The forming process of millimeter or submillimeter shell parts using incremental sheet metal forming technique was tested. The formability of aluminium, copper and stainless steel foils into quadrangular pyramid-shaped shell parts were examined. In this process the pinhole defects were formed in the steeper wall and thin workpiece. In order to prevent the defect, new tool path in which the local strain concentration is controlled was proposed. By this tool path the steeper wall was formed successfully.

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The effect of focusing a laser beam into a high aspect ratio rectangular area on the thickness distribution of the deposit has been examined. In this experiment, the Nd:YAG laser system is set to produce pulsed beams whereby at the substrate surface, the focused beam is rectangular with dimensions of 10 mm by 0.15 mm. Numerical calculations of the expansion process based on hydrodynamics are adopted to determine the thickness distribution of the deposit. Comparison of results of the thickness distributions attained by experiment and simulation show close resemblance. Upon confirmation of the validity of the numerical calculations, the effect of the geometry of the irradiated area on the thickness distribution of the deposit and practical recipes relevant to deposition practice are presented.

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