Abstract
The aim of this work is the analysis of laser beam forming (LBF) in the bending of two relevant materials used in the transportation industry—interstitial-free (IF) steel and AA6013 high-strength aluminum alloy. Our experiments and numerical simulations consider two different operating scenarios achieved by varying the laser beam scanning velocity using linear paths. The material behavior during this process is described via a coupled thermomechanical-plasticity-based formulation that allows prediction of temperature profiles and bending angles. Metallography, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction are used for microstructure characterization. In addition, microstress analyses are performed in order to study the stress behavior of the irradiated zones. It is found that LBF mainly induces grain growth and melting in the case of high surface temperatures. Before melting, the materials developed compressive stresses that could be useful in preventing cracking failures. The resulting bending angles are predicted and experimentally validated, indicating the robustness of the model to estimate LBF effects on advanced alloys. The present analysis relating bending angles together with temperature and microstructure profiles along the thickness of the sheets is the main original contribution of this work, highlighting the need for further modeling refinement of the effects of LBF on advanced alloys to include more microstructural properties, such as grain boundary diffusion and surface roughness.
Highlights
Laser beam forming (LBF) is a contactless process for sheet bending of ductile metals, in which a laser beam heats specific zones of a material, generating thermal stresses that exceed its yield strength and inducing plastic deformation that bends the metallic sheet [1]
A wide range of metallic materials have been treated via LBF for bending and welding purposes, e.g., AISI 1010 [5,7,13,14,15] and S275 [8] mild steels, AISI 302 [11,16] and AISI 304 [4,6,11,12,17] stainless steels, AA 6013 aluminum alloy under both annealed and as-welded conditions [18,19], AA 2024-T3 aluminum alloy, and Ti6Al4V titanium alloy [3]
Despite the progress made in this field, there are still some aspects that require further investigation, such as the resulting microstructures obtained for materials processed via LBF under different operating conditions
Summary
Laser beam forming (LBF) is a contactless process for sheet bending of ductile metals, in which a laser beam heats specific zones of a material, generating thermal stresses that exceed its yield strength and inducing plastic deformation that bends the metallic sheet [1]. Other authors have developed scanning strategies to manufacture parts of complex geometries, such as single and multi-run sequences and linear and curved laser paths [3,7,8,9,10,11,12] This kind of forming method has recently become a viable and widespread process to be applied in shaping different metallic components, especially due to the sophistication of laser techniques and their wide availability in various industries. Despite the progress made in this field, there are still some aspects that require further investigation, such as the resulting microstructures obtained for materials processed via LBF under different operating conditions This subject is relevant in many specific applications that usually require control over the integrity of the material after the forming process, e.g., in aerospace, microelectronics, and automotive industries
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