Research on three-dimensional surface parts in multi-gripper flexible stretch forming

Multi-gripper flexible stretch forming (MGFSF) is a novel flexible forming process of sheet metal based on the multi-point forming principle. The straight jaws in traditional transverse stretch forming (TSF) are replaced by several discrete clamping mechanisms on both sides. To help understand the forming characters of MGFSF, spherical and concave-convex parts were selected as the research objects and finite element analyses on TSF and MGFSF were implemented using an explicit nonlinear finite element code. The influence of the transition length on the forming results in MGFSF was also taken into account in the present work. The simulation results reveal that a shorter transition length in MGFSF would result in an easier conformability of the sheet metal to the desired shape as well as a smaller strain variation in the forming zone. It is also found that, compared to TSF, the sheet metal can be formed without transition zone by utilizing MGFSF, which could significantly improve the material utilization and save the manufacturing costs. Finally, experimental validations were conducted on the self-developed MGFSF apparatus and the experimental results show a good agreement with the numerical results.