Trico Products has been working with NA Technologies on laser thermal forming. Recently, work has been done and is continuing on thermal forming of long thin taper / taper strips, thick plates and tubes. The process is called LITS - Forming (Line Induced Thermal Strain - Forming). A patent is pending with a priority date of July 17, 2000. The thin strip forming has been presented at ICALEO 2000 and 2001. The latest developments, as of July 12, 2002 will be shared. The results thus far have been very promising and the next phase of the project should determine if the process can be implemented into the current production line that was presented at ICALEO 2000 and 2001.
Tube forming has been successfully demonstrated on mild steel, medium carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum & titanium. Sizes range from 1/8" to 3" OD. No supplemental equipment is used to assist in the forming of the tube. The light source induces the forming as it is tracked over the surface of the ID of the tube. By controlling the light energy, the tube can be kept round and the outside radius wall thickness, for all practical purposes, is not thinned out. This allows for some very interesting possibilities for applications like, compound bending, thinner walled tube for high-pressure applications, better flow properties and etc. This can also help for pre-forms for hydroforming.
The LITS process can be scaled up for higher volume applications. A lot of work is needed in order to develop the technology, but we feel the work completed thus far definitely shows, we believe, the potential of this technology to help evolve the tube forming industry.