Laser forming is an emerging manufacturing process capable of producing either uncomplicated and complicated shapes by employing a concentrated heating source. The heat source movement creates local softening, and a plastic strain will be induced during the rise of temperature and the subsequent cooling. This contactless forming process may be used for the simple bending of sheets and tubes or fabrication of doubly-curved parts. Different studies have been carried out over recent years to understand the mechanism of forming and predicting the bending angle. The analysis of process parameters and search for optimized manufacturing conditions are among the most discussed topics. This review describes the main recent findings in the laser forming of single and multilayer sheets, composite and fiber-metal laminate plates, force assisted laser bending, tube bending by laser beam, the optimization technique implemented for process parameters selection and control, doubly-curved parts, and the analytical solutions in laser bending. The main focus is set to the researches published since 2015.

In this study, a FEM-based tool wear approach with a focus on the geometry of the worn tool, especially the changes of flank wear land inclination angle, was developed. The relationship between the variables of the wear rate equation and the average nodal temperature on the flank wear land through integrating FE-simulations of the cutting process and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was determined in order to define the temperature as a function of wear rate model parameters. Then, that data was used to calibrate the wear rate equation which was obtained by establishing the relationship between the Usui wear rate equation and the geometry of the worn tool, using a MATLAB program. This approach was validated by comparing the predicted flank wear rates and experimental measurements. The estimated flank wear shows some improvement compare to the model with a constant inclination angle.