Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering

Manufacture
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Analysis of surface roughness for parts formed by computer numerical controlled incremental
forming
E Hagan and J Jeswiet
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 2004 218: 1307
DOI: 10.1243/0954405042323559

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 1307

Analysis of surface roughness for parts formed by

computer numerical controlled incremental forming

E Hagan and J Jeswiet*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Abstract: Surface roughness tests were performed on computer numerical controlled (CNC)
incrementally formed sheet metal parts using various tool depth increments and spindle speeds. A
non-contact method using white light interferometry was selected to avoid scratching the material
surface. All parts were formed from annealed Al 3003 sheet to a shape with a flat 458 wall section
for testing. A relationship was defined between peak-to-valley roughness and depth increment,
which was then compared to theory for shear forming. The surface quality of modern incremental
methods and shear forming was shown to depend on similar settings, and the defined relationship
allows for knowledgeable control of surface roughness in future work on such applications as
reflective surfaces.

Keywords: incremental forming, surface roughness, sheet metal, shear forming

NOTATION Computer numerical controlled (CNC) incremental

forming of sheet metal components has been studied
r roller tip radius from a variety of different perspectives. Matsubara’s
Ra mean surface roughness ‘backward bulge’ forming method [2] involves forming
Rku kurtosis the convex surface of a shape in a series of contour
Rq r.m.s. roughness passes with a forming tool. Jeswiet and co-workers
Rsk skewness have also studied this method [3] along with an addi-
Rt maximum profile height tional process [4], which is reversed to form the concave
Rtool roughness offset by the tool surface. Kitazawa et al.’s incremental stretch expanding
Rz mean peak-to-valley height method [5] also fits into the category of modern incre-
V feed per revolution mental forming methods, but only symmetrical shapes

z depth increment are capable of being formed since the workpiece rotates
about an axis.
The material presented here reflects research into CNC
1 INTRODUCTION incremental forming of optical surfaces for headlight
components by Jeswiet and Hagan [4]. An automotive
Recent advances in computer technology have stretched parts company requested an optical surface prototype
the boundaries of conventional metal forming. Modern suitable for aluminizing, followed by subsequent lumin-
variations of spinning and shear forming involve the addi- osity and light dispersion tests. The ‘backward bulge’
tion of computer numerical control to these methods. The forming method [2] was reversed due to the importance
advances in this technology are discussed in reference [1]. of surface texture and the burnishing effect of the tool
Incremental forming of sheet metal has been described on the formed surface. The problem with incremental
by Matsubara [2], Jeswiet and co-workers [3, 4], Kitazawa forming is that one side of the sheet metal develops a
et al. [5] and several others. These references are compre- rough surface called an orange peel effect [6]. This
hensive and for this reason details of the mechanics of resulted in a forming process requiring a fixed support
each process will not be discussed extensively in this paper. perimeter for the reflector. It is especially important in
making rapid prototypes to have an idea what surface
The MS was received on 14 January 2004 and was accepted after roughness can be produced for a particular design.
revision for publication on 17 June 2004. References [7] and [8] give examples of rapid prototype
*Corresponding author: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Queen’s
University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. E-mail: jeswiet@me. production where it would be an advantage to know
queensu.ca what the surface roughness would be.
B00404 # IMechE 2004 Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Vol. 218 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture
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1308
A final reflector prototype was successfully formed
using the CNC incremental forming method with a
tool depth increment of approximately 0.07 mm. At the
time, a very small increment was selected within the
capabilities of the milling machine, but the increased
tool travel resulted in the need for a greater manufac-
turing time. Hence, surface roughness was studied as a
function of the tool depth increment. The data collected
provided information about the control of machine
settings needed in the future. Initially a stylus device
was used to measure roughness on the samples, but
scratches were left on the measured surface. White light
interferometry was selected as the test apparatus since
it does not involve contact with the specimen.
2 TEST SPECIMENS
Of the many parts produced, 10 randomly selected
specimens were scanned with a white light interferometer.
Machine settings for each part are presented in Table 1.
The first seven specimens were formed using various
depth increments from 1.3 mm down to 0.051 mm. All
of the tests for depth increment involved a tool rotation
of 96 r/min. This value was selected such that the tool
would roll along the surface as it translated about the
contours. The final three specimens were formed at the
same time as the tool r/min was varied with a constant
depth increment. All tests were performed with a
12.7 mm diameter, a hemispherical tipped forming tool
at an x–y feed rate of 25 mm/s on a flat 458 wall angle.
Figure 1 illustrates the forming tool and depth incre-
ments from a side profile. The rotation of the tool
about its own axis and the tool path contours correspond
to the spindle r/min and feed rate values given in Table 1.
A solid model was developed in Mechanical Desktop,
which allowed for the removal of a 5 cm
3 cm flat
wall section. Importing the file into MasterCAM as an
IGES file, followed by generation of an appropriate
contour tool-path provided a numerical controlled
(NC) code for downloading to the CNC mill.
Removal of flat wall sections was performed using a
plasma cutter, followed by shearing to smooth the
Table 1 Machine settings for the surface roughness specimens
Specimen Step size
number (mm) r.p.m.
1 1.3 96
2 1.0 96
3 0.76 96
4 0.51 96
5 0.25 96
6 0.13 96
7 0.051 96
8 0.51 0 25
9 0.51 1000
10 0.51 2600
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Vol. 218 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture
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E HAGAN AND J JESWIET
Fig. 1 Side view of the forming tool and depth increments
used in forming a simple shape
edges. Tool-path markings run along the length of the
specimen, as shown in Fig. 2. With a stylus profiling
apparatus the roughness measurement would typically
consist of a two-dimensional profile along the measure-
ment direction. However, with the white light interfero-
metry machine a three-dimensional surface scan gives
roughness parameters in three dimensions, both visually
and quantitatively. This gives a good indication of what
occurs with each increment of
z. The scans yield an
output for a 3.6 mm
4.7 mm area.
As a result of forming the sheet metal in increments, a
wavy type surface is produced perpendicular to the tool-
path direction. Each pass of the tool involves following a
constant depth contour and then moving over and down
by the necessary distance for the next contour. Each of
these motions overlaps somewhat with the preceding
one, in a similar manner to shear forming and thread
rolling. Figure 3 presents some of the three-dimensional
output surfaces from white light interferometry for
various depth increments. As the increment decreases
the surfaces are shown to transform from wavy to strictly
roughness without waviness. Corresponding sample
numbers for Table 1 are shown in the upper left of
each picture. Only a few are presented here for visualiza-
tion purposes since the differences are subtle for most of
the collected data.
Feed rate
(mm/s)
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
Fig. 2 Illustration of a removed flat wall section indicating
25
25 tool-path markings and the measurement direction
showing a waviness profile
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 SURFACE ROUGHNESS FOR PARTS FORMED BY CNC INCREMENTAL FORMING 1309

Fig. 3 White light interferometer surface scans of specimen numbers listed in Table 1. Scan dimensions are
3.6 mm
4.7 mm

Fig. 4 Average surface roughness values for tests involving a depth increment on a 458 wall

3 DEPTH INCREMENT TESTS 0.5 to 5 mm over the corresponding depth increment

Results from depth increments of samples 1 to 7 are
presented in Figs 4, 5 and 6. Average roughness, Ra , of
the surfaces increases exponentially from approximately
range of 0.051 to 1.3 mm. Rq , the r.m.s. roughness
shows the same trend.
Conventionally, roughness differs from waviness as
defined by a specified cut-off length in profiling
machines. However, with white light interferometry the
machine determines the average roughness over the
entire 3.6 mm
4.7 mm area without separating wavi-
ness. To look at these two factors separately it would
be necessary to study a two-dimensional profile across
the tool-path with an appropriate cut-off length. All of
the results discussed in this analysis are for surface
roughness values determined over a selected area, and
not for two-dimensional profiles.

4 MEAN PEAK-TO-VALLEY HEIGHT

The plotting maximum, Rt , and average peak-to-valley

heights, Rz , as shown in Fig. 5, give a curve similar to
Fig. 5 Average and maximum peak-to-valley heights for tests the average roughness. In this case, however, the curve
involving a depth increment on a 458 wall is offset approximately 5 mm higher along the y axis.
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1310 E HAGAN AND J JESWIET

Fig. 6 Skewness and kurtosis for tests involving a depth increment

Due to the sinusoidal-type profile across the tool-path,
it is more useful to study the roughness of CNC
incrementally formed parts using Rz . Results could also
be plotted in terms of an increment along the surface,
but they are presented with a depth increment for com-
parison to shear forming theory. If the depth increment
is set as a constant in computer aided manufacturing
(CAM) software and the slope of the wall changes,
then the roughness will also vary accordingly. The wide
range of increments tested gives a useful reference for
predicting the roughness of a formed part on a flat
section.
Two statistical factors that are sometimes used in the
study of surface metrology are skewness and kurtosis.
Skewness is a non-dimensional measure of the symmetry
of the roughness distribution about the mean line.
Kurtosis is also dimensionless, and gives an indication
of the spikiness of the surface. These two factors are
plotted in Fig. 6 for the depth increment tests. Skewness
is shown as a consistently low value between 0 and 0.1,
while kurtosis decreases linearly with an increasing
depth increment. Given the waviness of the surfaces, a
negligible skewness was expected. A larger kurtosis,
with smaller depth increments, comes from the dis-
appearance of the smooth wavy profile, which leaves,
strictly, roughness.
5 SPINDLE SPEED TESTS
Four tool spindle speed values were tested in addition to
the depth increment. Values were selected ranging from 0
to 2600 r/min using the same parameters as the depth
increment tests at a constant increment of 0.51 mm.
The resulting average roughness data are presented in
Fig. 7, showing a change in roughness of 0.1 mm and a
minimum of 1.02 mm at approximately 1500 r/min. Simi-
larly, Fig. 8 shows a 0.7 mm range in peak-to-valley
heights.
Differences in surface finish are noticeable to the
naked eye for various spindle speed values, although
the numerical differences are quite low, as expected.

Fig. 7 Average surface roughness values for tests involving tool r/min on a 458 wall

Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Vol. 218 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture B00404 # IMechE 2004
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 SURFACE ROUGHNESS FOR PARTS FORMED BY CNC INCREMENTAL FORMING
Fig. 8 Average and maximum peak-to-valley heights for tests involving tool r/min on a 458 wall
The changes in texture with various spindle speed
settings are explained by the fact that the forming tool
has some surface defects; it is not a perfect cylindrical
shape or perfectly straight. The tool had a Rockwell
hardness of Rc ¼ 62 and a polished surface. These
factors also affect depth increment tests, but the magni-
tude is negligible for practical purposes.
6 COMPARISON TO SHEAR FORMING
Modern CNC forming methods are very similar to shear
forming. With both the backward bulge forming method
and the reverse process studied here, the material is
deformed by simple shear. The flange region remains
unchanged and the final wall thickness can thus be deter-
mined by simply considering constant volume using the
sine law [3].
A theoretical peak-to-valley height is determined using
the following equation for shear forming as given in
reference [9]:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
V2
Rtshear ¼ r  r2  ð1Þ
4
Fig. 9 Shear forming of a simple cone using a roller-forming
tool
B00404 # IMechE 2004
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1311
This equation makes use of roller radius and feed per
revolution in order to determine overlap of the tool-
path as the workpiece rotates and the tool translates
(see Fig. 9).
A similar equation is presented here for CNC incre-
mental forming:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

z2
Rtinc ¼ r  r2  þ Rtool ð2Þ
4
This involves simply substituting the forming tool radius
for the roller radius and the depth increment for feed per
revolution. This was simply due to empirical observation
of the process and the influence of the tool radius, tool
roughness, depth of increment and sample waviness
upon each other. An additional factor at the end of
equation (2) determines the roughness of the surface
for very small depth increments. Figure 10 compares
data with a theoretical curve given by equation (2) with-
out the Rtool factor. The sets of curves follow the same
shape, but the data are offset upwards along the y axis
by approximately 5 mm. Additional points are shown at
a depth increment of 0.51 mm for Rz measured in the r/
min tests. This gives a better perspective on the relative
effect on surface roughness by varying spindle speed
compared to the depth increment.
The Rtool factor in equation (2) corresponds to the
profile left by the tool after all waviness has been
removed. For depth increment tests this value is approxi-
mately 5 mm on a 458 wall. Equation (1) accounts only
for waviness created by the tool path.
7 CONCLUSIONS
White light interferometry scans of surfaces formed with
various depth increments showed an exponential
increase in the maximum peak-to-valley height as the
increment size decreased. For increments between 0.051
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Vol. 218 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture
1312
Fig. 10 Theoretical and measured profile heights compared
and 1.3 mm the corresponding range of Rz values was
between 5 and 25 mm. These results correspond well
with a surface roughness equation for shear forming
modified to suit CNC incremental forming. Apart from
the waviness there is an additional roughness factor
Rtool that offsets the data upwards by 5 mm from the
theoretical curve.
Average roughness values show the same trend as
peak-to-valley heights for depth increment tests. Due
to the output from the white light interferometry
device the waviness could not be separated from
actual roughness by a specified cut-off length. For this
analysis, the mean peak-to-valley height was shown as
the most important factor due to the wavy tool-path
profile.
Spindle speed tests showed little effect on roughness,
but there was a minimum reached at approximately
1500 r/min. This may be as a result of the tolerance to
which the tool was machined combined with vibration
of the mill head.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the Centre for Automotive Materials
and Manufacturing and the Natural Science and Engin-
eering Research Council of Canada for funding support
of this project. They would also like to thank Alcan for
providing white light interferometry scans of selected
specimens.
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E HAGAN AND J JESWIET
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