Laser Bending of Tubes: Mechanism, Analysis, and Prediction

Abstract

Laser bending of tubes is a process in which laser-induced thermal distortion is used to bend tubes without hard tooling or external forces. Mechanisms of the process are examined to better understand the deformation characteristics such as wall thickness variation, cross-section ovalization, bending radius, and asymmetry. Factors important to these characteristics are experimentally and numerically investigated. Temporal and spatial distributions of temperature and stress/strain obtained from experimentally validated simulation models are also used to better understand additional phenomena accompanying the process, and to help devise ways to improve the process such as reducing asymmetry. A closed-form expression for the bending angle is proposed.