Bending of fine metal wire and foil with YAG laser beam Available to Purchase

Bending of fine metal wire and foil is carried out. Wires of stainless steel and nickel of 0.1 mm in diameter are bent with pulsed YAG laser beams of the energy of 0.05 to 0.2 J, the duration time of 6 to 9 ms and the spot diameter of about 0.1 mm. When full penetration melting is produced at some distance from the wire edge, the edge portion of the wire is bent in the incidence direction of the laser beam. A bending angle of 130 degrees is obtained for stainless steel wire when a single pulse of 0.075 J and 6 ms is directed at a distance of 0.5 mm from the edge. No bending can be observed when a single pulse of 0.05 J is used; however, a bending angle of 40 degrees is obtained with 5 pulses at the same point. Bending of stainless steel and nickel wires of 0.02 mm in diameter is also possible. The technique developed in the present experiment can be used for making complicated wire frame structures; as examples, we have produced zigzag type or crank type wire frames of stainless steel of 0.1 mm in diameter. Furthermore, bending of stainless steel foil of 0.02 mm in thickness is carried out with cw-YAG laser beams of the power of about 0.6 W. Abending angle of 80 degrees is obtained by 50 scanning of the beam on a line.