3D laser forming through circle line heating Available to Purchase

Metal forming by a moving heat source is a proven method for forming a sheet metal into desired shape. Line heating in straight line path is sufficient to form shapes with single curvature. However, to form spatially curved or doubly curved surfaces, it is more convenient to apply circle line heating. A single pass of circle line heating at a stretch for full circle over the plate generates waviness in the circumferential and radial directions. The present study investigates a strategy for laser scanning so as to minimize this waviness to a tolerable limit for generation of a bowl shape from a circular sheet. For the analysis, a coupled thermo-mechanical finite element model is formulated and solved to predict the final deformation by laser scanning over discrete circular sectors with appropriate beam diameter, power and scanning speed. The present work reports the angular bending and the waviness as a function of the number of passes and the sequence of heating for a specific laser beam parameter combination for AH36 steel. The present work can be further extended for generation of complex shapes by combining circular sector heating with straight line heating.