Development of an integrated laser forming demonstrator system for the aerospace industry

A laser forming (LF) demonstrator system has been constructed to demonstrate the process on a large primitive 2D shape. The system development is described in this paper. A fundamental study was carried out which examined the effects of laser forming parameters on tokens of an aluminium and a titanium alloy. Energy, geometrical and metallurgical influences were investigated and are summarised here. Results of the study show that LF of these aerospace materials is possible using a large operating envelope of laser processing parameters. A range of metallurgical effects resulted and these are traced here and in ref. 12. Depending on how the energy input was supplied to the plate surface various geometrical effects resulted. These effects are discussed. Using the knowledge gathered from the fundamental study the Mark 1 LF demonstrator system was built. The components of the system and the forming of a primitive shape on it are discussed. Conclusions from the study indicate that the future work lies in the development of the demonstrator for primitive 3-D shapes and the integration of a knowledge based system.