task is
very interesting in some applications, like the reconstruction
of components for which the dies are no more available or,
in turn, the development of functional prototypes, i.e. for
rapid prototyping.
On the other hand, the incremental forming process
suffers of several drawbacks probably because it is an inno-
vative and partially unknown technology. First of all, even
if the modern machines allow to operate with high feed
rates, incremental forming processes are very slow than the
traditional stamping processes, resulting in a very low pro-
duction rate. For this reasons, from an economical point of
view, the break even point is reached for small production
quantities even if the equipment capital costs, as well as the
tooling ones, are very low. Furthermore, although the pro-
cess mechanics is based on a pure-stretching deformation,
some bending zones are not avoidable, close to the clamping
fixture. For this reason a sensible springback is generally
obtained when an incremental forming process is carried
out, compromising, for instance, the geometrical accuracy.
In this paper, the latter phenomenon is accurately taken
into account. First of all a complete experimental campaign
was designed and executed on AA1050-O sheet specimens
at varying of two relevant process parameters, i.e. the tool
diameter and the tool pitch.
In the same conditions the process has been numerically
simulated by using a modern explicit finite element code.
The deformed geometry of the experimental parts have
been acquired by using a laser-based scanning technique
which allows to rebuild the surfaces, starting from a cloud
of points. In this way, the main discrepancies between the
actual part and the desired one have been calculated and
compared with the ones predicted by the numerical code.
A very good agreement between the numerical prediction
and the actual geometry has been pointed out. Furthermore,
the possibility to develop a design strategy in order to min-
imise the shape errors on the part obtained by incremental
forming is foreseen; actually such a strategy involves sev-
eral further considerations and, as discussed in the coming
sections, a preliminary approach is proposed as a conclusion
of this work.
2. The experimental campaign
The research activity was carried out through the two fol-
lowing phases: first of all a set of experiments, characterised
by different geometrical conditions, were performed by us-
ing a properly designed equipment, able to clamp the sheet
metal during the process. Subsequently, after the deforma-
tion process, the obtained shape was analysed by using a
particular reverse engineering technique (see Section 4).
The experimental campaign was carried out on a 3-axes
controlled milling machine and a cylindrical rotating
punch, with a hemispherical head, was used as a simply
tool (one-point incremental forming). The final shape was
obtained through a proper routine that imposed the tool
trajectory both in the horizontal plane of the milling ma-
chine and in vertical direction, along the Z-axis. In this
way, the punch path determines an almost pure-stretching
deformation mechanics on the material [5].
According to the designed equipment, square sheets
(240 mm × 240 mm), 1 mm thick, were utilised during the
tests. The blank material was AA1050-O, characterised by
the flow rule, calculated by a set of tensile tests:
σ (MPa) = 111ε0.14 (1)
Some previous investigations, have shown that the one-point
incremental forming process behaviour is influenced by the
geometrical process conditions [4]. In particular, the accu-
racy of the final geometry mainly depends on the chosen
tool pitch and tool diameter: at increasing of the tool path
pitch a greater thinning and heavier stretching condition are
obtained together to a worst surface quality. In fact, the de-
formed surface becomes a sort of “stair surface”, since the
whole surface is not directly deformed by the tool action. In
fact the tool jumps some sheet areas. On the other hand, a
small tool diameter concentrates the deformation in a limited
zone of the sheet, improving the precision of the imposed
trajectory.
For these reasons, according to Table 1, the experimental
tests were carried out considering different process set-up, in
order to investigate the geometrical error, measured like the
difference between the obtained shape and the desired one.
All the experiments, characterised by a proper combina-
tion of the above parameters, were carried out considering
the same final shape: in particular, a frustum of pyra-
mid, with 163 mm side (L) and 50 mm height (Hf ), was
taken in account (Fig. 1). At the same time, the cone an-
gle α was fixed equal to 60◦ , which is a very high value,
Table 1
Experimental campaign
Tool diameter (mm) Tool pitch (mm)
Test no. 1 18 2.5
Test no. 2 18 1
Test no. 3 12 1
Test no. 4 12 2.5
 G. Ambrogio et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507
Fig. 1. Sketch of the geometry.
even if the investigated material may support angles up to
65–70◦ .
Fig. 2 shows the part at two different process stages.
3. Numerical analysis of the problem
Incremental forming is a progressive sheet metal forming
operation characterised by large displacement and strains. In
order to simulate such operation utilising the finite element
analysis, two different approaches could be pursued, namely
an implicit model implementing a Lagrangian formulation
or an explicit model [6]. The former approach is charac-
terised by a non-linear equations system solved through an
iterative procedure; the latter is based on the dynamic equi-
librium equation of the considered model: at each step of
the deformation path it requires just the solution of a set
of linear independent equations but, in turn, it results con-
ditionally stable and time increments, lower than a critical
threshold, have to be chosen.
Whatever is the utilised approach, the numerical simu-
lation of an incremental forming operation requires a fully
three-dimensional analysis since no symmetry conditions
can be assumed during the forming process due to the
three-dimensional path given to the punch. As a conse-
quence, the most effective element used in FE analysis is
the shell element. In this way, for each node, both displace-
ments and rotations (i.e. 6 degrees of freedom for each
node) are taken into account. Furthermore, the element is
subjected to both tractions and moments at each step of the
deformation path.
Fig. 2. Two different steps of the process.
503
A particular attention has to be paid to the contact con-
ditions, since the progressive interaction between the punch
and the sheet has to be properly modelled. In other words,
small time increments are required in order to avoid, for
instance, too large penetrations between the rigid surface
modelling the punch and the deforming sheet.
Due to the above considerations, in the present research an
explicit dynamic model was utilised [7]. Such a model per-
mits the development of an accurate contact simulation, with
particular reference to the interactions between the blank
and the punch, due to the very low time increments.
As above described, the explicit models require very small
time increments lower than a critical threshold depending
both on the element dimension and the material behaviour;
in order to overcome such shortcoming which would dra-
matically enlarge the computational time, the punch velocity
is usually artificially increased in order to reduce the total
duration of the numerical simulation. In the present research
a continuous check on the ratio between the kinetic energy
of the model and the deformation one was developed with
the aim to maintain the former within the 10% of the latter.
In this way, any inertia effects which may affect the numer-
ical results is avoided. In particular an artificially increased
punch velocity equal to 5 m/s was fixed.
The sheet was initially meshed with about 5000 shell el-
ements; as far as the utilised shell element was regarded, a
4-node one, characterised by five integration points through
the thickness and hourglass control, was chosen. Further-
more a geometric remeshing algorithm was utilised in order
to reduce element size when the distortion level reached a
maximum value; in other words at the punch arrival the sin-
gle element was subdivided in four ones, and so on. In this
way, the simultaneous contact of several shell elements with
the tool surface allowed the proper modelling of the pro-
gressive deformation impressed to the sheet metal. The use
of such tool permitted a strong computational time saving,
in fact it was obtained a reduction up to about 24 h allowing
to utilise the FEM simulation as an effective design tool.
In Fig. 3 deformed mesh reproducing the investigated
shell shape, obtained utilising a 12 mm punch diameter, is
reported.
504 G. Ambrogio et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507
Fig. 3. Deformed mesh.
4. Acquisition of the actual geometry
One typical application of the reverse engineering tech-
niques consists of the comparison between a manufactured
product and a virtual one. This task becomes very interesting
when it is carried out taking into account the model gener-
ated in the design phase and the obtained product; in such a
way, in fact, it is possible to evaluate the geometrical errors
related to the actual manufacturing process.
A laser-based scanning system as well as a CMM ma-
chine are usually utilised to pursue the above goals. These
technologies are able to supply a file containing a model
representation based on a cloud of points.
In the present research a Minolta Vivid 300 laser scan-
ning system has been used. It is able to rebuild the product
geometry by laser triangulation principle [8] (see Fig. 4).
This technique is based on a laser source which irradiates
a body by a reflected beam. The body diffuse light is then
revealed by a CCD sensor, placed at a known distance from
the laser source. Subsequently, starting from the obtained
CCD image, the spatial coordinates of some surface points
may be calculated.
The utilised set-up consists of the described scanning sys-
tem and a rotating support on which the deformed workpiece
can be univocally placed. In this way any problem due to
the repositioning of the sample is avoided (Fig. 5).
The sheet surface has been accurately opacified by using
a proper varnish since the aluminium alloys show a very
high reflectance.
Fig. 4. The laser triangulation principle.
Fig. 5. The laser-based scanning system set-up.
Once the sample position optimisation has been per-
formed and the acquisition parameters have been chosen,
the virtual comparison has been executed into Parametric
Pro-Verify (V.2001) environment. This module allows the
simultaneous management of both the acquired and the
virtual geometry, evaluating the discrepancies between the
two entities, as shown in the next section.
5. Discussion of the results
As described above, the aim of the paper is the evalua-
tion of the geometrical error that occurs when the one-point
incremental forming process has been run. For this reason,
the clouds of points, acquired by using the above described
technique, have been compared with the expected geometri-
cal model. In the next figures, different sections and view are
reported in order to get an immediate representation of the
discrepancies between the desired and experimental geom-
etry. The latter can be read as shape defects of the obtained
parts. In particular, a transverse section along a symmetry
plane and two different section parallel to the pyramid base,
at 10 and 30 mm from the bottom of geometry, respectively,
are reported for test 1 and test 3, which correspond to the
worst result and the best one, respectively (see Figs. 6 and
7). The continuous line represents the desired surface while
the dotted one is the cloud of points trace.
What is more, a quantitative analysis of the obtained re-
sults was carried out on the basis of the mean root square
error between the two profiles, namely the desired and the
actual one, obtained along a symmetry plane of the part. The
obtained results are reported in Table 2.
Several considerations may be pointed out starting from
the above figures:
1. On the basis of the given shape, a very high discrep-
ancy between the actual geometry and the desired one is
Table 2
MRSE (mm)
Test no. 1 6.70
Test no. 2 6.01
Test no. 3 3.53
Test no. 4 4.59
 G. Ambrogio et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507 505

Fig. 6. Comparison between experimental and ideal geometry: test no. 1.

Fig. 7. Comparison between experimental and ideal geometry: test no. 3.

obtained in correspondence of the intersection between
the oblique walls and the major base of the pyramid. Such
a defect strongly depends on the absence of any support
that may reduce the sheet bending. In fact, the problem is
almost completely resolved by using a proper counter-die
at the edge. Anyway this solution moves the process to-
ward a more complicated one, modifying the basic prin-
ciple on which the incremental forming is based, i.e. the
simplicity.
2. The actual geometry presents some interesting errors also
along the oblique walls. In particular, a sort of distor-
tion is obtained, generating a curvature on the expected
straight sides. This phenomenon is due to the elastic
springback whose effect is lower in correspondence of
the edges, where the geometrical stiffness is higher then
in other areas.
3. Although it is not possible to exactly reproduce the de-
sired geometry, the errors entity may be reduced if the
process parameters are accurately chosen: as shown in
Table 2 a sharper product is obtained if the smaller punch
diameter is adopted and the tool path pitch is reduced
(test 3). The latter choose increases, of course, the pro-
cess time length, since a higher number of concentric
spires, i.e. a longer path, has to be executed.
4. If the bent zone is not taken into account, the average
error is about 1 mm from the ideal surface compared to a
height of 50 mm on a length of about 160 mm. Then, the
error is of course not negligible for many applications,
even if in some cases it may be quietly accepted. Thus a
FEM
Scanner 3D
Fig. 8. Comparison between FEM and experimental geometry: test no. 1.
506 G. Ambrogio et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 501–507
Fig. 9. The modified tool path.
more accurate set-up of the process is strongly required.
In fact, many general mechanical applications require a
tolerance in the coupling of the order of 10−1 mm.
Furthermore, the FEM results have been compared with
the actual geometry of the obtained parts in order to test the
effectiveness of the numerical simulation. In Fig. 8, a com-
parison is reported with reference to two profiles, namely the
FEM and the actual one, obtained along a symmetry plane
of the part (test 1).
A very good overlapping was observed between the FEM
results and the experimental ones, with reference to the
whole experimental campaign; this confirms that the numer-
ical simulation may be considered a suitable design tool as
far as the incremental forming processes are regarded.
As discussed, shape errors in incremental forming opera-
tions characterised by a single point punch are due to the lack
of a counter-die or, more in general, by the absence of a guide
for the deforming sheet metal. On the other hand probably
the most important characteristic of the considered forming
process is the absence of rigid dies; in this way the intro-
duction of a rigid die would make the process more expen-
sive strongly reducing its potential. In the present research,
a simple procedure is proposed to reduce the geometrical
errors affecting the final geometry of the investigated part.
In particular, two different geometric paths were introduced
in the numerical simulation with the aim to obtain a final
deformed mesh closer to the desired geometry. The first one
reproduces the traditional path in which the punch moves
tangentially to the desired surface; in the second path the tool
trajectory is modified introducing an increased initial slope
which is reconjuncted to the former one as shown in Fig. 9b.
In this way, the shape error, due to the bending mechanics,
occurring close to the clamping zone, is strongly reduced.
Not optimised
Optimised
Desired
Fig. 10. Shape error reducing by applying the correcting strategy.
For sake of simplicity, a conical shape was investigated and
the results coming from two different geometric paths were
compared in terms of the mesh profile geometry. The ob-
tained results are shown in Fig. 10: definitively, an improve-
ment was obtained, in fact a final profile much closer to the
desired one was reached.
Of course several decisional variables may be chosen in
order to evaluate the correcting operation and, then, several
operative strategies may be performed.
Anyway, even implementing a very simple correcting
strategy, a significant improvement in terms of product
precision was obtained giving a preliminary proof that the
one-point incremental forming may also be regarded as
a precise forming process, despite its high simplicity and
cheapness.
6. Conclusions
In this paper, the dimensional accuracy of the incremental
forming operations was accurately discussed and analysed
by using and effective experimental technique, highlighting
very relevant discrepancies between the designed surfaces
and the obtained ones.
This shape may be satisfactory predicted by using the
modern FE codes.
One of the most promising way in order to assess incre-
mental forming also as a net-shape forming process seems
to be the design of optimised trajectories that result in more
precise profiles. A preliminary study was presented in this
work.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the grant of the Italian
Ministry for Education, University, and Research (MIUR).
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