An analytical model for the temperature field in the laser forming of sheet metal

Laser forming is a flexible forming process that forms sheet metal by means of stresses induced by external heat instead of by means of external force. In order to identify the relationships between the bending angle and the forming parameters, it is necessary to study first the effects of the forming parameters on the temperature field induced by laser forming. In this paper. an analytical model to describe the three-dimensional temperature field was established for a finite plate with a Gaussian heat source moving at a constant velocity. The analytical model requires less computing time than do the finite element method and the finite difference method. The effects of the laser forming parameters on the temperature distributions are also studied, using the established model. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.