Toolpath Generation for V-Shape Incremental Sheet Forming

This project contains Python code to generate a toolpath for V-shaped incremental sheet forming (ISF). The toolpath is discretized into steps and allows visualizing the path in a 2D plot while exporting the coordinates for use in external applications.

Features

• Generates a toolpath for forming a V-shape with configurable parameters:
• Start and end points (A, B, and O).
• Depth increments per loop.
• Number of steps for discretization.
• Outputs the toolpath coordinates in CSV or Excel format.
• Computes the total path length of the tool.
• Animates the toolpath using matplotlib for visualization.

Requirements

The project requires Python 3.6 or later with the following libraries installed:

• numpy: For mathematical calculations.
• matplotlib: For visualization and animation.
• pandas: For exporting coordinates to files.
• openpyxl: Required if exporting to Excel (.xlsx).
• Install the required libraries using pip:

Code Overview

Input Parameters

• Start and end points: A = (-30, 0) (starting point on the left). O = (0, 0) (center point). B = (30, 0) (ending point on the right). Depth settings: target_depth = 10 (final depth to reach). depth_increment = 0.5 (incremental depth per loop). Discretization: num_steps = 10 (number of steps between each segment of the path).

Output

1. Coordinates:

Coordinates of the toolpath are printed in the console. The toolpath is saved to a CSV (toolpath_coordinates.csv) or Excel file (toolpath_coordinates.xlsx).

2. Visualization:

A 2D plot of the toolpath is displayed. A comet-style animation shows the movement of the tool.

References

[1] Pham, Q.T., Le, H.S., Nguyen, A.T. et al. A machine learning–based methodology for identification of the plastic flow in aluminum sheets during incremental sheet forming processes. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 120, 3559–3584 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-08698-z