Technical Paper
Distortion Reduction in Roller Offset Forming using Geometrical Optimization
2024-04-09
2024-01-2857
Roller offsetting is an incremental forming technique used to generate offset stiffening or mating features in sheet metal parts that is well-suited for low volume production. Compared to die forming, roller offsetting can generate more significant distortion resulting from springback after forming. In this work, we use particle swarm optimization to identify the tool path and resulting feature geometry that minimizes distortion. In our approach, time-dependent finite element simulations predict the distortion of each candidate tool path using a quarter symmetry model of the part. A multi-objective fitness function is used to both minimize the distortion measure while constraining the minimal radius of curvature in the tool path. We find that the predicted reduction of distortion in a quarter model appears to be magnified when extended to the full-scale model with the full-scale model showing a greater reduction in part distortion than the quarter-model.