EP0317830B1 - A method of bending metal objects - Google Patents

A method of bending metal objects Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0317830B1
EP0317830B1 EP19880118683 EP88118683A EP0317830B1 EP 0317830 B1 EP0317830 B1 EP 0317830B1 EP 19880118683 EP19880118683 EP 19880118683 EP 88118683 A EP88118683 A EP 88118683A EP 0317830 B1 EP0317830 B1 EP 0317830B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
metal
heating
bending
plate
cooling
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19880118683
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0317830A2 (en
EP0317830A3 (en
Inventor
Henryk Frackiewicz
Zygmunt Mucha
Wieslaw Trampczynski
Adolf Baranowski
Andrzej Cybulski
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Podstawowych Problemow Techniki
Original Assignee
Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Podstawowych Problemow Techniki
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Application filed by Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Podstawowych Problemow Techniki filed Critical Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Podstawowych Problemow Techniki
Publication of EP0317830A2 publication Critical patent/EP0317830A2/en
Publication of EP0317830A3 publication Critical patent/EP0317830A3/en
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C21—METALLURGY OF IRON
    • C21D—MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING
    • C21D9/00—Heat treatment, e.g. annealing, hardening, quenching or tempering, adapted for particular articles; Furnaces therefor
    • C21D9/46—Heat treatment, e.g. annealing, hardening, quenching or tempering, adapted for particular articles; Furnaces therefor for sheet metals
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D11/00—Bending not restricted to forms of material mentioned in only one of groups B21D5/00, B21D7/00, B21D9/00; Bending not provided for in groups B21D5/00 - B21D9/00; Twisting
    • B21D11/20—Bending sheet metal, not otherwise provided for
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C21—METALLURGY OF IRON
    • C21D—MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING
    • C21D1/00—General methods or devices for heat treatment, e.g. annealing, hardening, quenching or tempering

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method of bending a metal object by locally heating the object to plasticise the metal and by cooling the object thereafter as well as by repeating the heating and cooling step.
  • DE-16 27 490 A describes as general prior art the orientation of metal objects by locally restricted heating of the metal object in order to produce shrinking stresses within the object. Such shrinking stresses result from upsettings because of prevented heat expansion and subsequent cooling.
  • the special prior art of this publication refers to bending straight cylindrical pipes into an arc by first heating an inner section of the pipe up to a plastified state of the material and heating thereafter a corresponding outer section of the pipe joined by cooling of the sections. This sequence of steps can be repeated. Preferred is flame heating or heating by induction. Additionally, the parts between the inner section and the outer section to be heated can be cooled during heating, preferably by a protective inert gas. The locally heating sections have a shape of the surfaces similar to a rhombus, a diagonal of which extends in axial direction. This prior art method is not applicable for bending flat parallel objects especially of brittle or hard materials.
  • This object is achieved with the method of the generic kind in that a plate-shaped metal object is heated and cooled, in that the local heating is carried out on one side of the plate shaped metal object along a straight line which becomes the bending line, in that the heating along the straight line is performed such that the metal is partially melted and in that the metal is plasticised and melted to a depth smaller than the thickness of the plate-shaped metal object, wherein such heating causes an outflow of metal within the region of the bending line while subsequent cooling at ambient temperature or additionally in a stream of blown gas transforms the metal into solid state and causes shrinking of the metal perpendicularly to the bending line which results in a permanent bending deformation at an angle along the bending line.
  • plate-shaped metal objects can be bent at a predetermined angle without exertion of external forces. Such bending is successfully carried out even if the plate-shaped object consists of a brittle material or of a material of high strength or high hardness. Further, the method can be used for bending plate-shaped objects when access to them is difficult, i.e. under vacuum or under hazardous conditions as high tension, harmful radiation and the like.
  • the heating is performed with a focussed laser radiation beam or a concentrated high-power electron beam.
  • the surface of the heated metal is covered with a substance increasing the coefficient of absorption of the flow of energy.
  • the metal of the plate-shaped object being bent is subject to heating with concentrated flow of energy SE of laser radiation.
  • Application of the flow of energy SE of the laser radiation, moving at speed V along the bending line AA entails a local change in the condition of a region P of the metal characterised by different properties at depth G.
  • the temperature distribution of the heated material indicates additionally the material melting temperature T m .
  • the material of the first zone S1 and the second zone S2 flows out to occupy an increased volume as a result of the stresses caused by the effect of thermal expansion.
  • This temperature distribution related to melting temperature T m determines the size of the first zone S1 and the second zone S2 relative to material thickness L.
  • the material is cooled at ambient temperature or, additionally, in a stream of a blown gas.
  • the material within the region of the bending line, i.e. the liquid in first zone S1 and the plasticised material in the second zone S2 is transformed into solid state.
  • the boundary of the region encompassing the plasticising and melting zone in the heating phase has been marked with line U in Fig. 4.
  • the heating and cooling conditions are selected so that the tensile and compressive stresses created in the material should be much smaller than are their limit stresses.
  • the heating and cooling parameters such as the energy flow movement speed, the power of the energy flow, the absence or presence and nature of a layer absorbing the flow of energy, etc.
  • control is exercised on the magnitude of the stresses created in the material in order to obtain the desired angle of bending (Figs. 1 and 4) during one cycle of heating and cooling along the bending line.
  • the flat parallel slab shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has been subjected to a process of bending according to this present invention.
  • the slab 0.7 mm thick and 20 mm wide, is made of 50HSA steel and heated with a radiation beam of a continuously operating 300 W CO2 laser, the source of energy moving along line AA (Fig. 2) at the speed of 2.5 cm/sec.
  • the beam is directed perpendicularly to the surface of the slab.
  • the heating takes place under a protective argon atmosphere.
  • the slab was cooled in the ambient atmosphere within about 1 second. With such conditions after a single heating and cooling cycle, the slab was bent at the angle ⁇ of 2,8°.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Bending Of Plates, Rods, And Pipes (AREA)
  • Laser Beam Processing (AREA)
  • Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)

Description

  • The invention relates to a method of bending a metal object by locally heating the object to plasticise the metal and by cooling the object thereafter as well as by repeating the heating and cooling step.
  • DE-16 27 490 A describes as general prior art the orientation of metal objects by locally restricted heating of the metal object in order to produce shrinking stresses within the object. Such shrinking stresses result from upsettings because of prevented heat expansion and subsequent cooling.
  • The special prior art of this publication refers to bending straight cylindrical pipes into an arc by first heating an inner section of the pipe up to a plastified state of the material and heating thereafter a corresponding outer section of the pipe joined by cooling of the sections. This sequence of steps can be repeated. Preferred is flame heating or heating by induction. Additionally, the parts between the inner section and the outer section to be heated can be cooled during heating, preferably by a protective inert gas. The locally heating sections have a shape of the surfaces similar to a rhombus, a diagonal of which extends in axial direction. This prior art method is not applicable for bending flat parallel objects especially of brittle or hard materials.
  • It is the object of the invention to make use of the method of the generic kind for controlled bending of plate-shaped metal objects with high accuracy of deformation.
  • This object is achieved with the method of the generic kind in that a plate-shaped metal object is heated and cooled, in that the local heating is carried out on one side of the plate shaped metal object along a straight line which becomes the bending line, in that the heating along the straight line is performed such that the metal is partially melted and in that the metal is plasticised and melted to a depth smaller than the thickness of the plate-shaped metal object, wherein such heating causes an outflow of metal within the region of the bending line while subsequent cooling at ambient temperature or additionally in a stream of blown gas transforms the metal into solid state and causes shrinking of the metal perpendicularly to the bending line which results in a permanent bending deformation at an angle along the bending line.
  • With the method according to the invention plate-shaped metal objects can be bent at a predetermined angle without exertion of external forces. Such bending is successfully carried out even if the plate-shaped object consists of a brittle material or of a material of high strength or high hardness. Further, the method can be used for bending plate-shaped objects when access to them is difficult, i.e. under vacuum or under hazardous conditions as high tension, harmful radiation and the like.
  • Preferably, the heating is performed with a focussed laser radiation beam or a concentrated high-power electron beam.
  • It is convenient that the surface of the heated metal is covered with a substance increasing the coefficient of absorption of the flow of energy.
  • Referring to the attached drawings the invention is further explained by way of example.
    • Fig. 1
    is an end view of a flat parallel plate bent according to the invention,
    Fig. 2
    is a side view of the flat parallel plate of Fig. 1,
    Fig. 3
    shows a detail of the plate of Fig. 1 during heating,
    Fig. 4
    shows the detail of Fig. 3 during cooling,
    Fig. 5
    is a graph illustrating the temperature distribution along the thickness of the plate during heating and
    Fig. 6
    is a graph showing the stress distribution over the thickness of the plate during cooling.
  • During the first phase, the metal of the plate-shaped object being bent is subject to heating with concentrated flow of energy SE of laser radiation. Application of the flow of energy SE of the laser radiation, moving at speed V along the bending line AA entails a local change in the condition of a region P of the metal characterised by different properties at depth G.
  • Within that region P, two zones can be observed, the material being liquid in the first zone S1 and plasticised in the second zone S2, with the boundary U of the area encompassing the melting and plasticising zones.
  • The temperature distribution of the heated material, as shown schematically in Fig. 5 as a function of thickness L of the object indicates additionally the material melting temperature Tm. In the heating stage the material of the first zone S1 and the second zone S2 flows out to occupy an increased volume as a result of the stresses caused by the effect of thermal expansion. This temperature distribution related to melting temperature Tm determines the size of the first zone S1 and the second zone S2 relative to material thickness L.
  • During the second phase the material is cooled at ambient temperature or, additionally, in a stream of a blown gas. The material within the region of the bending line, i.e. the liquid in first zone S1 and the plasticised material in the second zone S2 is transformed into solid state. The boundary of the region encompassing the plasticising and melting zone in the heating phase has been marked with line U in Fig. 4.
  • Due to internal stresses σt caused by the shrinkage of the cooled material, it becomes shorter along the fibres marked with arrow, which is shown through the stress distribution along the thickness L of the object in Fig. 6.
  • In this graph, the values of limit compression σs and of limit tensile stress σr are marked. Should the limit tensile stress σr, for example, be exceeded, the brittle materials may crack.
  • The heating and cooling conditions are selected so that the tensile and compressive stresses created in the material should be much smaller than are their limit stresses. By changing the heating and cooling parameters, such as the energy flow movement speed, the power of the energy flow, the absence or presence and nature of a layer absorbing the flow of energy, etc., one may affect the temperature distribution in the heating phase (Fig. 5) and the stress distribution in the cooling phase (Fig. 6). In the abovementioned manner, control is exercised on the magnitude of the stresses created in the material in order to obtain the desired angle of bending (Figs. 1 and 4) during one cycle of heating and cooling along the bending line.
  • In one embodiment, the flat parallel slab shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has been subjected to a process of bending according to this present invention. The slab, 0.7 mm thick and 20 mm wide, is made of 50HSA steel and heated with a radiation beam of a continuously operating 300 W CO₂ laser, the source of energy moving along line AA (Fig. 2) at the speed of 2.5 cm/sec. The beam is directed perpendicularly to the surface of the slab.
  • The heating takes place under a protective argon atmosphere. The slab was cooled in the ambient atmosphere within about 1 second. With such conditions after a single heating and cooling cycle, the slab was bent at the angle σ of 2,8°.

Claims (3)

  1. A method of bending a metal object by locally heating the objects to plasticise the metal and by cooling the object thereafter as well as by repeating the heating and cooling steps,
    characterized
    - in that a plate-shaped metal object is heated (SE) and cooled,
    - in that the local heating (SE) is carried out on one side of the plate-shaped metal object along a straight line (AA) which becomes the bending line,
    - in that the heating (SE) along the straight line (AA) is performed such that the metal is partially melted (S1), and
    - in that the metal is plasticised (S2) and melted (S1) to a depth (G) smaller than the thickness (L) of the plate-shaped metal object,
    - wherein such heating (SE) causes an outflow of metal within the region of the bending line while subsequent cooling at ambient temperature or additionally in a stream of blown gas transforms the metal into solid state and causes shrinking of the metal perpendiculary to the bending line, which results in a permanent bending deformation at an angle (δ) along the bending line (AA).
  2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the heating (SE) is performed with a focussed laser radiation beam or a concentrated highpower electron beam.
  3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the surface of the heated metal is covered with a substance increasing the coefficient of absorption of the flow of energy (SE).
EP19880118683 1987-11-26 1988-11-09 A method of bending metal objects Expired EP0317830B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PL26903987A PL155358B1 (en) 1987-11-26 1987-11-26 Method of bending metal workpieces
PL269039 1987-11-26

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0317830A2 EP0317830A2 (en) 1989-05-31
EP0317830A3 EP0317830A3 (en) 1990-05-23
EP0317830B1 true EP0317830B1 (en) 1992-09-30

Family

ID=20039185

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19880118683 Expired EP0317830B1 (en) 1987-11-26 1988-11-09 A method of bending metal objects

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0317830B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH01192423A (en)
DE (1) DE3875078T2 (en)
ES (1) ES2035219T3 (en)
PL (1) PL155358B1 (en)

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5142778A (en) * 1991-03-13 1992-09-01 United Technologies Corporation Gas turbine engine component repair
FR2771471A1 (en) 1997-11-24 1999-05-28 Siemens Ag METHOD FOR ADJUSTING NEEDLE STROKE IN METERING VALVES AND METERING VALVE ADJUSTED BY THIS METHOD
WO2001039959A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-06-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method for non-contacting bending of components made of a thermosplastic plastic and a component bent or adjusted according to said method
US6251328B1 (en) 1995-04-24 2001-06-26 Fraunhofer-Gesellshcaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V. Device and process for shaping workpieces with laser diode radiation
DE19958231A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-07-05 Siemens Ag Contactless bending of thermoplastic plastic components, comprises directing focussed energy source at either upper or lower face and cooling
DE19958232A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-07-05 Siemens Ag Contactless bending method, for plastic parts with thermoplastic properties, comprises heating one side over period to produce temperature gradient through part before cooling to bend
US7469831B2 (en) 2004-06-30 2008-12-30 Gsi Group Corporation Laser-based method and system for processing targeted surface material and article produced thereby

Families Citing this family (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3905551C3 (en) * 1989-02-23 1996-09-26 Laser Bearbeitungs Und Beratun Method and device for treating surfaces with a laser beam
DE4235192C2 (en) * 1992-10-19 1996-05-30 Ttk Kunststoff Tech Gmbh Method and device for deforming, in particular for bending, substantially flat objects
PL299688A3 (en) * 1993-07-15 1995-01-23 Pan Method of bending metal workpieces
JP2796622B2 (en) * 1996-03-07 1998-09-10 セイコーインスツルメンツ株式会社 Fine processing method and fine processing structure
ATE298468T1 (en) 2001-04-12 2005-07-15 Finisar Corp METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE CENTER WAVELENGTH OF A LASER, IN PARTICULAR A SEMICONDUCTOR LASER
DE10118451A1 (en) 2001-04-12 2002-10-24 Aifotec Ag Fiberoptics Method for precisely aligning optical or fiber-optic components using high energy laser heating of bridge elements between actuator base and alignment regions
DE10128827A1 (en) 2001-06-15 2003-01-09 Aifotec Ag Fiberoptics Adjustment method, in particular laser adjustment method and actuator suitable for this
CN100434203C (en) * 2006-02-28 2008-11-19 江南造船(集团)有限责任公司 Water and fire rectification method for aluminum-magnesium alloy hull
CN105414246A (en) * 2015-12-16 2016-03-23 西北工业大学 Prediction method of bending angle of titanium alloy laser bending forming part
CN114101391B (en) * 2021-09-08 2023-06-09 蓝箭航天空间科技股份有限公司 Orthopedic method for large-size low-rigidity piece for spaceflight and liquid rocket

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2428825A (en) * 1941-02-27 1947-10-14 Linde Air Prod Co Method of controlling distortion, straightening distorted objects, and/or altering the shape of metal objects
DE888401C (en) * 1943-07-20 1953-08-31 Administration Sequestre Des R Process for straightening workpieces
DE1160815B (en) * 1959-07-21 1964-01-09 Hoesch Ag Process for the production of profiles from cold-rolled or tempered steel and non-ferrous metal strips
DE1627490A1 (en) * 1967-06-07 1970-05-06 Babcock & Wilcox Ag Method of making arches
JPS62110883A (en) * 1985-11-09 1987-05-21 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Production of dome like structure
JPS62134118A (en) * 1985-12-05 1987-06-17 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Method for correcting shape accuracy of plate spring
JPS62134117A (en) * 1985-12-05 1987-06-17 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Tube manufacturing method

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5142778A (en) * 1991-03-13 1992-09-01 United Technologies Corporation Gas turbine engine component repair
EP0504095A3 (en) * 1991-03-13 1992-10-28 United Technologies Corporation Gas turbine engine component repair
US6251328B1 (en) 1995-04-24 2001-06-26 Fraunhofer-Gesellshcaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V. Device and process for shaping workpieces with laser diode radiation
FR2771471A1 (en) 1997-11-24 1999-05-28 Siemens Ag METHOD FOR ADJUSTING NEEDLE STROKE IN METERING VALVES AND METERING VALVE ADJUSTED BY THIS METHOD
WO2001039959A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-06-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method for non-contacting bending of components made of a thermosplastic plastic and a component bent or adjusted according to said method
DE19958231A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-07-05 Siemens Ag Contactless bending of thermoplastic plastic components, comprises directing focussed energy source at either upper or lower face and cooling
DE19958232A1 (en) * 1999-12-03 2001-07-05 Siemens Ag Contactless bending method, for plastic parts with thermoplastic properties, comprises heating one side over period to produce temperature gradient through part before cooling to bend
DE19958231B4 (en) * 1999-12-03 2005-10-06 Siemens Ag Method for contactless bending of parts made of a plastic with thermoplastic properties and bent or adjusted part according to this method
US7469831B2 (en) 2004-06-30 2008-12-30 Gsi Group Corporation Laser-based method and system for processing targeted surface material and article produced thereby

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
PL155358B1 (en) 1991-11-29
DE3875078D1 (en) 1992-11-05
DE3875078T2 (en) 1993-02-18
EP0317830A2 (en) 1989-05-31
ES2035219T3 (en) 1993-04-16
EP0317830A3 (en) 1990-05-23
JPH01192423A (en) 1989-08-02
PL269039A1 (en) 1989-05-30

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