Hui Xia Liu

The Mechanism and Experimental Study on Laser Peen Forming of Sheet Metal

Laser peen forming of sheet metal is a new plastic forming technique based on laser shock waves, which derives from the combination of laser shock processing and conventional shot peening technique, it uses high-power pulsed laser replacing the tiny balls to peen the surface of sheet metal, when the laser induced peak pressure of shock waves exceeds the dynamic yield strength of the materials, the sheet metal yields, resulting in an inhomogeneous residual stresses distribution in depth. The sheet metal responds to this residual stress by elongating at the peened surface and effectively bending the overall shape. On the basis of analyzing the mechanism of laser peen forming, the line-track-peening experiments of 45 steel sheets with 2 mm thickness were carried out; a curved sheet metal with deep layer of residual compressive stress was obtained. The preliminary experiment result shows that laser peen forming can offer desirable characteristics in shaped metals and is a valuable technique for producing components for a range of industries.

Experimental Study of Laser Direct Joining of Metal and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Nylon

This paper presents an experimental study to evaluate the feasibility, characteristics and mechanism of laser direct joining between metal and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (PA66CF20). This study presents a method to improve the joint strength of the metal-polymer hybrid joint. The investigation study effects of process parameters (laser power and travelling speed) on the quality of joining joint. Macroscopic morphology of joint and PA66CF20 melting region closed to the interface were observed in this study. XPS analysis shows that Ti-C and Ti-O chemical bonding were produced between titanium alloy and plastic. Cross-sectional photo showed the melted polymer flowed into micro-cavity of metal surface caused by roughness of metal and thus formed mechanical bonding. Finally, the titanium alloy surface was structured in four different surface textures using a pulsed laser. Then the metal was joined with the plastic. The result shows that the joint strength of metal after laser-structured joining with plastic had been improved greatly.

Non-Traditional Forming Process of Sheet Metal Based on Laser Shock Waves

Traditional forming process of sheet metal is realized with Die and Mould, this technique lacks flexibility and used in the Volume production. The forming process of sheet metal based on laser shock waves is a novel and developing technique. Laser shock forming (LSF) and Laser peen forming (LPF) are two different forming process of sheet metal, both of them are based on a mechanical effect of shock waves induced by laser. In this paper, after introducing the mechanism of laser shock wave generating, these two forming process and technique feature are analyzed and compared, some research progresses are presented. It is indicated that forming technique based on laser shock waves are of high-flexible and great potential application in the fields of plastic forming of sheet metal.

Research on Laser-Driven Flyer Microforming in Warm Condition

Laser-driven flyer micro forming process is a promising microforming technology with the advantage of high efficiency, low cost, high flexibility. A series of experiments are conducted to investigate forming ability of aluminum foil with the thickness of 50μm. The effect of forming temperature and laser energy on forming ability characterized by forming depth, forming accuracy and surface quality is quantitatively analyzed. It is found that forming depth observed through three dimensional topography increases with the enhancement of forming temperature and laser energy. By elevating the forming temperature, the preheated workpiece suffers more homogenous deformation, presenting better forming accuracy. However, a certain degree of deterioration of surface integrity at the forming temperature of 200°C can be attributed to the earlier appearance of micro cracks caused by excessive thinning even at low laser energy. Overall, it is concluded that the optimal forming temperature is appropriately 150°C as the forming depth and forming accuracy is improved with no deterioration of the surface integrity.

Modeling and Optimization of Laser Direct Joining Process Parameters of Titanium Alloy and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Nylon Based on Response Surface Methodology

A laser direct joining (LDJ) experiment of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and carbon fiber reinforced nylon (PA66CF20) is presented here using diode laser equipment. Experimental design and experiment of LDJ are carried out according to a single process parameters range obtained from the previous experiment. Response surface methodology (RSM) in Design-Expert v7 software is adopted to establish the mathematical model between LDJ process parameters and joint quality. Then the interaction effects of joining process parameters (laser power, scan speed and stand-off distance) on joint quality are investigated using analysis-of-variance (ANOVA), and the result shows that the interaction effect of laser power and scan speed on joint quality is the greatest. Finally, the predicted values from the mathematical model established by RSM are compared with the experimental values, and the process parameters are optimized to obtain the strongest joint strength. The result suggests that the predicted values are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The purpose of predicting and optimizing joint quality based on reasonable process parameters is achieved.

Multi-Factors Interaction Effects of Process Parameters on the Joint Strength of Laser Transmission Joining between PC and PA66

This paper presents a laser transmission joining (LTJ) experiment between thermoplastic Polycarbonate (PC) and glass reinforced nylon (PA66GF) using diode laser equipment. Laser transmission joining experimental design and experiment are carried out according to a single process parameters window. Response surface methodology (RSM) in Design-Expert v7 software is employed to develop mathematical models between LTJ process parameters and joint strength. The interaction effects of joining process parameters (line energy, spot diameter, clamp pressure) on the joint strength are investigated using analysis-of-variance (ANOVA), the result shows that the interaction effect of line energy and spot diameter has maximum influence on the joint quality. Finally, the predicted values from mathematical models developed by RSM are compared with the experimental values and it is found that they are nearly agreed with each other. The purpose of predicting joint strength based on reasonable process parameters is achieved.

Finite Element Modelling and Analysis of Cutting-Direction Burr Formation

To prevent or reduce the formation of burr efficiently in metal cutting, it is necessary to reveal the burr formation mechanism. A finite element model of cutting-direction burr formation in orthogonal machining was presented in this paper. The simulation of the burr formation process was conducted. Undeformed chip thickness, rake angle, rounded cutting edge radius and workpiece material were included in cutting conditions, whose influences on burr formation were investigated, according to the simulation results. By comparing the results of the simulation and the experiment, good consistency is achieved which proves that the finite element model of burr formation in this paper is significant and effective to predict burr formation.

Laser High-Speed Impact Composite Forming of Aluminum/Aluminum

Based on the laser-driven flyer micro forming and laser high-speed impact welding, this paper put forward the laser high-speed impact synchronous welding and forming new process, and builds the compound welding experiment platform. The three-dimensional deep field digital microscope of KEYENCE VHX-1000C was used to measure the surface morphology and the maximum deformation depth of the welding and formingsamples. By observing the surface morphology of the sample, it was found that strong plastic deformation occurred on the surface of the materials and well reproduced the shape of the mold. When the laser energy was below 4.5J, the maximum deformation depth of the samples increased with the laser energy. However, the maximum deformation depth decreased due to the spring back phenomenon when the laser energy was larger than 4.5J. The Axio CSM 700 confocal microscope was used to measure the morphology of the welding interface. The cross profile of the welding interface showed that most regions had been welded and the welding interface was nearly flat.

Numerical Simulation Study of Quasi-Static Loading and Dynamic Loading for Micro Bending Forming of Copper Foil

A variety of micro forming processes has been invented, and the size effects have become a research hotspot at home and abroad. Micro bending molds with different feature sizes were designed. Quasi-static tester loading and dynamic laser shock loading with soft punch for micro bending forming was studied by numerical simulation respectively based on ANSYS implicit analysis and LS-DYNA explicit analysis. The constitutive models of workpiece are bilinear kinematic hardening model and Johnson-cook model respectively. The effects of different loading conditions and feature sizes of the die on the forming depth, equivalent plastic strain and equivalent plastic strain rate were studied. The results of numerical simulation show that, with the increasing of feature size of the mold, the forming depth under two kinds of loading conditions shows a tendency to increase. In dynamic laser shock loading, the equivalent plastic strain and equivalent plastic strain rate of the key position of the bent part would decrease with the increasing of the feature size of the die. While in quasi-static loading, the opposite law is shown. The research shows that, the flexible micro-bending processes with different loading models showed similar size effect. However, compared with quasi-static loading, in dynamic loading, the strain of forming parts is more centralized, and there is a high strain rate and better formability of the workpiece.

Pyrolysis Kinetics of PA66/CB

The pyrolysis kinetics parameters of material had an great importance on estimating material degradation during laser transmission welding. The PA66/CB was produced using a twin-screw extruder, and thermogravimetric experiment of PA66/CB was performed at different heating rate of 5, 10, 15 and 20 °C/min, then the pyrolsis behavior and pyrolysis kinetics parameters of material were investigated based on the Kissinger, Starink and Freeman-Carroll three methods. The results showed that the pyrolsis process of PA66/CB was one step reaction. With the increase of heating rate, the initial reaction temperature and final pyrolsis temperature of TG curve and the peak temperature of DTG curve were shift to higher temperature. Temperature hysteresis was appeared but the final pyrolsis rate was not affected by heating rate. The activation energy on the biggest pyrolsis rate was not affected by the addition of carbon black. The activation energy calculated using Starink method was increased by the increase of conversion rate. The activation energy calculated using Freeman-Carroll method was bigger than Kissinger and Starink methods. The activation energy was calculated using Freeman-Carroll method, then using the nth model, and the pyrolsis kinetic equation was expressed as: dα/dt=2.053×1019[exp (-245.32×103/RT)](1-α)2.22.