Effects of Process Parameters on Forming Accuracy for the Case of a Laser Formed Metal Plate
Y-J. Shi, P. Yi and J. Hu
The undesirable deformations in laser forming are produced which have an important influence on the forming accuracy of a plate. To control the forming accuracy and optimize the process parameters, the effects of the process parameters on the bending deformation along the heating line, warping deformation and local thickening of heating area are analysed using the three-dimensional (3-D) thermoelastoplastic finite element method (FEM) in the paper. Validation of the numerical simulation is made by the experiments. The numerical results show that the forming accuracy of plate can be improved as the laser power increases. The curvature along the heating line and the relative variation value of bending angle increase, but the variation of the local thickening decreases with the increase of the scanning speed and the spot diameter. The variation trend of the curve along the heating line and the bending angle at a higher temperature is different from that at a lower temperature. Consequently, the process parameters have an important influence on the undesirable deformation. The forming accuracy of the plate can be raised by means of choosing the reasonable process parameters..
Keywords: CO2 laser, laser forming; metal plate, deformation, process parameters, forming accuracy, numerical simulation, finite element method (FEM)