124 Int. J. Computer Aided Engineering and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Optimisation and formability study of AA5052 through incremental sheet forming Angshuman Baruah*, C. Pandivelan, A.K. Jeevanantham and Subhodeep Das School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore-632014, Tamil Nadu, India Email: rishibaruah74744@gmail.com Email: cpandivelan@vit.ac.in Email: akjeevanantham@yahoo.com Email: sishdeep1522@gmail.com *Corresponding author Abstract: In this paper, a well-organised and optimised methodology, Taguchi-grey relational analysis, is integrated with the experimental results of incremental sheet forming (ISF) process while considering multiple response characteristics. This tactic combines the orthogonal array design of the experiment with grey relational analysis. The main objective of this study is to attain improved formability and depth at fracture and reduced downward force. Grey relational theory is applied to explore the optimum process parameters which optimise the response characteristics. The experiment is executed using Taguchi’s orthogonal L 9 array (3 4 ). Each experiment is executed under diverse settings of input parameters. From the response table, the grey relational grade value for each level of experiment is duly noted. From the analysis, the best combination of forming parameters is found out. These experimental results prove that the suggested method efficiently and effectively improves the forming performance of ISF process. Keywords: aluminium 5052-H32; incremental sheet forming; ISF; Taguchi’s L 9 orthogonal array; grey relational analysis; optimisation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Baruah, A., Pandivelan, C., Jeevanantham, A.K. and Das, S. (2017) ‘Optimisation and formability study of AA5052 through incremental sheet forming’, Int. J. Computer Aided Engineering and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.124–144. Biographical notes: Angshuman Baruah is a Graduate of Mechanical Engineering in the School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, from VIT University. C. Pandivelan is an Assistant Professor (SG) in the School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore. He completed Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Engineering in Production Engineering. He has 12 years of teaching, five years of research experiences and eight publications in the research fields of metal forming and process optimisation. A.K. Jeevanantham is a Professor in the School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore. He completed Bachelor of Engineering in Production Engineering, Master of Engineering in Production engineering and