Numerical investigation of deformation behavior in laser bending of sheet with curved irradiating scheme

In this research, numerical simulation of laser bending process of the metallic sheet with curved irradiating scheme is investigated. For this purpose, the commercial ABAQUS software is used for performing the finite element simulations. The used sheet metal is the low carbon mild steel with thickness of 1 mm. Using the stress field obtained by the numerical simulations and analyzing the residual stresses in different directions located on the laser irradiation path, the mechanics of deformation and the reason for sheet bending in the laser bending process with curved irradiating scheme are investigated. The results show that the curved irradiating scheme can properly bend the steel sheet. Also, the effects of laser power, laser scanning speed and laser beam diameter on the average value of displacements of the laser-bent sheet with curved irradiating scheme are investigated. The results show that with increasing the laser power, the average value of displacements of laser-bent sheet with curved irradiating scheme is increased. Also, it is concluded from numerical simulations that with increasing the laser scanning speed, the average value of displacements of laser-bent sheet is decreased. It is proved that with increasing the laser beam diameter, the average value of displacements of laser-bent sheet is decreased.