FEM realization of laser curve bending process

Laser bending of sheets is a flexible metal forming process. In this paper, the process of laser curve bending including transient temperature fields, displacement fields, stress fields and strain fields was investigated. The results show that: (1) radiation of the laser beam yields to a rapid temperature increase at the irradiated surface, which leads to high temperature gradients between the upper surface and the lower surface; (2) the difference of displacements of the demarcated three points is noticeable due to the rigidity restriction of the unheated zone. So, the final sheet edge is warped and dissymmetric due to laser curve scanning; (3) compressive stresses occur in the heated zone because the materials around the heated zone are cold, and slight tensile stresses occur in the neighboring areas. There exists a large strain difference between the upper surface and the lower surface in the three directions in the heated zone, which leads to the 3D bending deformations.