Abstract
A focused femtosecond laser pulse induces shock waves at the surface of a target. Laser peen forming is a type of sheet metal forming using plastic deformation induced by shock waves. We adopted laser peen forming using a femtosecond laser for thin-sheet-metal bending. However, this method had unstable forming features, which were easily affected by irradiation conditions and the unstable properties of the femtosecond laser. To improve the accuracy of the bending angle, we adopted a simple detection device, which detected the position of the workpiece free end and adjusted the bending angle. The scanning path also affected the bending angle. An improved scanning path was adopted. The deviations in the bending angle were also estimated. These steps stabilized the bending angle and improved the bending accuracy.
