INCREMENTAL SHEET SHEET FORMINGIntroductionIncremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) is a technique used to shape sheet metal and is typically used for rapid prototyping. The process begins with a sheet metal attached to the underside of the main body of the ISMF device. A metal rod, which can be a ball, rounded shape or cube, is lowered onto the sheet metal and traced onto the material in the desired shape. Computer software is used to create the desired product and trails are mapped before the process begins. As the rod is traced across the sheet metal, it can either rotate slowly or remain rigid, creating a progressive pressure that builds more and more until the metal dips, forming a dent. This bump is transferred to the metal, forming the desired shape. The process does not crease or create individual dents in the material. It’s a smooth, flowing design technique. Sometimes, with the more rigid devices attached, a cleaner, more obvious path can be observed. The use of a gel or dye is not used as a lubricant in this specific manufacturing technique, unlike similar sheet forming techniques. The name incremental sheet metal forming is self-explanatory and has been kept this way in order to maintain a relatively unbiased stance with respect to the original inventor. Additionally, it can be assumed that having a standard name for a globalized technique greatly facilitates the communication process. This term is also classified as an umbrella term, meaning that it covers a range of converging techniques all achieving similar results. This term incremental sheet metal forming includes single point sheet metal forming, two point sheet metal forming, shear spinning incremental sheet metal forming, and more recently, waterjet incremental sheet metal forming. All technologies...... middle of paper ......es or the western world in general. Works Cited Appleton, M. a. (1984). Forming of sheets in small series using sacrificial tools. 3rd Int. Conf. on rotary working of metals, Kyoto, Japan, 495-511. Edward Leszak. (1964, 8-10). APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DIE-FREE INCREMENTAL FORMING. Retrieved March 31, 2014 from Google Patents: http://www.google.com.au/patents/US3342051 Jong-Jin Park, Y.-HK (2003). Fundamental studies on incrementalism. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 447-453. Kitazawa, K. (1993). Incremental stretch-expansion of sheet metal with CNC. Proceedings of the Fourth CITP, International Academic Press, 1899-1904.WC Emmensa, GS (June 1, 2010). Incremental Sheet Forming Technology – A Brief History. Retrieved March 31, 2014 from the University of Twentie: http://doc.utwente.nl/72547/2/Emmens10technology-av.pdf