This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant provides funding to develop a unique forming process laser dynamic forming, to form meso- and micro-scale 3D structures. This process combines the advantages of metal forming and laser shock peening to generate 3D shaping in various materials, especially brittle and hard to form materials. The project will discover the fundamental process mechanism of laser dynamic forming, and control the process accurately. Experiments will be designed to study size effects, formability, temperature effects, wrinkling and springback of the forming process. A multiscale simulation approach will be used to simulate the forming process. Analytical models will be built to predict fatigue life and fracture toughness after forming, and validated via experiments. An inverse multiobjective optimization will be developed to design the forming process desired geometry change, and mechanical properties. The education goal of the project is to integrate research activities with educational efforts, such as development of a Laser Processing Education Lab; incorporation of nontraditional manufacturing education into manufacturing courses; and outreach activities for high school students and under-represented minorities through new teaching modules and summer programs with research projects.
The successful completion of this work will make a revolutionary improvement to the process of micro- and meso- three-dimensional structures, and have a major impact on manufacturing industry. This work will fundamentally advance the state of knowledge of laser processing through a novel hybrid forming process with improved mechanical properties of product. This project will increase the presence of non-traditional manufacturing techniques in education by establishing a strong research integrated education activities. Native American high school students will be inspired to pursue science and engineering careers. Ethnic minorities, women, and person of disability will be encouraged to participate in this project to pique their interests in science and engineering.
