Spatially Resolved Forming Mechanisms Detection in Single Point Incremental Forming Using Synchrotron Based Texture Analysis

Despite the ongoing success of understanding the deformation states in sheets manufactured by single-point incremental forming (SPIF), the unawareness of the spatially resolved influence of the forming mechanisms on the residual stress states of incrementally formed sheet metal parts impedes their application-optimized use. In this study, a well-founded experimental proof of the occurring forming mechanisms shear, bending and stretching is presented using spatially resolved, high-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction-based texture analysis in transmission mode. The measuring method allows even near-surface areas to be examined without any impairment of microstructural influences due to tribological reactions. The depth-resolved texture evolution for different sets of forming parameters offers insights into the forming mechanisms acting in SPIF. Therefore, the forming mechanisms are triggered explicitly by adjusting the vertical step-down increment Δz for groove, plate and truncated cone geometries. The texture analysis reveals that the process parameters and the specimen geometries used lead to characteristic changes in the crystallites’ orientation distribution in the formed parts due to plastic deformation. These forming-induced reorientations of the crystallites could be assigned to the forming mechanisms by means of defined reference states. It was found that for groove, plate and truncated cone geometries, a decreasing magnitude of step-down increments leads to a more pronounced shear deformation, which causes an increasing work hardening especially at the tool contact area of the formed parts. Larger step-down increments, on the other hand, induce a greater bending deformation. The plastic deformation by bending leads to a complex stress field that involves alternating residual tensile stresses on the tool and residual compressive stresses on the tool-averted side incrementally formed sheets. The present study demonstrates the potential of high-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction for the spatially resolved forming mechanism research in SPIF. Controlling the residual stress states by optimizing the process parameters necessitates knowledge of the fundamental forming mechanism action.