Exploring the deformation potential of composite materials processed by incremental sheet forming: a review

Over the past two decades, incremental sheet forming (ISF) has advanced the development of flexible sheet metal forming, especially for small-to-medium volume and customized production. To be suitable for various applications, researchers have explored the deformation potential of different materials, such as metals, polymers, composites, and so forth. For these materials, ISF-formed shapes and performances of the final components including formability, geometric accuracy, surface roughness, strength, and fatigue, etc. have been extensively assessed via analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. This review article attempts to summarize the composite materials that are recognized and processed by ISF so far. Besides, deformation and failure mechanisms and constitutive equations used to describe their mechanical behaviors during ISF are discussed as well. The presented summary is aimed at aiding the ISF researchers in designing and manufacturing composite material components with desirable shapes and performances while providing a reference for future material characterizations related to sheet forming research.