New process for flexible manufacturing of bent parts with variable arbitrary cross section

In accordance to the increasing demands in profile manufacturing the general profile geometries become more and more complex. The complexity is basically characterized by varying cross section geometry along the profile axis as well as a longitudinal curvature. A new process for the flexible manufacturing of curved profiles with variable cross section geometries along the longitudinal axis is introduced. The process is a combination of the incremental profile forming process and a free form bending operation and has a high potential for lightweight construction and energy saving. Beside the description of the process principle and possible machine setups, the potentials of the process are discussed in this article.