Feasibility Study on Flexibly Reconfigurable Roll Forming Process for Sheet Metal and Its Implementation

A multicurved sheet metal surface for a skin structure has usually been manufactured using a conventional die forming process involving the use of both a die and a press machine in accordance with the product shape. However, such processes are economically inefficient because additional production costs are incurred for the development and management of forming tools. To overcome this drawback, many alternative processes have been developed; however, these still suffer from problems due to defects such as dimples and wrinkles occurring in the sheet. In this study, a new sheet metal forming process called the flexibly reconfigurable roll forming (FRRF) process is proposed as an alternative to existing processes. Unlike existing processes, FRRF can reduce additional production costs resulting from material loss and significantly reduce forming errors. Furthermore, it involves the use of a smaller apparatus. The methodology and applicable procedure of the FRRF process are described. Numerical forming simulations of representative multicurved sheet surfaces are conducted using FEM. In addition, a simple apparatus is developed for verifying the feasibility of this process, and a doubly curved metal is formed to verify the applicability of the reconfigurable roller, a critical component in this forming process.