A new approach for toolpath programming in Incremental Sheet Forming

Because of involved means and process implementation, toolpath generation is a key topic linked to incremental sheet forming. Process characteristics ask for specifically dedicated toolpaths. This paper firstly evaluates the impact of toolpath type and of other programming parameters on process implementation through an experimental campaign performed on a parallel kinematics machine tool. Then, a new approach to perform Intelligent CAM programmed toolpaths is proposed. This innovative toolpath programming concept is based on toolpath optimization thanks to real time tool force evaluation made into CNC controller. A feasibility study is finally achieved in a conclusive way.