Incremental forming by continuous bending under tension—An experimental investigation

The Continuous Bending under Tension (CBT) test has been applied to study aspects of incremental forming. Effects of experimental conditions like speed and bending angle have been studied in particular. The results illustrate an essential aspect of incremental sheet forming (ISF): localized deformation. The actual bending radius is the most important influencing factor and this turns out to be controlled by both the pulling force and the bending angle (depth setting). Material thickness had only a minor effect. The maximum elongation before fracture of mild steel was significantly better than that of aluminium. The material is subjected to additional repetitive bending; this does affect material behaviour in general. The aspects of bending under tension as a governing mechanism in incremental sheet forming are discussed.