Design of 3D surface laser forming process

Abstract Reasonable laser process parameters and heating paths are crucial in laser forming (LF) technology. Obtaining the proper laser processing parameters and the heating path is the decisive factor to determine the forming efficiency and precision of the complex 3D surfaces with double curvature. First, the 3D target surfaces with double curvature were developed in this paper to flat plates through the finite element numerical simulation tool, and the magnitude and direction of in-plane and bending strains were obtained; the direction perpendicular to the principal strain is the direction of the heating paths. Second, the database of laser process parameters and principal strains was established to determine the proper laser process parameters. Finally, combined with the above laser parameters and heating paths, the “pillow” and “spherical” surfaces were obtained, and the accuracy of this method was verified by experiments.