Development of novel tools for electricity-assisted incremental sheet forming of titanium alloy

As a new flexible forming method, the electricity-assisted incremental sheet forming (E-ISF) provides concentrated local heating to improve the formability and can further expand the application of the incremental sheet forming (ISF) process on conventional “hard-to-form” materials such as titanium alloy. However, E-ISF process is questioned by rough surface integrity of the formed part and severe tool wear. Driven by these challenges, several novel tools have been designed by employing inner water cooling system and rolling tool end design, and the performances were validated by forming Ti6Al4V sheet. Experimental results suggest that the tool with rolling ball end and inner water cooling reduces the surface wear on the tool tip and improves the surface finish of the formed part.