A mold-free laser shock micro-drawing forming process using Plasticine as the flexible support

In this paper, a laser-generated shock wave was used to induce plastic deformation of metallic foils using Plasticine as a flexible support. In this new micro-drawing process, the laser-generated shock wave and the Plasticine are used to replace the conventional metal punch and mold. By undergoing large plastic deformation under the laser-generated shock wave, Plasticine accurately keeps the shape of the deformed workpiece, thereby improving the forming quality. Moreover, this is a damage-free forming process because the Plasticine is softer than metal foils. The feasibility of this new drawing process was conducted experimentally on aluminum, cooper, and titanium foils. The thickness distribution at the cross-section of the work piece was studied to evaluate the risk of crack. Meanwhile, the arrays of craters were fabricated on titanium foils. The results show that mold-free laser shock micro-drawing forming is an effective method to fabricate controlled micro-craters on metallic foils.