Grey Relational Analysis-Based Optimisation of Input Parameters of Incremental Forming Process Applied to the AA6061 Alloy

Sa？etak Incremental forming is mainly based on the deformation occurring locally on sheet metal. A hemispherical head tool deforms the sheet metal progressively, and its path is controlled by means of a CNC machine. Even though the process is a time-consuming one, the cost reduction connected with punches and dies makes this process attractive for rapid prototyping. In single point incremental forming, the quality of formability mainly depends on the forming parameters and the tool path generated. In this study, cone-shaped components were formed from AA6061 alloy sheets with a thickness of 1.15 mm. Factors, such as feed rate, spindle speed, and step depth are considered as input parameters to determine the output response in terms of surface roughness and wall thickness. Taguchi’s technique was used for conducting the experiments with the smallest number of repetitions to evaluate the output. Grey relational analysis was introduced to determine the optimal forming parameters with respect to the output response. The experiments conducted with the optimised parameters show a minimal deviation of 0.15% in the grade value compared to the predicted grade which is acceptable