Analytical models for the prediction of deformation in laser shock bulging

Laser shock forming (LSF) is a novel plastic forming process which utilizes a laser-induced shock wave to deform metal sheet to 3D configurations. Quantitative evaluation of the deformation in LSF is of great importance to understand the forming mechanism and achieve the high precision. In this paper, an analytical model was proposed to predict the deformation of a circular plate in laser shock bulging process. Models showed that the deformation is related to material parameters such as the impedance, density, yield strength of the metal target, geometric parameters such as the plate thickness and die radius, and processing parameters such as the energy, radius and pulse duration of the laser beam. The deformation profiles and the maximum deformation height calculated by the analytical model agree with those of experiment, which validate the rationality of the constructed models. The maximum deformation height increases with an increase of laser energy and decreases with increasing plate thickness.