Utility of robotic incremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) in manufacturing of affordable-attritable airframes

Robotic incremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) is an advanced manufacturing technology that has great potential in enabling cost-effective production of unitized, aerospace-grade-airframe assemblies.  The flexibility of the robotic system, the fact that it decouples tooling from material and design (i.e., does not rely on heavy, expensive toolings with long lead times), along with the capability to include other operations (e.g., drilling, cutting, bending, and welding) within the same robotic system, make this technology ideally suited for affordable-attritable airframes.  Both recurring and non-recurring airframe costs can be lowered by deploying this technology while also enabling fast design iterations.  This Phase I effort is aimed at performing a business case study and techno-economic evaluation (dollar value and performance value) of using ISMF technology for manufacturing of unitized, attritable airframes.  A two-pronged approach will be undertaken for this purpose.  First, ISMF will be evaluated as a technology for manufacturing unitized metal parts (e.g., integrated wing spars and ribs).  Second, ISMF will be evaluated as a technology to manufacture metal lattices that can be used as building-blocks to scale and construct lightweight structures with unique functionalities.  Plate lattices, which are superior to truss lattices and can approach the theoretical limit of isotropic elastic stiffness, will specifically be the focus here.  Noting that scalable and cost-effective manufacturing of plate lattices has thus far not been possible using existing manufacturing processes.  The prospect of being able to overcome this manufacturing challenge using robotic ISMF is extremely intriguing as it can open up new opportunities in lattice-based airframe design.