Investigation on the Mechanisms of Flexible Sheet Metal Forming Using Plasma Arc

An investigation on the mechanism of flexible sheet metal forming using plasma arc have been performed in this paper. The experimental results show that temperature gradient mechanism (TGM) is caused by a steep temperature gradient across the sheet metal thickness, which will generates bending towards the plasma arc, while buckling mechanism (BM) usually causes sheet metals to bend away from the plasma arc on the condition that the plasma arc diameter is large compared to the sheet metal thickness and the scanning speed is low. The strain-hardening effects and phase transformation effects were also conducted in the investigation, which can be of great significance for the micro hardness and deformation of sheet metal in the heated area. The investigation reveals the mechanisms of sheet metal forming using plasma arc, and provides theoretical foundation for its industry application.