Abstract
Diode laser beam of 10 W was applied to laser forming of stainless steel of about 0.1 mm in thickness. The beams were focused on the workpiece surface and scanned on a straight line. The workpiece is thin and the beam diameter is large so that bending is caused due to buckling. In this mechanism, the bending direction is not fixed ; the workpiece bends toward or away the beam. The bending angle is greatly influenced by the size and shape of the workpiece. Thick workpiece bends toward the beam ; on the other hand, for thinner ones, bending occurs in both directions under the same beam irradiation conditions.
In the present paper, experiments are carried out for thin plates under various conditions. We propose a new control method of bending directions and an experimental formula for bending angle.
