Title: A strategy for achieving accurate bending by multi-pass laser line heating

Authors: P.P. Dutta; U.S. Dixit; K. Kalita

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tezpur University, Napaam, 784 028, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 781 039, Guwahati, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 781 039, Guwahati, India

Abstract: Laser bending has emerged as a promising technique to bend sheet metals by thermal residual stresses in the last two decades. Several mathematical models are available to predict the bend angle after the laser bending process. However, due to the limitations in the mathematical models and precision of input parameters, the sufficiently accurate prediction of bend angle is not possible. In this work, a strategy is proposed for choosing the parameters of multi-pass laser line heating for obtaining an accurate bend angle when the accuracy of prediction is known. The guidelines have also been provided for ascertaining the accuracy of prediction. The strategy is verified with experiments for three different materials.

Keywords: laser bending; precision manufacturing; laser; heuristic method; line heating; mild steel; aluminum alloy; stainless steel; manufacturing; bend angle; neural networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2017.088912

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2017 Vol.10 No.4, pp.277 - 298

Received: 31 Jan 2017
Accepted: 01 May 2017
Published online: 02 Jan 2018 *

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