Laser Bending of Aluminum Foam Sandwich Panels

Abstract

Aluminum foam sandwich panels were laser bent by means of a diode laser. Two panels different in thickness were used in bending tests; the effect of the main process parameters (laser power and scan velocity) on the bending efficiency was investigated as well as the contribution of the panel skin, and the protective gas. As a result, a very good formability was observed for the laser processed panels.

Laser forming of open-cell aluminium foams

“…Aspect of the specimens at the end of the laser bending process. It is interesting to compare the reported results with other experimental results obtained in a previous work (Guglielmotti et al, 2009). In that case, by using the same experimental apparatus, aluminium foam sandwich panels were laser bent: the panels consisted of two aluminium skins over a foamed core.…”

“…The authors already showed the feasibility of laser forming of aluminium foam sandwich (AFS) panels (Guglielmotti et al, 2009), consisting of two AA6082 cover sheets 0.65 mm thick and a closedcell foam core made of Al-Si-Mg. A very good formability was observed for the laser processed panels and very high bending angles were reached with a proper combination of the process parameters. The authors also discussed that TGM probably was the involved forming mechanism.…”

Investigation on laser forming of stainless steel sheets under coupling mechanism

“…Quadrini et al [4] through experiments on laser bending of open-cell foam panels of AlSi7Mg (100 Â 30 Â 10 mm 3 ) with diode laser (940 nm wavelength) showed that with proper process parameters more than 50°bending angle could be generated in 150 scans without any crack, which could not be obtained by mechanical bending as the samples failed at much less bent angle. Guglielmotti et al [5] have also demonstrated the use of laser forming to bend aluminium foam sandwich panels.…”

Laser Forming of Sandwich Panels With Metal Foam Cores

“…A viable alternative to the aforementioned processes is laser forming, since it is based on thermally induced mechanical deformation and requires no physical contact with the treated material. The process has successfully been used to bend a variety of different metal foams, such as closed-cell foams [17,18], open-cell foams [19], as well as foams with protective skins [20]. Yet, no attempt has been made to apply laser forming to sandwich panels with metal foam cores.…”