Influence of tilted geometry formation on dimensional accuracy and energy consumption using micro-single point incremental sheet forming

Abstract Miniature sheet metal part found their applications in variety of field like medial implants, tooth crowning, electronic parts and for making small drones and there housing. Recently research was focused on producing small scale parts using micro-incremental sheet forming to reduce high investment cost and making it viable for micro-forming industries. Since, no research work was found which examine the energy consumption and dimensional accuracy simultaneously at micro level. AA6061 which has wide range of applications in aerospace engineering, drone industry and biomedical field due to its high strength, durability and malleability has not been formed using micro-single point incremental sheet forming (SPIF). The main objective of current study was to form a miniature tilted geometry of AA 6061 using micro-SPIF technique and assess power and energy consumption during the process. Additionally, the impact of tilt angle on dimensional accuracy was examined. The maximum deviation in roundness and flatness observed at 10° tilt angle were 29 μm and 5 μm respectively. However, the minimum profile accuracy was measured at 2° tilt angle and the tilt angle was found an insignificant parameter regarding deformation energy in micro-SPIF with contribution of only 0.13% of total energy consumption.