Repeatability of multipass laser forming of sheet materials

Abstract

Laser forming (LF) of sheet material is a progressive treatment process and have some benefits. Laser forming is a flexible process and need no heavy metal-intensive equipment and tools. Materials with high rigidity, brittle, elastic materials can be treated by laser forming. Therefore, the investigation of LF is important task. An important point to study is repeatability of multipass laser forming of sheet materials and explore of the possibilities of stabilizing process parameters. Actually, this research is aimed at these issues. Methods and results of experimental investigation of repeatability of multipass laser forming of sheet materials on parallel and multidirectional passes are described. A methodical approach of using the VisualWeld software package for modeling the process of multi-pass laser forming has been developed. The mentioned software package was used for modeling as an alternative to a physical experiment to predict sample deformations and determine treating parameters. It has been experimentally established that the repeatability in laser forming is quite high, the difference in the amount of deformation preferably did not exceed 5%. In addition, it is shown that by varying the direction of irradiation trajectories, their step and the number of passes on each trajectory, it is possible to obtain a complex spatial configuration of the product.