Improved geometric accuracy in single-point incremental forming of aerospace superalloy 625 using Taguchi desirability function analysis

PurposeThis present research aims to identify the optimum process parameters for enhancing geometric accuracy in single-point incremental forming of aviation-grade superalloy 625. Design/methodology/approachThe geometric accuracy has been measured in terms of half-cone-angle, concentricity, roundness and wall-straightness errors. The Taguchi Orthogonal-Array L9 with desirability-function-analysis has been used to achieve improved accuracy. FindingsTo achieve maximum geometric accuracy, the optimum setting having a tooltip diameter of 10 mm, a step-size of 0.2 mm and a tool rotation speed (TRS) of 900 RPM has been derived. With this setting, the half-cone-angle accuracy increases by 42.96%, the concentricity errors decrease by 47.36%, the roundness errors decline by 45.2% and the wall straightness errors reduce by 1.06%. Practical implicationsSuperalloy 625 is a widespread nickel-based alloy, finding enormous applications in aerospace, marine and chemical industries. Originality/valueIt has been recommended to increase TRS, reduce step-size and use moderate size tooltip diameter to enhance geometric accuracy. Step-size has been found to be the governing parameter among all the parameters.