Abstract
The temperature of work material is the principle factor in the laser forming process. In this study, the influence of temperature on the deformation of work material is experimentally investigated in the bending process of thin metal sheet with CO_2 laser beam. Experimental results show a correlation between the temperature measured and the bending angle achieved. The bending angle is linearly enlarged by the increase of temperature when the laser power and the absorptivity of work surface become higher. The influence of the temperature difference between irradiated and back surfaces is small, against the conventional models. The larger diameter of laser beam is desirable to obtain larger bending angle and reduce the thermal damages of materials.
