Microscale laser peen forming of single crystal

As the result of quickly increased requirement in many industrial products resulting from microtechnology, laser thermal microforming and microsurface treatment [microscale laser shock peening (μLSP)] have been well studied. By combining the beneficial effects of these two processes with a controlled bending deformation, microscale laser peen forming (μLPF) attracts more attention recently since it not only improves the fatigue life of the material but also shapes microscale metallic parts at the same time. In the present study, μLSP of single crystal aluminum was presented to study anisotropic material response. Local plastic deformation was characterized by lattice rotation measured through electron backscatter diffraction. Residual stress distributions of both sides of a peened sample, characterized by x-ray microdiffraction, were compared with the results obtained from finite element method simulation. μLPF anisotropic behavior was investigated in three effective slip systems via both the anisotropic slip line theory and numerical method. Also, the work hardening effect resulted from self-hardening, and latent hardening was analyzed through comparing the results with and without considering hardening.