In order to improve sheet metal forming work in shipbuilding, this paper focuses on press working, and introduces R&D on a system that outputs detail guidance information for press working based on geometry theory. The system outputs a guidance line of press working on a plate and an ideal target shape after press working. This allows workers to proceed according to guidance lines by using the conventional press machine. The validity of the proposed algorithm is confirmed in numerical simulation in this paper.

This paper consists of 7 chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to explain the background and the purpose of this research as well as the composition of this paper. Chapter 2 reviews related works on sheet metal forming work in shipbuilding, especially on press working. Chapter 3 outlines a theory of lines of curvature. Chapters 4 and 5 are main subjects of this paper. Chapter 4 describes an algorithm for finding an accurate guidance line of press working based on lines of curvature. Chapter 5 introduces the development of a system which implements the above algorithm. In Chapter 6, simulation of press working by a FE method is carried out to confirm the validity of the proposed method. Chapter 7 is a summary of the paper.