Geometrical deviation of end-of-life parts as a consequence of reshaping by single point incremental forming

Abstract

Putting in place circular economy strategies is an urgent challenge to face. In this scenario, manufacturing processes play a relevant role as efficient material reuse enabler. Scientists have to make an effort either to find new process or to rethink old process to reprocess end-of-life (EoL) component to recover both material and functions. In this paper, single point incremental forming (SPIF) process is used for reshaping sheet metal EoL components. The entire process chain was replicated including both deep drawing process (to imitate the end-of-life component) as well as SPIF operations (to obtain the reshaped components). The geometrical deviation as a consequence of SPIF operations was studied; two different SPIF directions (named inwards and outwards) were analyzed. A wide experimental campaign along with statistical analyses was developed to analyze effects of some geometrical parameters on the observed geometrical deviation. The results are promising as limited distortions were observed and sound components were obtained in all the analyzed process configurations. Despite that, some research is still needed to better standardize the reshaping process and bring it closer to an industrial applicability.