Research on a hybrid manufacturing technology for improved room temperature formability for aerospace materials

Project aim

The overall aim is to develop and implement a novel process that will allow for the successful combination of SPIF and LMD. To achieve this, bespoke tooling is to be manufactured which will accommodate the production of a tailored preform via LMD and the subsequent SPIF forming of the preform component. 

Project background

Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is an innovative sheet metal forming technology that can achieve higher formability than conventional forming processes, allowing for the cold forming of ‘difficult-to-deform’ materials such as titanium. Its flexibility and low-cost tooling set-up also make it economical for forming asymmetrical components in small batches.

However, a major disadvantage of SPIF is sheet thinning which limits its capabilities and can often lead to premature part failure. The aim of this study is to combine SPIF with laser metal deposition (LMD) to develop tailored preforms for the SPIF process which will allow for optimised thickness distribution in the component, limiting the thinning phenomenon.