Tool and lubrication for negative incremental forming of a commercially pure titanium sheet

The present study has been undertaken in order to investigate the suitable tool and lubricant, which can be employed to form a commercially pure titanium (CP Ti) sheet by negative incremental forming. For the intended purpose, various combinations of tools and lubricants were employed. The effect of each combination of tool and lubricant on the quality of the formed surface was studied by measuring the surface roughness with a surface roughness meter and examining the surface with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Vice versa, interaction between the sheet and tool in the presence of a particular lubricant was examined by conducting energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). It has been concluded that in order to ensure the presence of lubricant at the interface of the sheet and tool, proper surface coating of the sheet-blank is an essential pre-requisite before forming. With the suggested lubrication method, the CP Ti components having good surface quality can be realized by using the surface-hardened high speed steel (HSS) tool and the paste of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) with petroleum jelly in a specific proportion.