Numerical and Experimental Studies on the Laser Bending of Magnesium M1A Alloy
R. Kant and S.N. Joshi
This paper reports numerical and experimental investigations on bend angle and edge effect during laser bending of Mg alloy M1A. Initially, a finite element method (FEM) three-dimensional (3-D) thermo-mechanical numerical model was developed to carry out the simulations of laser bending of Mg M1A alloy sheets. Experiments were carried out to validate the results predicted by the numerical model and to study the mechanical properties of laser bent specimen. It was observed that the Mg can be bent with laser without much deterioration in its mechanical properties such as strength and hardness. The developed model was found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. The developed numerical model was used to investigate the bending mechanism and the effects of process parameters on bend angle and edge effect in detail. This paper concluded that the lasers can be used to obtain precision bend angles in difficult-to-form material such as Mg alloys.
Keywords: CO2 laser, magnesium alloy, Mg, laser bending, finite element method (FEM), mechanical properties, microhardness, bending mechanism, edge effect, thermo-mechanical analysis, beam diameter model