Manufacturing and performance of 3D printed plastic tools for air bending applications

In the sheet metal forming industry, rapid tools, especially those made of polymeric materials, are increasingly used for small to medium volume productions, compress times and costs tooling. The present work is aimed at evaluating performance 3D printed tools V-die air bending process. Samples polycarbonate polylactide were characterized through compression tests, using different printing strategies, verify effect parameters on strength materials. FEA simulations performed in order predict state stress strain plastic tools. Polymeric dies then produced repeated V-bending tests sheets. endurance evaluated by analysing changes their surface repeatability angle after springback. results show how materials influence Among various tested configurations, PLA dies, with a pattern 45-90-45 degrees exhibit best performance.