Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Micro-Bending of AISI 304 Sheet Metal Using a Low Power Nanosecond Laser

摘要

The aim of this experimental study is to identify and characterize the response related to the effects of process parameters in terms of bending angle for micro-bending of AISI 304 sheet using a low power Nd:YVO~(4)laser source. Numerical simulation is also carried out through a coupled thermo-mechanical formulation with finite element method using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS. The developed numerical simulation indicates that bending is caused by temperature gradient mechanism in the present investigation involving laser micro-bending. The results of experiment indicate that bending angle increases with laser power, number of irradiations, and decreases with increase in scanning speed. Moreover, average bending angle increases with number of laser passes and edge effect, defined in terms of relative variation of bending angle (RBAV), decreases monotonically with the number of laser scans. The substrate is damaged over a width of about 80 μm due to the high temperatures experienced during laser forming at a low scanning speed.