Surface Structuring by Laser Remelting (WaveShape): Microstructuring of Ti6Al4V for a Small Laser Beam Diameter and High Scan Speeds

The appearance of a surface is a crucial characteristic of a part or component. Laser-based micromachining gets increasingly important in generating tailored surface topographies. A novel structuring technique for surface engineering is surface structuring by laser remelting (WaveShape), in which surface features are created without material loss. In this study, we investigated the evolution of surface topographies on Ti6Al4V for a laser beam diameter of 50 m and scan speeds larger than 100 mm/s. Surface features with aspect ratios (ratio of height to width) of almost 1:1 were achieved using the WaveShape process. Furthermore, wavelengths smaller than 500 m could be effectively structured using scan speeds of up to 500 mm/s. The experimental results showed further that the efficiency of the WaveShape process in terms of achieved structure height per unit time significantly increases for high scan speeds.

Effects of Beam Size and Pulse Duration on the Laser Drilling Process

A two-dimensional axisymmetric transient laser drilling model is used to analyze the effects of laser beam diameter and laser pulse duration on the laser drilling process. The model includes conduction and convection heat transfer, melting, solidification and vaporization, as well as material removal resulting from the vaporization and melt ejection. The validated model is applied to study the effects of laser beam size and pulse duration on the geometry of the drilled hole. It is found that the ablation effect decrease with the increasing beam diameter due to the effect of increased vaporization rate, and deeper hole is observed for the larger pulse width due to the higher thermal ablation efficiency.

High-Power Laser Cutting of Steel Plates: Heat Affected Zone Analysis

The thermal effect of CO2high-power laser cutting on cut surface of steel plates is investigated. The effect of the input laser cutting parameters on the melted zone depth (MZ), the heat affected zone depth (HAZ), and the microhardness beneath the cut surface is analyzed. A mathematical model is developed to relate the output process parameters to the input laser cutting parameters. Three input process parameters such as laser beam diameter, cutting speed, and laser power are investigated. Mathematical models for the melted zone and the heat affected zone depth are developed by using design of experiment approach (DOE). The results indicate that the input laser cutting parameters have major effect on melted zone, heat affected zone, and microhardness beneath cut surface. The MZ depth, the HAZ depth, and the microhardness beneath cut surface increase as laser power increases, but they decrease with increasing cutting speed. Laser beam diameter has a negligible effect on HAZ depth but it has a remarkable effect on MZ depth and HAZ microhardness. The melted zone depth and the heat affected zone depth can be reduced by increasing laser cutting speed and decreasing laser power and laser beam diameter.

Microstructure and Residual Stresses of Laser Structured Surfaces

A new approach to structure metallic surfaces with laser radiation is structuring by remelting. In this process no material is removed but reallocated by melting. The laser power was adapted linearly to the increasing laser beam diameter for laser remelted (polished) samples. A carbon depleted area could be found close to the remelted zone accompanied with a local minimum in hardness. The surface residual stresses tend from tensile to compressive with increasing laser beam diameter/laser power and number of repetitions for laser structured and laser remelted samples. The residual stresses are a result of combined shrinkage (tensile) and transformation (compressive) stresses.

Analysis of Roughness and Heat Affected Zone of Steel Plates Obtained by Laser Cutting

In the present study, high-power CO2 laser cutting of steel plates has been investigated and the effect of the input laser cutting parameters on the cut surface quality is analyzed. The average roughness of the cut surface of the specimens, produced by different laser beam diameter and laser power, were measured by using roughness tester. The scanning electron microscopy SEM is used to record possible metallurgical alterations on the cut edge. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of laser beam diameter and laser power on the cut surface roughness and on the heat affected zone width HAZ of steel plates obtained by CO2 laser cutting. An overall optimization was applied to find out the optimal cutting setting that would improve the cut surface quality. It was found that laser beam diameter has a negligible effect on surface roughness but laser power had major effect on roughness. The cut surface roughness decreases as laser power increases. Improved surface roughness can be obtained at higher laser power. Also, laser beam diameter and laser power had major effect on HAZ width. It increases as laser power increases.

Effect of Laser Beam Diameter on Cut Edge of Steel Plates Obtained by Laser Machining

Laser cutting is a thermal process which is used contactless to separate materials. In the present study, high-power laser cutting of steel plates is considered and the thermal influence of laser cutting on the cut edges is examined. The microstructure and the microhardness of the cut edge are affected by the input laser cutting parameter: laser beam diameter. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the laser beam diameter on the microhardness beneath the cut surface of steel plates obtained by CO2 laser cutting. The cut surface was studied based on microhardness depth profiles beneath the machined surface. The results show that laser cutting has a thermal effect on the surface microstructure and on the microhardness beneath the cut section. Also the microhardness of the hardening zone depends on the laser beam diameter.