An artificial neural network approach for tool path generation in incremental sheet metal free-forming

This research considers a specific incremental sheet metal free-forming process, which allows for individualized component manufacturing. However, for a reasonable application in practice, an automation of the manual process is mandatory. Unfortunately, up to now, no general tool path generation strategies are available when free-forming processes are to be utilized. On this account, for the investigated driving process, a holistic concept for deriving tool paths for the production of sheet metal parts directly from a digital component model is presented adopting an artificial neural network architecture. Consequently, for the very first time an automated part production is possible in incremental sheet metal free-forming applications. For this, a suitable network input and output structure is designed. Balanced sample data sets are generated for appropriate training. An associated network topology is determined and undergoes a training and testing phase. The influence of different training algorithms, network configurations, as well as training sets have been studied in relation to a feedforward network structure with backpropagation. Finally, the proposed computer integrated manufacturing system is subject to validation and verification by automated sheet part production, which is followed by concluding remarks on the capabilities and limits of the concept.