Geometrical influences on multi-pass laser forming

Laser forming (LF) offers the industrial promise of controlled shaping of metallic and non-metallic components for prototyping, the correction of design shape or distortion and precision adjustment applications. The potential process advantages include precise incremental adjustment, flexibility of application and no mechanical 'spring-back' effect. To date there has been a considerable amount of work carried out on two-dimensional LF, using multi-pass straight line scan strategies to produce a reasonably controlled bend angle in a number of materials, including aerospace alloys. A key area, however, where there is a limited understanding, is the variation in bend angle per pass during multi-pass LF along a single irradiation track; in particular, the decrease in bend angle per pass after many irradiations for a given set of process parameters. Understanding this is essential if the process is to be fully controlled in a manufacturing environment. The research presented in this paper highlights the current theories as to why this occurs and proposes a further reason based on the geometrical effects of the component deformation, which in turn influences the process parameters per pass. This theory is confirmed through empirical analysis of the 2D LF process