Manipulating martensite transformation of SS304L during double-sided incremental forming by varying temperature and deformation path

Double-sided incremental forming (DSIF) is a die-less sheet metal forming process capable of fabricating complex parts. The flexibility of DSIF can be used for in-situ mechanical properties alteration, e.g., by controlling deformation-induced martensite transformation of austenitic stainless steels. In this paper, SS304L is deformed using DSIF at three different cooling conditions and two different tool paths to affect the martensite transformation. Additionally, finite element analyses were used to understand the effect of tool paths on springback and plastic strain. Implementing a reforming tool path at the lowest achievable temperature resulted in a martensite volume fraction as high as 95%.