Curved laser bending of titanium alloy sheets and effects of heat radiation on its microstructure and property

The effects of laser energy density, path curvature and the number of laser irradiation on bending angle and the effects of heat irradiation of laser on microstructure and property of Ti alloy TC₄ are studied. The results are as follows: (1) the laser bending along curved paths has a significant reduction of the bending angle in comparison with the laser bending along linear paths, and the bending angle decreases with increasing path curvature; (2) there is an optimum laser energy density for getting the maximum bending angle after scanning one time; (3) the bending angle after the first irradiation is in proportion to the number of laser irradiation; (4) when laser energy density is over-high, the irradiated surface of titanium alloy sheet will result in the transformation of microstructure and grain growth, but appropriate process parameters will not worsen material microstructure, and the hardness of sheet surface in the irradiated area was improved.