Analysis of the geometric effect on the forming accuracy in laser forming

In laser forming, as well as the desirable bending deformation, undesirable deformations including bending along the heating line, warping, and local thickening of heating area are also produced. These undesirable deformations have important influences on the forming accuracy of a plate. The values of the undesirable deformations are different for different plate geometries. To control the forming accuracy and to optimize the process parameters, the effects of the plate geometry on the bending deformation along the heating line, the warping deformation, and the micro-convex height are analysed in this paper. The results show that the forming accuracies of a plate when keeping the laser process parameters constant are different for various plate geometries. Consequently, the plate geometries must be considered in the inaccuracy evaluation and control of components obtained by laser forming.