Laser forming (LF) is a highly flexible rapid prototyping and low-volume manufacturing process, which uses laser-induced thermal distortion to shape sheet metal parts without hard tooling or external forces.Compared with traditional metal forming technologies, laser forming has many advantages:
No tooling. The cost of the forming process is greatly reduced because no tools or external forces are involved in the process. The technique is good for small batches and a variety of sheet metal components. With the flexibility in the laser beam’s delivering and power regulating systems, it is easy to incorporate laser forming into an automatic flexible manufacturing system.
Easy to control. The size and power of the laser beam can be precisely manipulated, enabling accurate control of the forming process and improving reproducibility.
Energy efficient. Laser forming uses localized heating to induce controlled deformation instead of tradition entire work piece heated. Therefore it has the advantage of energy efficiency.
Variety of applications. Laser forming offers more applications than conventional mechanical forming, such as adjusting and aligning sheet metal components.
Forming hard-to-formed materials. Laser forming is suitable for materials that are difficult to form by mechanical approaches. Because in typical laser forming processes metal degradation is limited to a very thin layer of the irradiated surface due to short interaction time, laser forming is suitable for materials that are sensitive to high temperature. The microstructure of the heat-affected zone of laser formed parts can be improved when proper process parameters are used.
Therefore, laser forming has potential applications in aerospace, shipbuilding, microelectronics, automotive industries, etc. The rapid, flexible and low-cost metal forming can improve the competitiveness of these industries.
laser machine
The Principles of Laser Forming
The technique for laser forming is very similar to that for laser surface heat treatment and involves scanning a defocused beam over the surface of the sheet metal to be formed. Moving the laser beam along a straight line without interruption causes the sheet to bend along the line of motion
The components of laser forming system include:
- The laser source with beam delivery system
- Motion table unit on which the workpiece is mounted, or robot for holding a fiber-optic system
- Cooling system where necessary
- Temperature monitoring system
- Shape monitoring system
- Computer control system.
