ICT-based methodologies for sheet metal forming design: A survey on simulation approaches

Sheet metal forming processes are widely adopted in manufacturing industries and in the recent years there has been a growing demand for sheet metal items with different shapes and characteristics. However, the traditional process is unable to meet the modern industrial requirements, mainly due to the high costs of dies and the long manufacturing time cycles. On the contrary, developing products with high speed, low cost, and high quality is a key issue. Therefore, new methods and technologies to speed up the sheet metal forming process while keeping costs limited are needed. In particular, a key issue is the proper design of the forming process, which can benefit from the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) simulation techniques. This paper investigates the recent trends on ICT-based methodologies for sheet metal forming to identify the foremost research areas whose advancement will lead meeting the modern market's needs.