Abstract: The forming of integral panels is one of the key issues in the manufacture of large passenger aircraft. This article investigates the feasibility of laser-assisted pre-stress forming applied to integral panels as stiffened structural work pieces. The mechanism of such forming methodology can be described as follows: in the forming process, after elastic stresses are applied to an integral panel, the regions with concentrated elastic energies are irradiated with laser beams, and thus the yield strength of such regions is decreased. Consequently, the elastic energies are dissipated into plastic work to realize the formation of the integral panel. Experiments on both laser-assisted pre-stress forming and age forming of the samples with grid stiffened structures are performed and reported. The feasibility of laser-assisted pre-stress forming is validated and the relationship is discussed between the forming efficiency and the number of laser scanning procedure.

Key words: lasers, forming, pre-stress, integral panel, dies