Formability of aluminum 5083 friction stir welded blank in two-point incremental forming process

In the present study, an attempt was made to analyze the formability of aluminum 5083 fiction stir welded blank through an incremental forming process. Experiments are performed on the joints which were fabricated by optimal welding parameters with 73% strength sufficiency. Firstly, a series of experiments were carried out to compare the formability of welded blank in single-point and two-point incremental forming operations, under different wall angles. Thereafter, an experimental study based on response surface methodology was carried out to find out the effect of incremental forming factors on the dimensional accuracy and minimum thickness. It was found from the results that irrespective of the wall angle, the formability of welded blank (i.e. forming height until occurrence of tear) which formed in two-point incremental forming process is relatively higher than that of single-point incremental forming. Also, statistical analysis revealed that tool rotary speed and step down has a significant effect on the critical thickness, while springback is affected by the sequence of tool rotary speed and feed rate.