Control of wall thickness distribution by oblique shear spinning methods

A flexible method of forming circumferentially variant wall thickness distributions on the same shape is attempted using two oblique sheet spinning processes. The fundamental strategy entails the inclination of the flange plane of the workpiece during forming. In one type of synchronous dieless spinning, edge-hemmed aluminum blanks are formed for truncated cone shells, by synchronizing the motion of the spherical head roller in the axial and radial directions with the angle of the general purpose mandrel fixed on a bidirectionally rotating spindle. On the other hand, in the other type of force-controlled shear spinning, flat aluminum discs are formed by feeding perpendicularly to the flange plane of the workpiece and maintaining the thrust force along the plane via the roller tool, exerted onto the rotating truncated-cone-shaped die. The estimated wall-thickness distribution based on a simple shear deformation model nearly conformed to the measured thickness distributions of the products formed at several inclination angles of up to 15 degrees in the forming and both spinning methods. The low-cost value-added forming method seems to be practicable not only for metal spinning but also for other incremental sheet forming processes.

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► A flexible method of forming variant wall thickness distributions is proposed.
► Circumferential thickness varies by changing obliquity angle of flange in spinning.
► Major thickness can be calculated in advance based on a shear deformation model.
► Radial displacement of flange can be simply estimated from forming conditions.