Tool path generation for the five-axis CNC multi-stage incremental forming

Because the intermediate-stage forming surface and the intermediate-stage forming tool path of the complex shape model are difficult to generate, the existing multi-stage CNC incremental forming takes the regular rotary body model or the square model as the research objects, and all adopt the three-axis CNC incremental forming mode. In this paper, a method for generating the intermediate-stage surface by using a longitude line that can reflect the personality of the surface and the five-axis CNC multi-stage incremental forming tool path was proposed. Firstly, the vertexes of the triangular facets of the STL model are used to generate the longitude lines which can reflect the characteristic of the surface, then the longitude lines are offset according to the multi-stage forming strategy and the characteristics of each surface associated with the longitude lines so that the intermediate-stage longitude lines could be generated, and then the intermediate-stage surfaces are built using the intermediate-stage longitude lines. Finally, the cutter location points of each intermediate stage are obtained by cutting the intermediate-stage surfaces, and the postures of the five-axis CNC pressing tool are determined according to the normal vector of the cutter location points. The case studies show that the proposed method can well generate the five-axis CNC multi-stage incremental forming path for the complex shape sheet metal part. The results of the numerical simulation analysis and forming experiments show that the proposed method is applicable.