Parametric Investigation in Laser Forming of 8mm FE-410 Plate Using High Power CO2 Laser and Its Bend Angle Prediction

Abstract

Laser forming is an advanced manufacturing process which has potential use in manufacturing and automotive industry. In this process, sheet metal is bent by creating a steep temperature gradient across the sheet thickness by using a high power CO2 laser. The material deforms due to thermal mechanical stresses induced in the material due to laser heating. In this paper, steel sheets of FE410 are bent using solid state CO2 laser. Experiments were performed on 8mm steel sheets using CO2 Laser with maximum energy of 3000W. Various parameters were varied namely power (2KW to 3KW), number of passes(1to 210), scan speed(10 to 30mm/s), laser spot diameter (9mm to 13mm) and frequency(500Hz to 20000Hz) to get maximum bend angle. Microstructure analysis of the deformed region and the heat affected zone in comparison with the base material is done. Also the variation in hardness for all these regions is studied. An artificial neural network model is proposed for predicting the bend angle value. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.