A Study on the Laser Bending of AISI303 Stainless Steel Sheets under Active Heat Control Temperature

In this paper, a novel approach called active heat control (AHC) is proposed to determine effective parameters in the laser bending process on AISI303 sheets. This approach has the advantages of precise control during the bending process, ensuring the temperature limit of the metal sheet. Three process parameters, material thickness, surface temperature, and laser scanning speed, are varied to investigate their effects on bending angles and to optimize the process. A full factorial design of experiment method with 72 experiments was executed using a direct diode laser with active heat control on AISI303 sheets. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results indicate that all three parameters have a significant impact on the bending angle. The bending angles increase with the decrease in material thickness and laser scanning speed while the increase of temperature results in the increase of bending angle. Results showed that the AHC laser forming can effectively increase the bending angle with shorter time compared with constant power laser bending method. Moreover, it is crucial to control a consistent temperature at a lower level 500 °C, to minimize the burning edge effect of AISI303 sheets while still achieving effective bending. The findings of this study show the benefits of adopting AHC in manufacturing processes that demand cleanliness.