Process planning for laser-assisted forming

Laser forming has emerged as a viable means of assisting conventional forming processes with geometrical accuracy-related problems. By combining the incremental nature of laser forming with conventional processes such as brakeforming which forms material by a single continuous movement of the tooling, the exact specified bend angle and radius of curvature of the bent component may be approached. This may be achieved by sequential or simultaneous application of the conventional tooling and the laser beam. The laser beam may be applied once to the forming zone or multiple laser beam scans may be used.

The combined process allows the forming of highly accurate sheet metal products in a cost effective way, through the possibility to make corrections to the bend angle in a controlled way. Furthermore, the combined process makes it possible to form intricate products that cannot be bent on a press brake due to collision problems or problems emanating from spring-back.

Consequently there are new implications for process planning in brakeforming when a laser beam is used in combination. These implications are discussed for some primitive applications.