The Effect of Elastic Pre-bending on the Laser Peen Forming of 2024-T351 Aluminum Alloy Plate

Laser peen forming, is a purely mechanical forming method achieved through the use of laser energy to form metal plate with small curvatures. Experiments were performed to investigate the effect of pre-bending on the plate bending deformation induced by laser peen forming. The pre-bending of plate was accomplished by a fixture with the cambered top surface. The pre-bending curvature radius is calculated and is used to design cambered surface. The LPF experiments are performed with Nd: YAG laser with overlapping laser spots. It is found that the convex deformation can be induced after laser shocks. And its curvature radius in the elastically elongated direction can be greatly increased by applying pre-bending, while in the perpendicular direction, the curvature radius is decreased.