Closed-Loop Control Concept for Kinematic 3D-Profile Bending

Kinematic tube and profile bending processes produce bending contours by the relative movement of single process axes. Tools only need to be adapted to fit the cross-section of the tubular material. While offering a great flexibility in production, kinematic bending processes cause a high part springback and as a result, compensatory methods are needed to achieve target contours. These compensatory methods are generally embedded in bending tables or analytical calculations that in turn are embedded into the process control software. This procedure can cope with known material behavior, as for instance gained through a tensile test of the material batch prior to the bending process. Material variations inside a batch cannot be detected however and cause contour deviations. To counter this error, a closed-loop control system can be used, which can quickly adapt axes' movements to produce target shapes and thus reduce scrap. In this paper, two methods to apply closed-loop control to 3D profile bending will be presented. An indirect approach, using the bending force and torque, and a direct approach, by measuring the profile contour after bending.