Abstract: Surface quality control of incremental sheet forming is currently one of the hot topics. Aiming at the in-depth investigation on how the process parameters affect the surface quality of incremental forming, typical cone part is selected as the typical case to build the relationship model between scallop height and step size under different shapes of scallop field. A mathematical model is also proposed to evaluate the abrasion effect, which is the function of scallop height, forming angle and tool radius. Investigations have been made on surface profile measurement, roughness analysis under different pre-set scallop heights, original sheet roughness values and frictional conditions, the sensitive level and the mechanisms. The experimental results demonstrate that the main reasons affecting the surface quality of incremental forming parts are ploughing effect and abrasion effect, which can be reduced by rolling friction rather sliding friction.

Key words: Incremental sheet forming, Rolling friction, Roughness, Sliding friction, Surface quality