Abstract
The property of bending deformation in a laser forming of magnesium alloy plate has been investigated in the previous work. In this continued study, an effect of laser spot diameter on bending deformation behavior was studied in order to examine a feasibility of control of the bending direction and angle. The experiments of CO2 laser forming of magnesium alloy plate were carried out under the machining conditions with a various laser spot diameter by changing the focal point of laser. In principle, the metal plate bends toward the laser head except for a very thin plate when the focal point of laser is on the work surface. In the experimental results, it was found that the bending angle decreased with an increase in the laser spot diameter and the plate continued to bend toward the opposite direction of the laser head when the laser spot exceeded a certain diameter. In this case, the plate bends toward the opposite direction of the laser head with a larger angle during the cooling period than a bending angle to the laser head side during the heating period.
