An experimental and numerical study on laser percussion drilling of thick-section alumina

A major challenge in laser percussion drilling of thick-section ceramics is to obtain a low taper and low spatter deposition hole leading to high quality post-processing. In order to achieve the fine hole drilling, it is important to understand the mechanism of laser percussion drilling. In this paper, an experimental and numerical study on laser percussion drilling was carried out. A two-dimension (2D) axisymmetric finite element (FE) model for simulation of temperature field and proceeding of hole formation during percussion drilling was developed. The FE model was validated by the corresponding experiment. Furthermore, a theoretical model for evaluation of temperature at melt front and velocity of melt ejection was presented in order to further validate the FE model and study the spatter deposition. The effects of laser peak power, pulse duty cycle and pulse repetition rate on hole diameter and spatter deposition were investigated by the developed models and experiments, in which the simulated results were in good agreement with the experiments. The study indicated that the size and temperature of the melt front significantly affected the hole diameter formation and spatter deposition during laser percussion drilling. The characteristic of melt front was mainly determined by the employed laser peak power, pulse repetition rate and pulse duty cycle. Based on the experimental and numerical study, the process parameters were optimised and a drilled-hole with low taper and low spatter deposition was obtained using a 3.5 kW CO₂ laser. A microstructural and element compositional study was also performed in this work, by which the characteristics of microstructure and element composition in HAZ around laser drilled hole were revealed.     

A predictive model and validation of laser cutting of nitinol with a novel moving volumetric pulsed heat flux

Nitinol alloys are widely used in manufacturing of cardiovascular stents due to excellent biomechanical properties. Laser cutting is the predominant process for stent manufacturing. However, laser cutting induces thermal damage such as heat affected zone (HAZ), micro cracks, and tensile residual stress, which detrimentally affect product performance. Laser cutting induced temperature distribution, stress development, and HAZ formation are critical process characteristics. However, they are difficult to measure experimentally due to the highly transient process. To better understand the process mechanics in laser cutting of nitinol, a three-dimensional finite element model of pulsed laser cutting was developed to incorporate a novel moving volumetric pulsed heat flux model with high spatial accuracy. A material subroutine was also incorporated to model superelasticity and shape memory of nitinol. The predicted kerf geometry and dimensions agreed well with the experimental data. Also, the effects of cutting speed, pulse power, and pulse width on kerf profile, temperature, and heat affected zone (HAZ) were investigated.     

CO2 laser micromachined crackless through holes of Pyrex 7740 glass

The drilling of glass through holes with a high aspect ratio is crucial for microsystems application, especially in the inlet/outlet connection of microfluidic devices for biological analysis or for the anodic bonded silicon-glass ones. Traditional glass drilling using mechanical processing and laser processing in air would produce many kinds of defects such as bulges, debris, cracks and scorch. In this paper, we have applied the method of liquid-assisted laser processing (LALP) to reduce the temperature gradient, bulges and heat affected zone (HAZ) region for achieving crack-free glass machined holes. The nominal diameters of circles from 100 to 200 μm were drawn for through glass machining test. Through-hole glass etching can be obtained by LALP for 10 passes of circular scanning in several seconds on conditions of a 6 W laser power, 76 μm spot size and 11.4 mm/s scanning speed. The ANSYS software was also used to analyze the temperature distribution and thermal stress field in air and water ambient during glass hole machining. The higher temperature gradient in air induced higher stress for crack formation while the smaller temperature gradient in water had less HAZ and eliminated the crack during processing. CO₂ laser micromachining under water has merits of high etching rate, easy fabrication and low cost together with much improved surface quality compared to that in air.     

Striation-free Laser Cutting of Mild Steel Sheets

Striation, i.e. periodic lines appearing on the cut surface, is one of the most important quality factors in laser cutting. It affects the surface roughness, appearances and geometry precision of laser cut products. Despite various efforts over the last 30 years to understand striation formation mechanisms and to optimise laser parameters, no reported work has so far shown striation-free cutting. This paper reports an investigation into achieving striation-free laser cutting of EN43 mild steel sheets of 2 mm thickness. A 1 kW single mode fibre laser was used in this work. Specific operating conditions have been determined which enable high-speed, striation-free laser cutting. A theoretical model is proposed to predict the critical cutting speed at which striation-free cutting occurs. It is also observed that at cutting speeds above the critical cutting speed, striation reappears and surface roughness increases with the cutting speed, a phenomenon not observed before.     

An investigation of laser-assisted machining of Al2O3 ceramics planing

Laser-assisted machining (LAM), an alternative method of fabricating difficult-to-machine materials, uses primarily laser power to heat the local area (without necessarily evaporating or melting any material) before the material is removed. It not only efficiently reduces the cutting force during the manufacturing process but also improves the machining characteristics and geography with regard to difficult-to-machine materials, especially structural ceramics.This study on the application of laser-assisted machining to Al₂O₃ ceramics examines the measurements of cutting force and workpiece surface temperature as well as surface integrity and tool wear. Specifically, it uses the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to calculate the temperature distribution inside the ceramic workpiece during the LAM process and ensure that the laser energy causes no subsurface damage. The experimental results reveal that the LAM process efficiently reduces the cutting force by 22% (feed force) and 20% (thrust force) and produces better workpiece surface quality than conventional planing.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of solidification cracking behaviour in fibre laser welding of 6013 aluminium alloy

Abstract

Experimental observation and numerical modelling were employed to investigate the solidification cracking behaviour during fibre laser welding of 6013 aluminium alloy. The solidification cracking initiation location and propagation path were studied using a high speed camera system and via metallurgical analysis. A three-dimensional thermomechanical finite element model of fibre laser welding of aluminium alloys was developed, which considered cylindrical volumetric heat source, temperature dependent material properties, solidification shrinkage and stress relaxation in the weld molten pool. The transient evolution and distribution of mechanical strain in the brittle temperature range (BTR) were analysed in detail to find the factors which drove the crack initiation and propagation. The results showed that the solidification cracking initiated near the fusion line and then propagated along the centreline of the weld, which was the result of the strain distribution characteristic in BTR.     

Al_2O_3陶瓷激光切割工艺研究

为了探究Al_2O_3陶瓷的激光切割工艺特性,采用Nd:YAG激光器对Al_2O_3陶瓷进行加工试验。先通过打孔试验计算获得Al_2O_3陶瓷的激光烧蚀阈值,再通过切割试验分析激光功率、切割速度、脉冲频率、离焦量等工艺参数对切割质量的影响规律。结果表明:通过优化激光切割工艺参数,可在保证切割效率的同时,提高Al_2O_3陶瓷的切割质量。     

45钢表面激光重熔温度场数值模拟

根据传热学理论和数值模拟方法研究温度场的分布规律,在考虑了热物性参数、换热系数、相变潜热随温度变化的因素,应用ANSYS有限元软件的参数化设计语言建立了45钢表面激光重熔连续移动三维瞬态温度场有限元模型。结果表明:提高激光功率对增大相变硬化区效果不大,反而形成较大的熔池而使重熔表面粗糙。与激光功率相比,激光扫描速度对试样温度场的影响较小。经过激光重熔后,形成重熔区、相变硬化区和基体三个区域。实验结果较好地验证了模拟结果,表明所建立的温度场计算模型是正确和可靠的。通过该计算模型,可以掌握金属表面激光重熔过程加热和冷却规律,为制备高性能表面改性层选择合适的工艺参数提供依据。     

Comprehension of chip formation in laser assisted machining

Laser Assisted Machining (LAM) improves the machinability of materials by locally heating the workpiece just prior to cutting. Experimental investigations have confirmed that the cutting force can be decreased, by as much as 40%, for various materials. In order to understand the effect of the laser on chip formation and on the temperature fields in the different deformation zones, thermo-mechanical simulations were undertaken. A thermo-mechanical model for chip formation was also undertaken. Experimental tests for the orthogonal cutting of 42CrMo4 steel were used to validate the simulation. The temperature fields allow us to explain the reduction in the cutting force and the resulting residual stress fields in the workpiece.     

Thermal–mechanical analysis on the transient deformation during pulsed laser forming

The transient deformation of thin grade 304 stainless steel metal sheets heated by a single pulse of a CO₂ laser beam is simulated in this paper. The laser beam is assumed to be Gaussian mode and the coupled thermo-elastoplastic problem is treated as three-dimensional. The temperature field, deformation pattern, stress–strain states, and the residual stress distribution of the specimens have been calculated numerically and the transient response of the bending angle has been validated by experiments. Good agreement has been obtained between the numerical simulation and the experiments under various operating conditions. The numerical study reveals that a high temperature gradient exists for a positive bending angle and a low one for a negative angle. It transpires that the mechanisms of pulsed laser forming are dependent mainly upon the laser power, the heating time, the clamping arrangement, as well as the geometry, the thermal properties, and the original stress states of the specimen.     

An investigation of energy loss mechanisms in water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting process using an analytical model

The water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting processes has relatively low overall efficiency compared to gas assisted laser cutting process due to high convective loss in water-jet from the hot melt layer and scattering loss of laser radiation by the water vapour formed at the laser–workpiece–water interaction region. However, the individual contribution of different losses and their dependency on process parameters are not fully investigated. Therefore, a lumped parameter analytical model for this cutting process has been formulated considering various laser–material–water interaction phenomena, different loss mechanisms and shear force provided by the water-jet, and has been used to predict various output parameters including the maximum cutting speed, cut front temperature, cut kerf and the loss of laser power through different mechanisms as functions of laser power and water-jet speed. The predictions of cutting speed, kerf-width and cut front temperature were validated with the experimental results. The modeling revealed that the scattering in water vapour is the dominant loss mechanism, causing ~40–50% of laser power loss. This also predicted that the percentage losses are lower for higher laser powers and lower water-jet speeds. In order to minimize the deleterious effect of vapour, dynamics of its formation due to laser heating and its removal by water-jet was experimentally studied. And, the cutting was done with modulated power laser beam of different pulse on- and off-times to determine the pulse on-time sufficiently short to disallow growth of vapour layer, still cutting be effected and the off-time enough long for water-jet to remove the vapour layer from the interaction zone before next pulse arrives. Compared to CW laser beam the modulated laser beam of same average power yielded higher process efficiency.     

TI-6Al-4V钛合金电子束焊接有限元分析

采用有限元方法模拟分析了厚6 mm的Ti-6Al-4V钛合金电子束焊接过程,计算研究了瞬态温度场的分布特点、规律及特征点的温度变化历程,在准确计算焊接温度场的基础上通过热-应力顺序耦合,模拟计算了Ti-6Al-4V钛合金电子束焊接头的应力场的分布特征.结果表明:模拟计算的焊缝形貌与实际焊接试验所得基本吻合,焊接温度场整...     

Thermal Stress Cleaving of Brittle Materials by Laser Beam

Thermal stress cleaving is a prospective technique for separating a wafer or thin plate from brittle materials such as glasses and ceramics. In this paper, the cleaving mechanism of a silicon wafer irradiated with Nd: YAG laser is investigated. A pulsed laser is used for the purpose of investigating the mechanism of crack propagation more precisely. The temperature at the area irradiated with the laser is measured using a two-color pyrometer with an optical fiber. The AE signal is also measured to examine the mechanism of the crack propagation. The AE signal makes it possible to monitor the crack behaviour. During one pulse of the laser, crack propagation begins some milliseconds after laser heating and ceases at about the end of irradiation. The temperature at the area irradiated with the laser is an important factor in the control of the propagation of the crack to achieve high cleaving accuracy and low thermal damage.     

Hydrodynamical phenomena in the process of laser welding and cutting

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to outline the 'bridges' existing between the outcomes of fundamental researches and the results of investigations in the field of industrial laser materials processing (LMP). An analysis is presented on the models based on non-stationary hydrodynamic phenomena caused by deeply penetrating high power CW laser beam into materials. This is typical of laser welding (LW) and laser cutting (LC). A physical analysis pertaining to melt removal and melt layer instability mechanisms of gas jet assisted CW–CO₂ laser fusion cutting is presented. The models deliberated here are melt squeezing out by gas pressure gradient, melt dragging by the friction force between melt surface and gas flow, formation of moving shelves at the cutting front. In case of high laser intensity, radiative flux interacts with material causing dynamical thermal transport onto the surface and phase transition at solid–liquid–gas interfaces. The solution is based on the non-stationary variables. Under these conditions the Mach number varies significantly due to laser intensity associated with laser flux energy instabilities. The connection among material surface temperature, laser intensity, laser flux and pressure in the plasma cloud is brought out. In addition, novel mechanisms based on hydrodynamics are proposed.     

Modeling the Influence of Process Parameters and Additional Heat Sources on Residual Stresses in Laser Cladding

In laser cladding thermal contraction of the initially liquid coating during cooling causes residual stresses and possibly cracks. Preweld or postweld heating using inductors can reduce the thermal strain difference between coating and substrate and thus reduce the resulting stress. The aim of this work is to better understand the influence of various thermometallurgical and mechanical phenomena on stress evolution and to optimize the induction-assisted laser cladding process to get crack-free coatings of hard materials at high feed rates. First, an analytical one-dimensional model is used to visualize the most important features of stress evolution for a Stellite coating on a steel substrate. For more accurate studies, laser cladding is simulated including the powder-beam interaction, the powder catchment by the melt pool, and the self-consistent calculation of temperature field and bead shape. A three-dimensional finite element model and the required equivalent heat sources are derived from the results and used for the transient thermomechanical analysis, taking into account phase transformations and the elastic-plastic material behavior with strain hardening. Results are presented for the influence of process parameters such as feed rate, heat input, and inductor size on the residual stresses at a single bead of Stellite coatings on steel.     

40GrNiMo试件单边裂纹在线止裂及组织分析

对带有单边裂纹的40GrNiMo金属薄板试件进行了脉冲放电在线止裂实验研究。在超强脉冲电流作用瞬间,单边裂纹尖端熔化、裂尖钝化,曲率半径增加了2～3个数量级,并在裂纹尖端处产生热压应力场,达到了遏制裂纹扩展的目的。止裂前后裂纹前缘的微观组织对比分析发现,止裂后裂尖处组织更加均匀细小,且裂尖处Cr原子数量增加,其他元素与Cr生成更多的合金组织,得到强韧性均高的微观组织,提高了止裂后构件的力学性能。     

硬脆材料皮秒激光微加工试验研究

硬脆材料微加工中常存在材料易崩裂、刀具磨损严重、加工效率低等不足,引入超短脉冲激光微加工技术,通过光-热-力效应引发材料去除,可有效克服上述加工难题。以羟基磷灰石生物陶瓷、氧化铝工程陶瓷、单晶硅三种典型硬脆材料为加工对象,探索基于皮秒激光的微加工工艺方法,尝试利用激光干切、液体辅助、化学辅助等不同手段,完成微槽、微孔等结构的高质量加工,并分析微加工表面特征形貌,评估工艺方法可行性。     

镁合金薄板快速铸轧过程有限元仿真研究

为了研究铸轧工艺参数对AZ31镁合金薄板快速铸轧过程温度场和热应力场的影响,基于铸轧区板坯的对称性建立了纵截面1/2的二维几何模型;选择了基于热弹塑性增量理论的热应力控制方程;采用大型通用有限元分析软件ANSYS对镁合金快速铸轧过程中的铸坯温度场和热-应力场进行了仿真分析,并就不同工艺参数(浇注温度、接触界面换热系数、铸轧速度)对铸坯温度和应力的分布及其相变区的影响进行了研究。仿真结果增强了对镁合金快速铸轧过程相变区温度变化和热裂产生机制的理解,为快速铸轧工艺参数的优化提供了依据。     

YAG laser cutting soda-lime glass with controlled fracture and volumetric heat absorption

As a volumetric heat source, YAG laser can penetrate through the glass, and has many advantages in cutting of glass with controlled fracture compared with CO₂ laser cutting of glass. This work lays great emphasis on studying the technique of YAG laser cutting of multi-layer glasses. This paper indicates the experiments of YAG laser cutting of two-layer and four-layer soda-lime glasses with controlled fracture. Optical microscope photographs of the separation surface are obtained to examine the surface quality. The impact of laser power, scanning speed and laser beam size on the cutting quality is studied and the optimum processing parameters are presented in the paper. A theoretical model of a thermal laser shock method for separation of two-layer glasses is developed, and the fracture propagation mechanism is studied by examining the temperature and stress fields using finite element software ANSYS. In YAG laser cutting of multi-layer glasses, the temperature distribution is uniform across the thickness of the glass and the fracture propagates from the top and bottom surface to middle so that better separation surface quality can be acquired and multi-layer glasses can be cut simultaneously.     

Ⅲ型裂纹电磁热止裂分析

针对含Ⅲ型裂纹的金属构件,从理论、数值模拟和实验角度分析电磁热对其止裂强化的效果,导出了脉冲放电瞬间Ⅲ型裂纹尖端附近的叠加应力场分布。研究表明,受切应力的Ⅲ型裂纹通入脉冲电流后,裂尖处迅速升温,超过了金属的熔点,形成焊口,瞬间产生的热压应力场改变了受力状态下的Ⅲ型裂纹尖端附近的应力状态,使之成为抑制裂纹扩展的压应力,从而达到止裂的目的,证明了电磁热强化对在线Ⅲ型裂纹止裂的有效性。