Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
DOI 10.1007/s00170-010-2636-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Dynamic analysis on laser forming of square metal sheet
to spherical dome
Lijun Yang & Maolu Wang & Yang Wang & Yanbin Chen
Received: 19 October 2009 / Accepted: 19 March 2010 / Published online: 14 April 2010
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2010
Abstract Laser forming (LF) is a new die-less forming
technique that employs the energy from a laser beam to
modify and adjust the curvature of sheet metals. In order to
advance the LF process further for realistic application
industry, it is necessary to consider large scale three-
dimensional laser forming (3DLF). The main problem of
3DLF is the understanding of the mechanism and the
planning of laser scanning strategy. This paper illustrates
the temperature field, stress–strain field, and deformation
field in the process of 3DLF of square sheet to spherical
dome with spider-lines strategy with a finite element
method (FEM). The explicit dynamic integral is used in
the work presented in the paper rather than implicit method
for improving the computational efficiency and accuracy.
The FEM results showed that the inner stress induced by
the laser beam propagates through the sheet as a stress
wave, and the thermal stress and the stress wave in the
sheet are the main influence factors in 3DLF. Also, the
FEM results have been verified against experimental data,
and a reasonable correlation has been found. The work
showed in the paper would be beneficial of the parameter
optimization of laser scanning strategy and the control of
the formed precision of the sheet in 3DLF.
L. Yang (*) : Y. Chen
School of Material Science and Engineering,
Harbin Institute of Technology,
Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China
e-mail: yljtj@hit.edu.cn
L. Yang : M. Wang : Y. Wang
School of Mechatronics Engineering,
Harbin Institute of Technology,
Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China
Keywords Laser forming (LF) . Spherical dome . Explicit
dynamic analysis . Temperature field . Stress . Strain
1 Introduction
Laser forming (LF) is a non-contact and die-less forming
technique of producing bending, spatial forming, modify-
ing, and adjusting the curvature of the metallic and non-
metallic sheet by using the controlled laser beam energy. It
is derived from the flame forming in the 1980s. The process
is achieved by inducing the thermal stress into a sample by
defocused laser beam and without melting in the irradiation
surface. These stresses induce the internal elastic–plastic
strains, bending or shortening the workpieces depending on
the active mechanism. LF process has significant value to
industries that previously relied on expensive stamping dies
and presses for prototype evaluations. Aerospace, ship-
building, microelectronics, and automotive industries have
shown interests in this forming technique. LF can produce
metallic, predetermined shapes with minimal distortion. In
contrast with conventional forming techniques, this method
requires no mechanical contact and hence offers many
advantages of process flexibility associated with other
manufacturing techniques. There are lots of advantages
with LF in engineering compared with other forming
techniques [1, 2].
The process of LF has been intensively investigated in
the last 20 years. A great deal of work has been carried out
on LF in straight-line scanning. The results show that some
regularities on two-dimensional (2D) sheet bending angles
have been gained in a number of materials [3–5].
Especially, the underlying forming mechanisms and the
variety of possible applications were analyzed and dis-
cussed in detail. However, in order to advance the LF
520
process further for realistic application industry, it is
necessary to consider large scale three-dimensional laser
forming (3DLF). For the production of complex-shaped or
spatially curved parts (e.g., a spherical dome), different
irradiation strategies which are partly based on curved
irradiation lines have to be developed. If such curved
irradiation lines are applied instead of single straight lines,
the general case of 3DLF sets in [6]. For a given shape, the
process synthesis (laser scanning strategies and heating
conditions) needs to be considered. Unlike traditional
machining, where cutter paths are readily determined by
offsetting a distance from the given part geometry, process
planning for LF is less obvious, especially for general 3D
shapes. This is primarily because LF-induced deformation
has its own characteristics, and how to link them to the
strain field required in forming the given part is generally
not obvious.
For 3DLF, like many inverse problems, process planning
for LF has multiple solutions. A more detailed study with
the concept of constant gradient vectors and experiment on
various scanning patterns for saddle shape, pillow shape
and twisted shape with 3DLF were published, and good
results for these shapes were presented [7–11]. In their
work, the scanning strategy was planned with the
geometry-based model using the commercial software
Matlab. A. Hutterer and H. Hagenah applied LF to
flattening non-circular dents with a pulsed laser [12]. Given
the understanding that analytical or numerical solutions to
the inverse problem may be less fruitful, heuristic
approaches have been attempted. H. Shimizu used genetic
algorithms (GA) to decide the laser heating paths, laser
power, and scanning velocity to form a simple-domed
shape [13]. A GA-based approach for process synthesis
applicable to LF of a class of shapes was published in 2000
[14]. This approach uses several analytical equations based
on theoretical analysis and experiment/numerical training to
predict the geometry change occurring in the straight-line
LF. Y.L. Yao and his colleagues made considerable
progress on 3DLF area [15–20]. They presented an optimal
process planning strategy to determine scanning paths and
heating condition for LF of general class of 3D shapes. Two
typical shapes for ship hulls or aerospace structures, pillow,
and saddle shapes are focused on. They obtained a principal
strain field by the optimal development algorithm, and with
the help of a FEM database, they successfully determined
laser scanning paths and process parameters. A new method
using only geometrical information for 3DLF was proposed
in 2008 [21]. They formed a saddle shape with different
patch numbers to verify the algorithm. Both methods were
successful for a class of shapes; however, they are not
directly applicable to spherical dome shapes.
Applying 3DLF technique to industry is the transforma-
tion of the sheet stress and strain state. This work presented
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
in the paper try to find the relation between scanning
strategy and stress field and the accuracy control method on
the stress–strain state of the formed shape. This paper
presents the temperature and stress field in the 3DLF
process, which forms square sheet to the spherical dome. In
order to improve the computational efficiency and accuracy,
the explicit dynamic integral for FEM analysis was used in
this work rather than the implicit analysis. The method used
in the paper is of advantage to provide temperature, stress–
strain, deformation, and kinematics data simultaneously.
Compared with the implicit analysis, the explicit analysis
reduces the overflow risk of iterative convergence and the
computing time; the used time is half of the implicit
analysis. Based on prior knowledge of the LF of dome
process, spider-line scanning paths were tested [7], and the
mechanism and physical process of 3DLF of spherical
dome with spider scanning paths was developed with the
theoretic and experimental results. The FEM database will
be beneficial to understand the mechanism (stress–strain
and kinematics processing) of 3DLF and propose a
response surface methodology-based optimization method
for LF process design.
2 Experimental procedure
The experiments were performed on a setup of JK702H
pulse laser machine, with a Nd:YAG laser source of 350 W
and wavelength 1.06 μm. The laser beam was fed to a
height-adjustable work bed mounted on a set of X-Y CNC
tables. The workpiece was held on the plate in the xy-
directions but allowed for z-axis deformation. The steel
work bed acted as an effective heat sink for the plate being
formed, no additional cooling was used. The experimental
setup was shown in Fig. 1a. The common engineering
stainless steel (1Cr18Ni9Ti) sheet was chosen as the
working material for 3DLF. The sheet surfaces were first
cleaned with acetone in order to remove any unwanted
grease and then sprayed with graphite in order to increase
the absorption of the laser. The sheet metal after irradiation
was cooled naturally. The designed scanning strategies are
shown in Fig. 1b. The geometrical of the square sheet is
60×60×1 mm. The height of the center of sheet is chosen
to be measured as the contrastive data of the forming shape,
as shown in Fig. 1d. Figure 2 illustrates the influence of
processing parameters on the height of the center of square
sheet.
3 Fundamental theoretical analysis
Forming induced by the temperature gradient mechanism is
simulated in this work, since forming is obtained due to the
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
Fig. 1 Experimental setup and the sample
non-uniform temperature distribution—the temperature
gradient. In experiments conducted in this work, the heating
period is short, and a temperature gradient exists. In the
process of 3DLF, the stress and deformation analysis is
dependent on the temperature distribution, and the temper-
ature distribution depends on the stress solution so the
coupled thermal stress analysis is needed in the analysis.
At the first stage of the numerical analysis, the following
process parameters are selected: The laser power is 200 W,
the spot size of the laser beam is 2 mm, and the scanning
speed is 20 mm/s. The domain mesh in the FEM analysis is
shown in Fig. 3; the Roman numerals show the analysis
key data points in the latter figures. The spider path
Fig. 2 Influence of processing
parameters on the height of the
center of square sheet
521
from the corner and side to center and the sheet metal
material are similar to the experiment. The material
properties and the stress–strain relationship are shown in
Figs. 4 and 5. Thermal conductivity, specific heat,
Young’s modulus, and yield stress are all temperature-
dependent. For a higher absorption of the laser beam,
specimens are coated with carbon graphite powder. The
absorption factor is about 60%.
3.1 Transient thermal analysis
Supposing the laser beam moves along the spider paths in a
constant velocity v, for the thermo-mechanical-coupled
522 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Fig. 5 Stress–strain relationship

Fig. 3 Domain and mesh in FEM analysis

the heat transfer coefficient, and radiation is also considered

system, the governing equation of heat conduction for the on these surfaces: qr =A((T−TZ)4 −(T0 −TZ)4), where A is the
3D transient temperature is given by the following: radiation constant (emissive times the Stefan–Boltzmann
constant) and TZ is the temperature absolute zero on the

 temperature scale used.
KðT Þ @ 2 T @ 2 T @ 2 T Qin ðx; y; z; t Þ @T
þ 2 þ 2 þ ¼
rcp @x 2 @y @z rcp @t

 ð1Þ 3.2 Stress analysis
@qx @qy @qz @T
 þ þ þ Qin ðx; y; z; t Þ ¼ rcp
@x @y @z @t The mechanical analysis during laser forming is based on
the satisfaction of boundary conditions as well as compat-
where ρ is the density of the material, cp is the specific heat ibility and equilibrium conditions within the material
capacity, q is the heat flux, Qin is the internal heat volume in accordance with flow rules and yield criteria.
generation, t is the time, and K(T) is the thermal The conservation of energy implied by the first law of
conductivity matrix of the material. Heat condition follows thermodynamics states that the governing equation can be
the Fourier heat flux constitute relation, q=−K(T) ∂T/∂ψ, ψ expressed as
is the coordinate in the reference configuration.
The initial temperature field is given by T=T0 in the entire Z Z
volume V, where T0 is the surrounding temperature. The laser @vi @r
rvi  dV þ U dV
beam is given as a prescribed non-uniform surface heat flux: @t @t
V V
qlaser =q(x,y,t) on the top surface. On the six surfaces, free Z Z 
0

convection with air is considered: qc =h(T−T0), where h is ¼ rðQV þ bi  vi ÞdV þ Pi  vi  Q dS ð2Þ
V S

where vi is the velocity field vector, U is the internal energy

per unit mass, QV is the heat flux of the volume, bi is the
volume force, Pi is the boundary force of the unit volume, V
the volume, S the corresponding boundary surface, and Q'
is the heat flux density on the boundary S. Let V denote a
volume occupied by a part of the body in the current
configuration, and let S be the surface bounding this
volume. The force balance equation with integration
formula can be expressed as

Z
 Z
@vi
r bi  dV ¼ Pi dS ð3Þ
@t
Fig. 4 Material properties of stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti V S
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539 523

Put Eq. 3 into Eq. 2; then the conservation of thermal stress The elastic strain obeys the Hooke’s law and the thermal
coupled energy will be strain d"Tij ¼ a  dT , where α is the thermal expansion
coefficient. Eq. 9 can be expressed with matrix as
Z 
  Z
@U @vi 0
r QV  þ s ij  dV ¼ Q dS ð4Þ  
@t @xj d f"g ¼ d f"e g þ d "p þ d f"T g ð10Þ
V S

According to the virtual work principle, the structure  

d f"e g ¼ d f"g  d "p  d f"T g ð11Þ
deformation ui needs to

Z Z Z According to the Hooke’s law, it can be

@vi dui @vi
s ij dV ¼ rbi dui dV  r dui dV ð5Þ
@t @t  

V V V d fs g ¼ ½De d f"e g ¼ ½De  d f"g  d "p  d f"T g

 
@f ð12Þ
If body force is neglected, the entire stress distribution of d fs g ¼ ½ D e  d f" g  l df  dfagdT
@s
the material follows the equilibrium equationr  s ¼ 0.
Because no external forces exert on the faces of the where [De] is the elastic matrix, and the elastic stress
workpiece, the traction-free boundary condition is assumed, increment and strain increment relationship can be
namely, s ij  b
n ¼ 0. The total strain rate ε during laser expressed as
forming can be decomposed into (εe +εp +εth), in which εe,
εp, and εth represent elastic strain rate, plastic strain rate, and !
thermal strain rate. The elastic strain can be expressed as @ ½De 1
d fs g ¼ ½De d f"g  ½De  fag þ fs g dT ð13Þ
@T
s ij ¼ b"ekk d ij þ 2m"eij ð6Þ

h i @ ½De 1
where σij is the stress tensor and β and μ are the Lames’s
d f"e g ¼ d ½De 1 fs g ¼ ½De 1 d fs g þ fs gdT
constants. When the stress exceeds a critical magnitude, the @T
stress–strain relation ceases to be linear, permanent or plastic ð14Þ
deformations begin to occur. In this case, von Mises yielding
criterion is used. In accordance with the von Mises criterion, In the plastic deformation, the yield function is related with
yielding will occur when temperature, so

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Z 

2
s ¼ 32 s ij  13 dij s kk ð7Þ s¼G d"p ; T ð15Þ

where s is the flow stress of the material and δij is the

Kronecker delta. For plastic deformation with the von
T
@s @G @G
Mises criterion, the stress and strain relationship can be d fs g ¼ R
d"p þ dT ð16Þ
@ fs g @ d "p @T
expressed as

and the plastic stress increment and strain increment

@f @s
d"pij ¼ ldf ¼ lds ð8Þ relationship can be expressed as
@s ij @s ij

where λ is a function of stress that describes the yield @ ½De 1 @s

criterion and f is the plastic potential function. The thermal d f"g ¼ ½De 1 d fs g þ fs gdT þ d "p
@T @ fs g
strain εth is related to a temperature matrix T by a linear
thermal expansion coefficient. þ fagdT ð17Þ
The incremental plasticity method is employed. The total
strain rate is assumed to be the summation of the elastic,
" ! #
plastic, and thermal components: @s @ ½De 1
d fs g ¼ ½De  d f"g  d"p  fs g þ fag dT
@ fs g @T
d"ij ¼ d"eij þ d"pij þ d"Tij ð9Þ ð18Þ
524 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

From Eq. 16, we can gain the function:

 T  T 1

@s
@ fs g ½De d f"g  ½De  fag þ @ ½D@Te  fs g dT  @G
@s
@ fs g @T dT
d"p ¼  T ð19Þ
G0 þ @@s
fs g ½De  @@s
fs g

From Eqs. 18 and 19, in the plastic deformation, the plastic force and surface pressure, and δu is the virtual displace-
stress increment and strain increment relationship can be ment. After discretizing the problem with FEM methods, a
expressed as group of nonlinear equations will be gained:

    ½KfΔug ¼ fFa g  fFnr g ð25Þ

d fs g ¼ Dep d f"g  Cep dT ð20Þ R T 
where ½K ¼ V ½B Dep ½BdV is the tangential stiffness
where matrix, [Dep] is the elastic–plastic stress–strain matrix,
 T {Δu} is the displacement incremental at the element
R nodes,
½De  @@s @s
½D e  {Fa} is the applied force vector, and fFnr g ¼ V ½BT fs gdV
  fs g @ fs g
Dep ¼ ½D e    T ð21Þ is the Newton–Raphson restored force vector. The basic
G0 þ @@s fs g ½De  @@s
fs g
equation for thermo-mechanical-coupled calculation is as
follows:

         
     @ ½De 1 ½De  @@s @G ½0 ½ C T ½0 ½K T  fT g f Qg
fs g @T þ ¼
Cep ¼ Dep fag þ Dep
@T
fs g  
@s
T ½0 ½ 0 f u g ½K  ½0 fug fFg
G0 þ @ fs g ½De  @@s
fs g
ð26Þ
ð22Þ
where {F} is the force vector, including applied nodal force
3.3 The thermal stress modeling and the force caused by thermal strain.

To get the solution from the thermal equilibrium equation, 3.4 Rezoning technique for laser forming analysis
boundary conditions and initial conditions are needed. The
basic FEM equations for the thermal problem can be During the sheet metal 3DLF, the temperature distribution
derived from the thermal equilibrium equation: and the temperature gradient are dependent on many
technological parameters and material properties such as
½CfT
_ g þ ½KT fTg ¼ fQg ð23Þ the thermal flux density, the metal absorption on the
surface, as well as the heating time. Laser heating is
R considered as a volumetric heat source moving at a constant
where ½C ¼ V rc½N½NT dV is the heat Rcapacity matrix, velocity. Supposing that the laser flux has a Gaussian
[N] is the shape function matrix, ½KT  ¼ V k ½B½BT dV is distribution, the moving laser flux can be expressed as
the heat conduction matrix, [B] is the general geometric

matrix, {T} and fT_ g are nodal temperature vector and nodal 2CP 2r2
qlaser ¼ exp  ð27Þ
temperature rate vector, and {Q} is the heat flux vector. pR2 R2
According to the virtual work principle, supposing the
where qlaser is the thermal flux density of the laser beam, C
equilibrium states at all the time steps concerned from time
is the absorptivity on the sheet metal surface, P is the laser
0 to t have been obtained, the basic equation of energy
beam power, R is the laser beam radius, and r is the
balance at time t+Δt can be expressed as follows:
distance from the center of the laser beam. So, the mean
Z Z Z thermal flux density qm within the area of the laser beam
sd"dV ¼ Fq dudS þ Fp dudV ð24Þ scanning on the sheet metal surface is
V S V
Z R Z R

1 1 2CP 2r2 0:865CP
where V is the volume of a solid material with the surface qm ¼ qrdr ¼ exp  rdr ¼
pR2 pR2 pR 2 R 2 pR2
area S, σ and ε are stress tensor and strain tensor in 0 0

Lagrange configuration descriptions, Fq and Fp are body ð28Þ

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
The heating time t depends on the relative motion v
between workpiece and laser beam, and the laser beam
radius R can be given as follows: t=2R/v. During the laser
forming process, the heat source applied with heat flow
density and only the area, which is very near the heat
source, undergoes large amount of heat transfer and plastic
strains [22, 23]. In order to obtain convergent and highly
accurate results in a reasonable time, a rezoning technique
which subdivides laser heat flow density to adapt the mesh
is developed in the FEM simulations of laser forming
process, as shown in Fig. 6.
2 Δt
ðN  LÞ2  N2  L  p
h¼ N
2 ð29Þ
2 L p
where η is the redundant load proportion and N and L are
the number and side length of the units.
As a heat source, the laser beam is considered to be a
square area to act on the cube units. According to Fig. 6
and Eq. 29, 27.39% of the loading region in FEM analysis
is sufficient. On the other hand, the laser beam energy
follows a Gaussian distribution, the energy of laser beam in
the inner facular area is concentrated, that in outer facular
area is tending to become dispersed, and the energy in the
inner facular area is higher than that in the outer facular
area. Choose the 70% energy of the total heat flow density
in inner facular area and 30% energy in outer facular area to
use in FEM analysis.
A commercial code, ABAQUS, is used for the thermal
mechanical simulation. In the structural analysis, the 20-
node element, C3D20, has no shear locking or hourglass
effect and is thus suitable for a bending deformation-
dominated process such as LF. On the other hand, the eight-
node element suffers from “shear locking,” and is therefore
not suitable for such a process. In order to keep compatible
1
not self-starting because the
Fig. 6 Regional analysis of unit loads distribution
525
with the structural analysis, a 20-node element, DC3D20, is
used in the heat transfer analysis.
3.5 Explicit dynamic analysis in computation
The explicit dynamics analysis procedure is based upon the
implementation of an explicit integration rule together with
the use of diagonal or “lumped” element mass matrices. The
equations of motion for the body are integrated using the
explicit central difference integration rule
ðiþ1Þ
þ Δt ðiÞ ðiÞ
u ðiþ 2 Þ ¼ u ði 2 Þ þ
1 1
u ð30Þ
2
uðiþ1Þ ¼ uðiÞ þ Δt ðiþ1Þ u ðiþ 2 Þ
1
ð31Þ
where u is velocity and u is the acceleration of the key data
points. The superscript (i) refers to the increment number,
and i  12 and i þ 12 refer to mid-increment values. The
central difference integration operator is explicit in that the
1
kinematic state can be advanced using known values of
u i 2 and uðiÞ from the previous increment. The explicit
integration rule is quite simple but by itself does not
provide the computational efficiency associated with the
explicit dynamics procedure. The key to the computational
efficiency of the explicit procedure is the use of diagonal
element mass matrices because the inversion of the mass
matrix that is used in the computation for the accelerations
at the beginning of the increment is triaxial:
 
ðiÞ ¼ M1 FðiÞ  IðiÞ
u ð32Þ
where M is the diagonal lumped mass matrix, F is the
applied load vector, and I is the internal force vector. The
explicit procedure requires no iterations and no tangent
stiffness matrix. 1
Special treatment of the mean velocities u iþ2 , u i2 ,
etc. is required for initial conditions, certain constraints, and
presentation of results. For presentation of results, the state
velocities are stored as a linear interpolation of the mean
velocities:
1
u ðiþ1Þ ¼ u ðiþ 2 Þ þ Δt ðiþ1Þ uðiþ1Þ
1
ð33Þ
2
The central difference operator is1
value of the mean velocity u  2 needs to be defined. The
initial values (at time t=0) of velocity and acceleration are
set to zero unless they are specified by the user. We assert the
following condition:
ð1Þ
Δt
u ðþ 2 Þ ¼ u ð0Þ þ uð0Þ
1
ð34Þ
2
526 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Substituting this expression into the update expression

for Figure 8 shows the simulated varied temperature of some
u iþ 12 yields the following definition of u i 12 : key data points in diagonals on the upper and bottom
surface. The number of these key data points in the
ð0Þ
Δt
u ð 2 Þ ¼ u ð0Þ  uð0Þ diagonals is shown in the Fig. 1b. It is clear that the
1
ð35Þ
2 temperature of the key data points on the upper surface
rapidly increases during laser pass through the fixed surface
points. Along with the scanning path, the temperature of the
4 Results key data points on both surfaces reached to the peak
temperature in turn. The maximum temperature on the
4.1 Temperature field upper surface diagonal is about 1,197°C, which is below
the melting point of the 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steels and
The temperature distribution of whole sheet in heating about 867°C on the bottom surface. Using the Raytek
process is shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen that the infrared thermometer measure, the temperature of sheet
temperature distribution is asymmetrical, and the tempera- center point at the upper surface and the experimental and
ture of the whole sheet is increasing in the heating process. simulation results are shown in Fig. 9. The FEM results
The minimal temperature of whole sheet is about 20°C at have also been verified against experimental data, and a
the start time and 342°C at the end time of laser scanning. reasonable correlation has been found.

a t=10.0s b t=20.0s

c t=30.0s d at the end time of scanning

Fig. 7 The temperature distribution counter of the upper surface in laser heating process. a t=10.0 s, b t=20.0 s, c t=30.0 s, d at the end time of scanning
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539 527

Fig. 8 Profile of the simulated

varied temperature at diagonal
key data points on the upper and
bottom surface. a The tempera-
ture of diagonal key data points
(I, III, V, VII, IX) on the upper
surface. b The temperature of
diagonal key data points (II, IV,
V, VI, VIII) on the upper sur-
face. c The temperature of diag-
onal key data points (I, III, V,
VII, IX) on the bottom surface.
d The temperature of diagonal
key data points (I, III, V, VII,
IX) on the bottom surface
a The temperature of diagonal key data points (I, III, V, VII, IX) on the upper surface

b The temperature of diagonal key data points (II, IV, V, VI, VIII) on the upper surface

c The temperature of diagonal key data points (I, III, V, VII, IX) on the bottom surface

d The temperature of diagonal key data points (I, III, V, VII, IX) on the bottom surface
528
Fig. 9 Profile of the experimen-
tal and simulated temperature at
the center point on the upper
surface
The temperature gradient between the upper and bottom
surface is asymmetrical; it can be seen in the Fig. 10. In
laser heating process, the maximal temperature difference
between upper and bottom surface of center point V is
about 330°C, and the minimal temperature difference
between upper and bottom surface of key data point VII
in diagonal of sheet is about 200°C.
4.2 Stress field
Figures 11 and 12 show that the varying tensile and
compressive stress vectors in sheet during the 3DLF of square
sheet to spherical dome with spider-line scanning at different
times. At the point of laser spot, the stress is compressive
stress and varies strongly, and simultaneously comes into
a The temperature difference of centre point V
b The temperature difference of the key data point VI
Fig. 10 Profile of temperature difference of some key data points. a
The temperature difference of center point V. b The temperature
difference of the key data point VI
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
being a compressive stress ball around the point. Around the
compressive ball, the varying tensile stress vector comes into
being a stress ring, and the tensile stress vector located on the
scanned line, and compressive stress vector located outside of
the tensile stress vector; it can be seen in Figs. 11a, b and 12a,
b. The tensile and compressive stress vectors are blending and
interleaving one another in 3DLF. As shown in Fig. 12f and f,
the interleaving tensile-compressive stress vectors ring in the
square sheet and the tensile-compressive stress vector line on
the diagonal line will come into being after laser scanning.
Figure 13 shows the varying Mises stress (true stress)
curves of some key data points in laser scanning. From
Fig. 13a, b, and c, the Mises stress of the key data points
will maintain a level while they have not endured the
laser scanning. According to the scanning strategy, the
key data points from outside to the center of the sheet
undergo the varying Mises stress in turns. At any time in
laser scanning, every point in the sheet undergoes the
varied stress (including values and direction), and in the
middle points (point III, IV, VI, VII, as shown in Fig. 3)
of the sheet, the Mises stress will be wavy due to the
transform of the outer stress wave. The maximal magni-
tude of the Mises stress at different point is varying, which
at the middle point is highest and which at center point
(point V, as shown in Fig. 3) is higher than at four corners
(point I, II, VIII, IX, as shown in Fig. 3).
Considering the different orientation stress, the magni-
tude of the stress in the xy-plate is bigger than that in other
orientation, as shown in the Fig. 14. The intensity of
variation of stress σxx, σxy, and σyy is more than the other
orientation stress σzz, σxz, and σyz. Accompanied with laser
scanning, the orientation stress undergoes the complex
transferring of tensile-compressive stress. The maximal
magnitude of the stress at each point is the stress σyy, and
the minimal magnitude of the stress is the stress σzz. Same
as the Mises stress, the maximal magnitude of the stress σyy
at different points is varying, which at the middle point
(point III, IV, VI, VII, as shown in Fig. 3) is highest and
which at the center point (point V, as shown in Fig. 3) is
higher than that at four corners (point I, II, VIII, IX, as
shown in Fig. 3).
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539 529

Fig. 11 Tensile stress vector

distribution in 3DLF of square
sheet to spherical dome. a t=
7.5 s, b t=15.0 s, c t=22.5 s,
d t=30.0 s, e at the end time of
scanning, f heat balance

a t=7.5s b t=15.0s

c t=22.5s d t=30.0s

e at the end time of scanning f heat balance

4.3 Strain field Fig. 15. Compared with the Mises stress profile (Fig. 13),
when there is a bigger change of the stress, then the
The logarithmic strains (true strains) of whole sheet strain will gain the sharp change. The maximal magni-
increase with the processing of 3DLF; it can be seen in tude of the strain at different point is varying, which at
530 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Fig. 12 Compressive stress

vector distribution in 3DLF of
square sheet to spherical dome.
a t=7.5 s, b t=15.0 s, c t=
22.5 s, d t=30.0 s, e at the end
time of scanning, f heat balance

a t=7.5s b t=15.0s

c t=22.5s d t=30.0s

e at the end time of scanning f heat balance

the center point (point V, as shown in Fig. 3) is highest The same as stress, the varying strains on the
and which at middle point (point III, IV, VI, VII, as shown different orientations of some key data points in 3DLF
in Fig. 3) is higher than at four corners (point I, II, VIII, are shown in Fig. 16. The intensity of variation of
IX, as shown in Fig. 3). orientation strain εxx, εyy, and εzz is more than other
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539 531

Fig. 13 Profile of the varied

von Mises stress at some key
data points on the sheet. a The
stress at the four corners key
data points I, II, VIII, IX on the
sheet. b The stress at the middle
key data points III, IV, VI, VII
on the sheet. c The stress at the
center point V on the sheet

a The stress at the four corners key data points I, II, VIII, IX on the sheet

b The stress at the middle key data points III, IV, VI, VII on the sheet

c The stress at the centre point V on the sheet

orientation strain. For the certain point, the magnitude
of the strain εzz is bigger than other orientation strain,
and the maximal magnitude of the strain εzz at different
points is varying, which at the center point (point V, as
shown in Fig. 3) is highest and which at the middle point
(point VII, as shown in Fig. 3) is higher than that at four
corners (point VIII, as shown in Fig. 3).
4.4 Kinematics and deformation
Figures 17 and 18 show the varied strain rate (key data
point acceleration) and the velocity at different points
with varying time. In the laser scanning process, the
maximum strain rate is about 800 m/s2 within 0.05 s. At
the different scanning time, the orientation and value of
532 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Fig. 14 Profile of the varied

orientation stress at some key
data points on the sheet. a The
orientation stress of the corner
point VIII on the sheet. b The
orientation stress of the middle
point VII on the sheet. c The
orientation stress of the center
point V on the sheet

a The orientation stress of the corner point VIII on the sheet

b The orientation stress of the middle point VII on the sheet

b The orientation stress of the centre point V on the sheet

the strain rate is different. The velocity at the different
points mainly acts on the z orientation, as shown in
Fig. 18. On the different time, there must be some zero
velocity point located on the sheet, and the location is
correlated with the scanning strategy and scanning time.
While the temperature of the sheet comes into the thermal
balance, the velocity of whole-sheet point will come into
being zero. The maximum velocity is located at the four
corner points; the velocity decrease from outside to the
center in the process.
As shown in Fig. 19, the deformation vector exists the
zero vector. Unlike the velocity vector, the zero
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539 533

Fig. 15 Profile of the varied

logarithmic strain at some key
data points on the sheet. a The
strain at four corners key data
points I, II, VIII, IX on the
sheet. b The strain at the diago-
nals key data points III, IV, VI,
VII on the sheet. c The strain at
the center point V on the sheet

a The strain at four corners key data points I, II, VIII, IX on the sheet

b The strain at the diagonals key data points III, IV, VI, VII on the sheet

c The strain at the centre point V on the sheet

deformation vectors are more uniform than zero velocity
vectors and distributes a circle ring along with the
center at the ending. The center point formed the
negative deformation, and the four corners point formed
positive deformation. That means the sheet is in the
complex and various deformation process because the
sheet points endure the various multi-orientation stress
in the process.
It can be clear that in Fig. 20, the deformation in the z-
orientation is more than that in x- and y-orientations, and
534 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Fig. 16 Profile of the orienta-

tion strain at some key data
points on the sheet. a The
orientation strain at the corner
point VIII on the sheet. b The
orientation strain at the diago-
nals point VII on the sheet. c
The orientation strain at the
center point V on the sheet

a The orientation strain at the corner point VIII on the sheet

b The orientation strain at the diagonals point VII on the sheet

c The orientation strain at the centre point V on the sheet

the deformation at the four corners is different with a 5 Discussion

maximum error about 0.2 mm. The experimental results
have been verified against the FEM data; when measuring
the height of the center of deformed sheet, the height is
about 5.5 mm in simulation and 6.2 mm in the
experiment.
The temperature of the whole sheet is increasing during
laser heating; after laser scanning, the temperature begins
to decrease to the ambient temperature because of
radiation. The temperature of sheet points is varying
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
Fig. 17 Varied acceleration vec-
tor of the sheet in laser heating.
a t=10.0 s, b t=20.0 s, c t=
30.0 s, d at the end time of
scanning
a t=10.0s
c t=30.0s
with processing time because of the complicated strategy
of 3DLF process. Due to the varied original temperature
of the scanned surface points, the peak temperature of
the key data points is different. The temperature gradient
of whole-sheet points are changeful during laser scan-
ning. The thermal stress is different in every movement
of laser, which induces different elastic–plastic strains,
535
b t=20.0s
d at the end time of scanning
which can transform the square sheet to the spherical
dome.
The inner stress induced by the laser beam is
asymmetrical, quickly varied, and propagates through
the sheet as a stress wave in laser scanning. The
propagations of the stress wave cause the stress vector
change in 3DLF process. We suggested that the reason of
536
Fig. 18 Varied velocity vector
curves of the sheet in laser
heating. a t=10.0 s, b t=20.0 s,
c t=30.0 s, d at the end time of
scanning
a t=10.0s
c t=30.0s
the Mises stress at the middle points of the sheet is
wavy, and the magnitude of the stress is maximal in the
transformation and the interaction of inside and outside
stress wave. The orientation stress at the point in the sheet
undergoes the complex transferring of the tensile-
compressive stress. On the one hand, the laser induces
the main orientation stress in the sheet. On the other hand,
the stress wave affects the x- and y-plate orientation stress.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
b t=20.0s
d at the end time of scanning
Because the stress wave transmits along the x- and y-
directions in the sheet, the stress σxx, σxy, and σyy at
different points is higher than the stress σzz, σxz, and σyz at
these points.
As shown in Fig. 4, the yield strengths of stainless
steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti decrease with the temperature in-
crease. From Fig. 7, the temperature of the sheet is about
above 180°C after laser scanning 20 s. In accordance with
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
a Deformation vectors at the ending of process
b Simulated spherical dome counters
Fig. 19 Simulated spherical dome by laser forming square sheet. a Deformation vectors at the ending of process. b Simulated spherical dome
counters
the von Mises criterions, when the thermal stress is equal
to the yield strengthen, the sheet will be yielded and be
in the yielding condition. With the influence of the
thermal stress, the whole sheet is in the complex and
changeful process of thermal elastic–plastic deformation
after laser scanning for 20 s. Due to the resistance of
deformation in the xy-plane is more than the z-direction,
for the certain point, the magnitude of the strain εzz at the
point is bigger than other orientation strain. So, the
deformation in the z orientation is more than that in x-
and y-orientations.
In the laser scanning process, with the effect of stress
σxx, σxy, σyy and the stress wave in the xy-plane, the
maximum strain rate is about 800 m/s2 within 0.05 s. It
means that the change in time of velocity is very short and
the deformation of the sheet is very fast. The transferring
of the strain rate is through interference and interaction
with the deformation process of sheet. The various orders
of the time and space of scanning strategy cause the
deformation at the four corner point difference. Due to the
side and corner effect in the experiment, the error is
caused.
6 Conclusion
Through the above analysis, some conclusions can be
drawn as follows:
(1) A Nd:YAG laser has been used for forming the
square metal sheet to spherical dome with spider-line
scanning. A commercial FE package ABAQUS is
used to simulate the thermal stress-coupled process-
ing using the explicit dynamic analysis, and FEM
537
database would be beneficial to understand the
mechanism (stress–strain and kinematics processing)
of 3DLF. In the process of 3DLF, the asymmetry of
temperature gradient between the top and bottom
surface is the dominant factor influencing stress–
strain and deformation, and the propagation of stress
wave in the sheet is the major factor influencing
formed shape.
(2) The temperature of the whole sheet is increasing
during laser scanning, and the temperature on the sheet
center achieves the maximum in 3DLF of square sheet
to spherical dome with spider-line scanning. Along
with the scanning path, the temperature of the point on
the top and bottom surface achieved to the peak
temperature in sequence.
(3) In the process of 3DLF, the complex and interlaced
tensile and compressive stress vector rings were
induced by the laser beam. The strain of the whole
sheet increases with laser scanning; the biggest strain
is located at the center point of sheet and dwindles
away from center to the outside. The stress prop-
agates through the sheet as the stress wave is induced
by the strain rate, which causes the change of the
inner stress of the non-heat zones. So the inner stress
and strain of the sheet is varying at all time and
location.
(4) Due to the various orders of the time and space of
scanning strategy, the deformation of four corners is
different. In the 3DLF process, the center point formed
the negative deformation, and the four corner points
formed positive deformation. For decreasing the error
between the simulation and experiment of the 3DLF,
the side and corner effect must be included in the
simulation process.
538 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539

Fig. 20 Profile of the varied

deformation of the z-direction
on the sheet. a The deformation
of z-direction at the four-corner
key data points I, II, VIII, IX on
the sheet. b The deformation of
z-direction at the middle key
data points III, IV, VI, VII on
the sheet. c The deformation of
z-direction at the center point V
on the sheet

a The deformation of Z direction at the four corners key data points I, II, VIII, IX on the sheet

b The deformation of Z direction at the middle key data points III, IV, VI, VII on the sheet

c The deformation of Z direction at the centre point V on the sheet

(5) The results presented in this paper are important for
understanding the mechanism and optimization of
3DLF. Different scanning strategy would cause the
varying stress–strain field in the sheet. However, more
work is needed to study the optimum of scanning path
to further improve accuracy and mechanical perfor-
mance of formed shape.
Acknowledgments This research project was supported by the 111
Project of China (no. B07018), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 51:519–539
(no. 20090450962), and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral
Program of Higher Education of China (no. 20070213027). Authors
gratefully acknowledge their support.
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