Experimental and numerical investigation of laser bending of tailor machined blanks

In this work, laser bending of tailor machined blanks has been investigated, both experimentally and numerically. Due to thickness variations in tailor machined blanks, laser bending of these blanks is more complicated than monolithic plates. In laser bending of tailor machined blanks, bending angles and curvatures are different in various sections. Also, multi-curvature bending phenomenon in other words, non-uniform bending in the transverse direction can appear more seriously in tailor machined blanks than monolithic plates. In this paper a new irradiating scheme for laser bending of tailor machined blanks has been proposed. Using this irradiating method the differences in bending angles in various sections of tailor machined blanks and also multi-curvature bending phenomenon has been extremely reduced. In addition, it is shown that numerical results are in good agreement with experimental observations. The results of bending angle, multi-curvature bending phenomenon, distribution of residual stresses as well as plastic strains demonstrate that the proposed irradiating scheme is an appropriate method for laser bending of tailor machined blanks.

► Laser bending of tailor machined blanks (TMB) has been investigated.
► An improved irradiating scheme for laser forming of these blanks has been proposed.
► Using proposed scheme, bending angle of laser formed TMB was noticeably increased.
► Multi-curvature bending phenomenon was extremely decreased using proposed scheme.
► Distribution of residual stresses and plastic strains is proportional to sections.