In this study, a laser-assisted bending process is proposed, in which the external force is applied by magnets. The process can be used for bending the magnetic and non-magnetic materials. The experiments indicated that a large bend angle with reduced edge effect can be obtained by this process. The process was simulated by finite element method and a reasonable agreement was obtained between the experimental and simulated bend angles. It was experimentally observed that the micro-hardness after bending was greater than the original micro-hardness for mild steel as well as stainless steel work plates. In all the cases, micro-hardness reduced from laser-irradiated surface to opposite surface. Performance of the process as well as its ability to get accurately simulated bring out its potential of adaptability in industries.

References

1. 1)
  - 22. Eideh, A., Dixit, U.S., Echempati, R.: ‘A simple analytical model of laser bending process’. Chapter 1 in Lasers Based Manufacturing, Fifth Int. and 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conf., Guwahati, India, December 2014, pp. 1–15.
2. 2)
  - 5. Fetene, B.N., Dixit, U.S., Liao, H.: ‘Laser bending of friction stir processed and cement-coated sheets’, Mater. Manuf. Process., 2017, pp. 1–7. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2017.1279321, accessed April 2017.
3. 3)
  - 8. Walczyk, D.F., Vittal, S.: ‘Bending of titanium sheet using laser forming’, J. Manuf. Process., 2000, 2, (4), pp. 258–269 (doi: 10.1016/S1526-6125(00)70027-2).
4. 4)
  - 17. Yanjin, G., Sheng, S., Guoqun, Z., et al: ‘Finite element modeling of laser bending of pre-loaded sheet metals’, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2003, 142, (2), pp. 400–407 (doi: 10.1016/S0924-0136(03)00603-4).
5. 5)
  - 4. Dixit, U.S., Fetene, B.N.: ‘A finite element modelling of laser bending of friction stir welded aluminium 5052-H32 sheets’, Int. J. Mechatronics Manuf. Syst., 2016, 9, (3), pp. 215–236, doi: 10.1504/IJMMS.2016.079589.
6. 6)
  - 25. Deng, D., Murakawa, H.: ‘Numerical simulation of temperature field and residual stress in multi-pass welds in stainless steel pipe and comparison with experimental measurements’, Comput. Mater. Sci., 2006, 37, (3), pp. 269–277 (doi: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2005.07.007).
7. 7)
  - 14. Bammer, F., Schuöcker, D., Schumi, T., et al: ‘A diode-laser-system for laser-assisted bending of brittle materials’, Adv. Opt. Technol., 2011, 2011, Article ID 321807, pp. 1–4 (doi: 10.1155/2011/321807).
8. 8)
  - 3. Folkersma, G., Brouwer, D., Römer, G.: ‘Microtube laser forming for precision component alignment’, ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 2016, 138, (8), pp. 081012 (doi: 10.1115/1.4033389).
9. 9)
  - 27. Lawrence, J., Schmidt, M.J., Li, L.: ‘The forming of mild steel plates with a 2.5 kW high power diode laser’, Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf., 2001, 41, (7), pp. 967–977 (doi: 10.1016/S0890-6955(00)00117-6).
10. 10)
  - 10. Xu, W., Zhang, L.C., Wang, X.: ‘Laser bending of silicon sheet: absorption factor and mechanisms’, ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 2013, 135, (6), pp. 061005–061005-7 (doi: 10.1115/1.4025579).
11. 11)
  - 15. Samm, K., Terzi, M., Ostendorf, A., et al: ‘Laser-assisted micro-forming process with miniaturised structures in sapphire dies’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2009, 255, (24), pp. 9830–9834 (doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.04.100).
12. 12)
  - 19. Gisario, A., Barletta, M., Venettacci, S.: ‘Improvements in spring back control by external force laser-assisted sheet bending of titanium and aluminum alloys’, Opt. Laser Technol., 2016, 86, pp. 46–53 (doi: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2016.06.013).
13. 13)
  - 9. Kant, R., Joshi, S.N.: ‘Thermo-mechanical studies on bending mechanism, bend angle and edge effect during multi-scan laser bending of magnesium M1A alloy sheets’, J. Manuf. Process., 2016, 23, pp. 135–148 (doi: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2016.05.017).
14. 14)
  - 7. Labeas, G.N.: ‘Development of a local three-dimensional numerical simulation model for the laser forming process of aluminium components’, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2008, 207, (1), pp. 248–257 (doi: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2007.12.098).
15. 15)
  - 26. Eideh, A.: ‘Determination of parameters during laser bending by inverse analysis’. MTech thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, India, 2014.
16. 16)
  - 1. Dixit, U.S., Joshi, S.N., Kant, R.: ‘Laser forming systems: a review’, Int. J. Mechatronics Manuf. Syst., 2015, 8, (3–4), pp. 160–205, doi: 10.1504/IJMMS.2015.073077.
17. 17)
  - 16. Kant, R., Joshi, S.N.: ‘Finite element simulation of laser assisted bending with moving mechanical load’, Int. J. Mechatronics Manuf. Syst., 2013, 6, (4), pp. 351–366.
18. 18)
  - 13. Lim, H.K., Lee, J.S.: ‘On the material properties of shell plate formed by line heating’, Int. J. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng., 2017, 9, (1), pp. 66–76 (doi: 10.1016/j.ijnaoe.2016.08.001).
19. 19)
  - 11. Gollo, M.H., Mahdavian, S.M., Naeini, H.M.: ‘Statistical analysis of parameter effects on bending angle in laser forming process by pulsed Nd:YAG laser’, Opt. Laser Technol., 2011, 43, (3), pp. 475–482 (doi: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2010.07.004).
20. 20)
  - 20. Mueller, S., Kruck, B., Baudisch, P.: ‘LaserOrigami: laser-cutting 3D objects’. Proc. SIGCHI Conf. Human Factors in Computing Systems, Paris, France, April 27 – May 2, 2013, pp. 2585–2592.
21. 21)
  - 21. Vivek, A., Kim, K.H., Daehn, G.S.: ‘Simulation and instrumentation of electromagnetic compression of steel tubes’, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2011, 211, (5), pp. 840–850 (doi: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2010.08.023).
22. 22)
  - 12. Okamoto, Y., Miyamoto, I., Uno, Y., et al: ‘Deformation characteristics of plastics in YAG laser forming’. Fifth Int. Symp. Laser Precision Microfabrication, Nara, Japan, May, 2004, pp. 576–581.
23. 23)
  - 24. Zhang, L., Reutzel, E.W., Michaleris, P.: ‘Finite element modeling discretization requirements for the laser forming process’, Int. J. Mech. Sci., 2004, 46, (4), pp. 623–637 (doi: 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2004.04.001).
24. 24)
  - 23. Kant, R., Joshi, S.N., Dixit, U.S.: ‘Research issues in the laser sheet bending process’, in Davim, J.P. (ED.): ‘Chapter 4 in materials forming and machining: research and development’ (Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 2015), pp. 73–95.
25. 25)
  - 18. Fetene, B.N., Shufen, R., Dixit, U.S.: ‘FEM-based neural network modelling of laser-assisted bending’, Neural Comput. Appl., 2016, pp. 1–14, doi: 10.1007/s00521-016-2544-9.
26. 26)
  - 2. Safdar, S., Li, L., Sheikh, M.A., et al: ‘The effect of nonconventional laser beam geometries on stress distribution and distortions in laser bending of tubes’, ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 2007, 129, (3), pp. 592–600 (doi: 10.1115/1.2716715).
27. 27)
  - 6. Safari, M., Mostaan, H., Farzin, M.: ‘Laser bending of tailor machined blanks: effect of start point of scan path and irradiation direction relation to step of the blank’, Alexandria Eng. J., 2016, 55, (2), pp. 1587–1594 (doi: 10.1016/j.aej.2016.01.010).

Laser-assisted bending by magnetic force

References

Related content