ABSTRACT
The deformation mechanism in the incremental sheet forming (ISF) process is a complicated combination of bending, stretching, and shearing. Recent research has focused on the analytical and numerical modeling of the process and established geometrical accuracies as a direct consequence of the dominant deformation mechanism. Conventionally, the process was limited to the forming of sheet metals and alloys. However, for broader industrial use, hybrid ISF processes have been developed, and the scope of the process has increased from metals to composites and polymers. This was only in the first decade of the 20th century that the ISF of polymer sheets was made possible. With the advances in the process, a substantial number of research studies have been carried out to successfully form the polymers and metal composites. A preliminary investigation of the recent literature highlights that metals, polymers, and composites are subjected to a difference in deformation mechanism as far as the ISF process is concerned. Therefore, the present work systematically reports the similarities and differences in the deformation mechanism of metals and polymers in ISF. In addition, the applicability of recently developed variants of the process to form materials other than conventional metals, such as polymers and composites, is also explored in this work.
