Fine metal wires of stainless steel or nickel can be bent by pulsed laser beam. Bending is caused in the molten state; bending angles greater than 90 degrees are easily obtained. In the present paper, dynamic behavior of the bending is observed with high-speed photography of 600 and 2000 frames per second. First, the end portion of the wire, which is to be bent, is bent slightly in the incident direction of the laser beam, i.e., in the opposite direction of the heated surface. Secondly, the wire is bent in the opposite direction of the early stage of bending, i.e., in the direction of the heated surface. In some cases, the bending angle greater than the final angle can be observed during bending. For example, the final bending angle is about 90 degrees; however, the maximum bending angle during the bending process is about 140 degrees. The wire is bent backward and fixed at about 90 degrees. The maximum speed of bending reaches 1.1 × 105 degrees/s. Relationships for the bending angle and speed are obtained under various processing conditions; furthermore, the bending characteristics are discussed.

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