Basic Study on Laser Forming Method for Curved Surfaces

Laser forming, is a plastic forming method using local heat stress which can form sheet materials without dies. Because no dies are required, it enables rapid prototyping and reduced production costs. Many studies have been conducted on laser forming, but almost none on the forming of curved surfaces. The aim of this study is to develop a CAM system for forming curved surfaces by laser. The scanning paths of the laser for forming curved surfaces are based on a method applied in shipbuilding industry. The method uses the maximum and minimum curvature lines as the scanning paths of a gas burner. Since the two curvature lines intersect perpendicularly, they do not influence each other. The scanning speed of the laser for obtaining the required bending angle was determined based on the basic experiments.