Single point incremental forming of tailored blanks produced by friction stir welding

This paper is focused on the single point incremental forming (SPIF) of tailored welded blanks produced by friction stir welding (FSW). Special emphasis is placed on the know-how for producing the tailored blanks and on the utilization of innovative forming strategies to protect the welding joint from the rotating single point-forming tool. Formability of the tailor welded blanks (TWB) is evaluated by means of benchmark tests carried out on truncated conical and pyramidal shapes and results are compared with similar tests performed on conventional reference blanks of the same material. Results show that the combination of SPIF with tailored welded blanks produced by FSW seems promising in the manufacture of complex sheet metal parts with high depths.