Higher precision forming by laser peening under pre-bending die

The mechanism of laser peening forming was analyzed and the precision of laser peening forming was tested by experiments. In the experiments, the parameters of Nd: Glass laser were as following: the wavelength 1.06 mu m, the pulse duration 23 ns, the output power 32 J. The material of sample was aeronautic aluminum alloy LY12CZ, and its size was 150mmx90mmx3.5mm. The sample surface was coated with black paint and flowing water curtain served as overlay. The curvature radius of pre-bending die was 500mm. The shape of deformed plate after laser peening was measured. The experimental data indicate that the curvature radius of specimen after laser peening under elastic pre-bending state is 1872.13mm, and the maximum difference value in the R direction is 0.79mm. Comparing with the traditional forming processes, it is a high-precision forming technology.