Title: Finite element simulation of laser assisted bending with moving mechanical load

Authors: Ravi Kant; S.N. Joshi

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India

Abstract: Laser bending is an advanced technique to bend the sheet metal worksheet by means of thermal stresses instead of mechanical forces. It is a non-contact type process in which a concentrated high power laser beam works as a processing tool. In the present work, three-dimensional sequential thermo-mechanical non-linear elasto-plastic numerical model of laser-assisted bending has been developed by using finite element method. The developed numerical model is used to analyse laser bending of magnesium alloy AZ31B worksheet with a moving mechanical load. The effects of transient load on stress-strain distribution and bend angle distribution in the sheet metal worksheet are investigated. The results showed that the bending of worksheet depends on the laser beam parameters as well as magnitude of mechanical load applied. These results will be useful in the precision bending of difficult-to-form materials using laser bending process.

Keywords: laser bending; thermomechanical analysis; FEM; finite element method; precision manufacturing; sheet metalworking; simulation; numerical modelling; magnesium alloys; moving mechanical load; stress-strain distribution; bend angle distribution; precision bending.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2013.057128

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2013 Vol.6 No.4, pp.351 - 366

Received: 08 Dec 2012
Accepted: 15 Mar 2013
Published online: 12 Jul 2014 *

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