The forming of mild steel plates with a 2.5 kW high power diode laser

Bending of 07 M20 mild steel sheets to various degrees using a contemporary 2.5 kW high power diode laser (HPDL) has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. The experimental results revealed that the HPDL induced bending angle increased with an increasing number of irradiations and high laser powers, yet decreased as the traverse speed was increased. It was also apparent from the experimental results that the laser bending angle was only linearly proportional to the number of irradiations when the latter was small. It is believed that the absence of linearity observed when the number of irradiations was high is due to local material thickening along the bend edge. From graphical results and the employment of an analytical model, the laser line energy range in which accurate control of the HPDL bending of the 07 M20 mild steel sheets could be exercised was found to be between 138 and 260 J/mm-1. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.