Laser Shock Forming of Titanium Alloy and Its Simulation Using Abaqus Finite Element Software

Laser shock forming, LSF, is characterized in non-contact load, high pressure and high strain ratio. This new forming process using laser-induced shock pressure can shape sheet metal without complicated forming equipments. The know-how of the forming process is essential to efficiently and accurately control the deformation of sheet metal. In this paper, a dynamic super-speed forming method driven by laser shock waves. The initial exploration of laser shock forming, LSF is done through bulge testing with specimen using a neodymium -glass laser of pulse energy 10-30 J and duration 20ns (FWHM). The experiment revealed that the plastic deformation during the Laser shock forming is characterized as ultra-high strain rate and is indicated that the plastic deformation increases non-linearly with the increase of the energy density of the laser shock itself. Experiment and numerical simulation are the important approaches for forming analysis. Taken the titanium alloy (T4Ti6Al4V) sheets with a specified thickness as specimen for the experiment, the finite element analysis for laser shock forming was performed. In this paper, a Q-switch NdYAG laser type with a maximum power density of 4.5 GW/ cm2 was used. .