Product Code: ICAL05_103

Microstructure Integrated Finite Element Modeling of Laser Forming Particle Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite Sheets
Authors:
Liu Furong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Hong Kong
Presented at ICALEO 2005

Laser forming is a novel process to deform the metal sheet by using the thermal stress caused by the changes of the transient temperature field without the assistance of the external tools, therefore, it is popularly used in many fields of the industries. From its birth, considerable amount of experiments and analytical or numerical models were carried out to investigate the deformation behavior of the metal sheet. However, most of the investigations were focused on the monolithic alloys, such as the austenite stainless steel, low carbon steel or even ceramics and intermetallic alloy, relatively little work has been done on the MMCs. The MMCs with the good combination of mechanical, physical and thermal properties creates potential applications in aeronautical, aerospace, automotive and electronic industries. In this paper, the deformation behaviour of a particle reinforced aluminum matrix composite in laser forming was experimentally investigated. It was found that the microstrucutures of the composite changed significantly during laser forming. In order to better describe the process, a microstructure integrated finite element model was developed. The simulated results were found to be in consistent with the experimental findings, and the significance of the work will be discussed in the paper.