Force prediction for single point incremental forming deduced from experimental and FEM observations

The aim of the study was to establish practical formulae allowing to predict the forces occurring during the single point incremental forming process. This study has been based on a large set of systematic experiments on the one hand and on results of finite elements modeling simulations on the other. This led to analytical formulae allowing to compute the three main components of the force for five selected materials in function of the working conditions (sheet thickness, wall angle, tool diameter, and step down) with a good precision. Moreover, a general model has been deduced, allowing to compute an approximate value for the force for any material, based on knowledge of the tensile strength only.