Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is a promising
manufacturing process suitable for small batch production.
Furthermore, the material formability is enhanced in
comparison with the conventional sheet metal forming processes,
resulting from the small plastic zone and the incremental
nature. Nevertheless, the further development of the SPIF
process requires the full understanding of the material deformation
mechanism, which is of great importance for the effective
process optimization. In this study, a comprehensive
finite element model has been developed to analyse the state
of strain and stress in the vicinity of the contact area, where the
plastic deformation increases by means of the forming tool
action. The numerical model is firstly validated with experimental
results from a simple truncated cone of AA7075-O
aluminium alloy, namely, the forming force evolution, the
final thickness and the plastic strain distributions. In order to
evaluate accurately the through-thickness gradients, the blank
is modelled with solid finite elements. The small contact area
between the forming tool and the sheet produces a negative
mean stress under the tool, postponing the ductile fracture
occurrence. On the other hand, the residual stresses in both
circumferential and meridional directions are positive in the
inner skin of the cone and negative in the outer skin. They
arise predominantly along the circumferential direction due to
the geometrical restrictions in this direction.The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the
financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
(FCT) under project PTDC/EMS-TEC/1805/2012. The first author is
also grateful to the FCT for the postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/101334/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
