Experimental Investigation of Curvature Uniformity in the Laser Bending Process

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Arak University of Technology, Arak, Iran.

10.22084/jrstan.2023.27508.1234

Abstract

The laser bending process (LBP) is a powerful tool for the fabrication of precise bending angles as a die-less manufacturing process. The curvature uniformity of bent sheets is an important and controversial object of study. In the current article, the effect of the process variables on the bending angle and curvature uniformity of the laser bending of sheets was studied. The process parameters included the laser power, scanning speed, and the number of irradiations. The effect of the input process variables on bending angle and curvature uniformity was investigated by conducting a set of 15 experiments designed by the response surface methodology (RSM) algorithm. The statistical analysis showed that the bending angle decreased by decreasing the number of irradiation passes and the laser power, while the bending angle increased by decreasing the scanning speed. Furthermore, the curvature uniformity of the lateral edge of the sheet decreased by decreasing the number of irradiation passes and the laser power. The curvature uniformity increased first and then decreased by decreasing the scanning speed of the irradiated beam. The interaction of the number of irradiation and the scanning speed created a local maximum point at a high number of irradiation passes and a low scanning speed. The effect of the number of irradiation variations became negligible by increasing the scanning speed up to 8mm/s. 

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