Laser forming of sheet metal is a new sheet metal forming process with the features of non-contact,dieless,spring-back free,and high degrees of flexibility. The bending process is affected by many factors. A thin aluminum-lithium alloy sheet metal used in aircraft is chosen as the object of the research and systematic experimental study is conducted with a semiconductor laser to investigate the effect of principal factors that influence laser forming. The experimental results reveal that,under the condition that other technological parameters are invariable,the bending angle increases with the increase of the laser power,number of scan,and sheet width. With the increase of laser scan speed,the bending angle increases at first,and then decreases. As the scan line from the free edge increases,the bending angle decreases at first,and then increases. With the increase of laser beam diameter,the bending angle decreases at first,then increases and finally decreases. The bending angle decreases with the increase of the sheet thickness.