Experimental and 3D Finite Element Studies of CW Laser Forming of Thin Stainless Steel Sheets

Laser forming as a springback-free and noncontact forming technique has been under active investigation over the last decade. Previous investigations are mainly focused on forming of large and thick workpieces using high power lasers, with less work on precision, micro-scale bending of small and thin sheets. In this work a 4 W continuous wave argon ion laser is used as the energy source, and the laser beam is focused to a beam diameter of tens of micrometers to induce bending of thin stainless steel sheets. When the laser scanning velocity is above 8 mm/s, bending can be explained by the temperature gradient mechanism, while decreasing the scanning velocity leads to the buckling mechanism of bending. The bending angle is measured at various processing conditions. A fully 3D finite element analysis is performed to simulate the thermo-elasto-plastic deformation process during laser forming. Experimental measurements and computational results agree in trend, and reasons for the deviation are discussed.