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As incremental forming is a relatively new sheet metal forming process, very limited analytical and finite element prediction models are available in literature to study the process mechanics and improve its performance. Thus, most studies involve many trial-and-error iterations to optimize the processing conditions in order to take advantage of high process flexibility and material formability. However, reducing efforts of trial-and-error iterations is of utmost importance to make a process financially viable. Therefore, an FE model is developed and experimentally validated to predict the forming forces involved in incremental micro-forming process. Different mass scaling factors and element-types are used to optimize and develop the model for accurate prediction in the least possible computation time. 

Forming metallurgical phases has a critical impact on the performance of dissimilar materials joints. Here, we shed light on the forming mechanism of equilibrium and non-equilibrium intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in dissimilar aluminum/steel joints with respect to processing history (e.g., the pressure and temperature profiles) and chemical composition, where the knowledge of free energy and atomic diffusion in the Al–Fe system was taken from first-principles phonon calculations and data available in the literature. We found that the metastable and ductile (judged by the presently predicted elastic constants) Al₆Fe is a pressure (P) favored IMC observed in processes involving high pressures. The MoSi₂-type Al₂Fe is brittle and a strongP-favored IMC observed at high pressures. The stable, brittle η-Al₅Fe₂is the most observed IMC (followed by θ-Al₁₃Fe₄) in almost all processes, such as fusion/solid-state welding and additive manufacturing (AM), since η-Al₅Fe₂is temperature-favored, possessing high thermodynamic driving force of formation and the fastest atomic diffusivity among all Al–Fe IMCs. Notably, the ductile AlFe₃, the less ductile AlFe, and most of the other IMCs can be formed during AM, making AM a superior process to achieve desired IMCs in dissimilar materials. In addition, the unknown configurations of Al₂Fe and Al₅Fe₂were also examined by machine learning based datamining together with first-principles verifications and structure predictions. All the IMCs that are notP-favored can be identified using the conventional equilibrium phase diagram and the Scheil-Gulliver non-equilibrium simulations.