Laser Forming of Austenitic Stainless and Manganese Carbon Steels

Laser forming has several advantages compared to the machining methods of workpieces. This method avoids sringback effect, thinning of the material in the processing zone. It can form brittle, tough, elastic material, sheets of considerable low thickness using no specialized equipment. The lack of knowledge in this field constraints the application of the method and guaranty of actuality of the research in this field. It was established that the power of laser radiation, energy distribution in the beam cross-section, the size of focus area and the speed of its movement, the number of heat sources and nature of their relative position, the number of cycles of heating are laser forming parameters that determine productivity, quality and cost of sheet processing. The article identifies working conditions of laser forming of austenitic stainless and manganese carbon steels. The experiment shows that strength of laser formed structures, made from both stainless and carbon steels are higher than one of plastically deformed structures. Meanwhile their thermal strength of the structures commensurate.