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Manufacturing Technology-: Instructor: Shantanu Bhattacharya

This document provides an overview of laser beam machining. It discusses the principles of lasers, including how they produce stimulated emission and achieve population inversion. It describes the different types of lasers, focusing on solid state lasers and gas lasers. The document outlines the mechanics of laser beam machining, including how the laser interacts with and removes material from the workpiece through heating, melting, vaporization and ablation. It also provides examples of heat transfer calculations to determine time to reach melting temperature and minimum power intensity for melting.

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Sahil Sunda
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
722 views

Manufacturing Technology-: Instructor: Shantanu Bhattacharya

This document provides an overview of laser beam machining. It discusses the principles of lasers, including how they produce stimulated emission and achieve population inversion. It describes the different types of lasers, focusing on solid state lasers and gas lasers. The document outlines the mechanics of laser beam machining, including how the laser interacts with and removes material from the workpiece through heating, melting, vaporization and ablation. It also provides examples of heat transfer calculations to determine time to reach melting temperature and minimum power intensity for melting.

Uploaded by

Sahil Sunda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Manufacturing Technology-

Lecture 19
Instructor: Shantanu Bhattacharya
Review of previous lecture
• Derivation of depth of melting zone by using
buckingham’s pie theorem.
• Comparison of cutting speeds by using the
regressional relationship P=CQ and the
expression for depth of melting temperature.
• Lasers principle and foundation.
• Types of lasers Solid and Gas Lasers
Laser Beam Machining
•Like a high energy beam of high velocity electrons, a laser beam is also capable
of producing very high power density.

•Laser is a highly coherent beam of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength


varying from 0.1-70 microns.

•However, the power requirement for a machining operation restricts the


effectively usable wavelength range to 0.4-0.6 microns.

•Because of the fact that the rays of the Laser beam are perfectly parallel and
monochromatic, it can be focused to a very small diameter and can produce a
power density as high as 10^7 W/mm2 .

•For developing a high power normally a pulsed ruby laser is used.

•The continuous CO2-N2 laser has also been successfully used in machining
operations.
Principles of LASER
• The term LASER stands for Light amplification of stimulated emission of
radiation.

•Einstein hypothesized that under appropriate conditions, light energy of a


particular frequency can be used to stimulate the electrons in an atom to emit
additional light with exactly the same characteristics as the original stimulating
light source.

•An atom initially in any excited state does not remain forever in that state

•Einstien proposed that when an atom at ‘q’ energy level has the light of right
frequency acting on it, it absorbs the photon of that energy and the transition
takes place from lower energy level ‘q’
to higher level ‘p’.

•This phenomenon of movement of an


atom to a higher energy level is called
absorption.

•On the other hand the transition from


‘p’ to ‘q’ is called emission.
Principle of LASER
•The emission can be of two kinds, viz.
spontaneous emission (independent of
light intensity) and stimulated emission
(depending on light intensity).
•Suppose each horizontal line indicates
the allowed value of energy level.
•Let an atom or molecule be brought to
high energy level ‘E3’ by an outside
energy source from its ground state ‘E0”.
•Now if it is allowed to decay back to its ground state energy level (E0), a photon is
released.
•If this photon comes in contact with another molecule or atom at higher energy
level ‘E3’ then this atom will also decay back to the ground state releasing another
photon.
•This chain of events would produce photons having same characteristics
(wavelength, phase, direction and energy).
•This sequence of triggering clone photons from stimulated atoms is known as
stimulated emissions.
•Therefore, to produce a working laser, the energy source should be so powerful
that most of the atoms or molecules of the lasing material are at higher states. This
state is also known as population inversion.
Feedback Mechanism for LASERS
•Feedback mechanism is an essential element of the laser producing system.
• It captures and redirects a part of the coherent photons back into the active
medium.
•These photons further stimulate the emission of some more photons of same
frequency and phase.
•This mechanism also permits a small percentage of coherent photons to exit the
system in the form of laser light.
•Rest of the photons remain in the system and are used to maintain the
amplification process through stimulated emission.
Types of Lasers
There are two types of lasers solid state lasers and gas lasers.

•Solid State Lasers: Because of poor thermal properties of the solid state lasers,
they cannot be used for heavy duty work. (such lasers do not operate faster than
1-2Hz).
•They are used for low pulse applications like drilling, spot welding etc.
•However, the Nd-YAG lasers , most powerful in solid state lasers is also used in
cutting operations.
•Some materials developed for lasing action are the following:( Calcium Fluoride
crystals doped with Neodymium, Aluminum oxide with chromium ion impurity also
called crystalline ruby)
Types of Lasers
Gas Lasers:

•In this type of laser, CO2, He and Nitrogen act as the lasing medium. These gases are
re-circulated and replenished to reduce the operating cost.

•Direct electrical energy is used to provide the energy for stimulating lasing medium.

•Axial flow CO2 laser is shown in the figure


on the right. Its power delivering capacity is
usually 100W each meter length of the
tube.

•Some of the details of the gas laser


systems are the following:

•Large amount of gas volume is used.


•The resonant mirrors are positioned to
reflect the beams several times before it
escapes through the output mirrors.
Most of the lasing systems are computer controlled for maximum and optimum output.
Some facts of Laser machining Processes
• The efficiency of LBM is very low- about 0.3-0.5%.
•The typical output energy of the laser is 20J with a pulse duration of
1 millisecond.
•The peak power reaches a value of 20,000 Watts.
•The divergence of the beam is around .002 radians and using a lens
with 25 mm focal length, the spot diameter becomes 50 microns.
•Like an E-beam a laser beam is also used to drill micro holes and
cutting very narrow slots.
•Holes uptill 250 microns diameter can be easily drilled by a laser.
•The dimensional accuracy is around + 0.025mm.
•When the work-piece thickness is more than 0.25mm, a taper of
0.05mm per mm thickness is noticed.
Mechanics of Material Removal
• The figure below shows a typical pulsed Ruby laser.
•A coiled Xenon flash tube is placed around the Lasing material and the internal surface of
the container walls containing the Lasing system is well polished and is made highly
reflecting so that maximum light falls on the ruby rod for pumping operation.
• The capacitor is charged and a very high voltage is applied to the triggering electrode for
the initiation of the flash.
•The emitted laser beam is focused by a lens system and the focused beam meets the
work surface, removing a small portion of the material by vaporization and high speed
ablation.

•A very small fraction of molten material is vaporized


so quickly that a substantial mechanical impulse is
generated, throwing out a large portion of the liquid
material.
•Since, the energy released by the flash tube is much
more than the energy generated at the lasing head
therefore the system needs to be continuously cooled.
Mechanics of LBM
Machining by laser beam is achieved through the following phases:

(a) Interaction of laser beam with the work material.


(b) Heat conduction and temperature rise.
(c) Melting, vaporization and ablation.

Interaction of laser beam with work material:

• The interaction is a thermo-optic interaction between the beam and the workpeice.
• It is obvious that the work surface should not reflect back too much of incident energy.

• The figure on the left shows a laser beam falling


on a solid surface.
•The absorbed light propagates into a medium and
its energy is gradually transferred to the lattice
atoms in form of heat.
•The absorption is described by Lambert’s law as:

I(z) = I(0) e-μz where I(z) denotes the light intensity


at a depth z and μ is the absorption coefficient.
Heat conduction and temperature rise
Heat Conduction
and Temp. Rise
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise

Numerical Problem

A laser beam with a power intensity of 105 W/mm2 falls on a tungsten sheet.
Find out the time required for the surface to reach the melting temperature =
3400 deg. C, thermal conductivity = 2.15 W/cm. deg. C, Volume specific heat
= 2.71 J/ cm3. deg. C. Assume that 10% beam is absorbed.
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise
for a circular spot
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Numerical problem
A laser beam with a power intensity of 105 W/ mm2 falls on a tungsten sheet. The
focussed diameter of the incident beam is 200 microns. How much time will it take for
the center of the circular spot to reach the melting temperature (3400 deg. C). thermal
conductivity = 2.15 W/cm. deg. C, Volume specific heat = 2.71 J/ cm3. deg. C. Assume
that 10% beam is absorbed.
Numerical Problem
Error function tables
Numerical Problem
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Heat Conduction and Temp. Rise for a
circular spot
Numerical Problem
If the diameter of the focused laser beam incident on a tungsten work is 200 microns and
10% of the beam energy is absorbed, find out the minimum value of the beam power
intensity to achieve the melting.
Steady State Hole Penetration
•If the molten pit is deep and
narrow , the major portion of
heat conduction from the
molten hole takes place across
its side walls.
•When the heat input rate is
equal to the heat loss a steady
state is reached and the molten
pit retains its shape and size.

•Suppose that the cylindrical tube, of inner radius and outer radius , has infinite length,
and that the inner cylindrical surface is maintained at constant temperature , the outer
at constant temperature . We wish to determine the temperature distribution and the
direction and magnitude of the heat flow within the material using Cylinderical
coordinates (r, Ф). Assuming radial symmetry the heat conduction equation can be
written as follows.
Steady State Hole Penetration
Steady State Hole Penetration
Relation between heat input and
cutting speed
•When the beam intensity is very high (>107 W/cm2 ) , the heating is very rapid, and the
earlier relationship between depth of melting temperature and melting temperature of
the workpeice is not valid.
•The incident beam heats up the surface and quickly vaporizes it.
•Thus the surface of the work where the beam falls recedes as the material vaporizes.
•So, if ‘v’ is the velocity with which the surface recedes, the rate of heat input required to
vaporize the material is the following:

H = vL where ‘L’ is the amount of energy needed to vaporize a unit volume of the material.
Numerical Problem:
A laser beam with a power intensity of 10^5 W/mm2 is used to drill holes in a tungsten
sheet of 0.5mm thickness. The drill diameter is 200 microns. If 3X104 Joules/ cm3 are
required to vaporize tungsten, estimate the time required to drill a through hole. The
efficiency may be taken as 10%.
Numerical Problem

Plasma Arc Machining (PAM)


•A plasma is a high temperature ionized gas.
•The plasma arc machining is done with a high speed jet of a high temperature
plasma.
•The plasma jet heats up the workpiece causing a quick melting.
•PAM can be used on all materials which conduct electricity, including those which are
resistant to oxy fuel gas cutting.
•This process is extensively used for profile cutting of stainless steel, monel and super-
alloy plates.
•A plasma is generated by subjecting a flowing gas to the electron bombardment of an
arc. The arc is set between the electrode and the anodic nozzle and the gas is forced
to flow through this arc.
Plasma Arc Machining process
• The high velocity electrons of
the arc collide with the gas
molecules, causing a dissociation
of the diatomic molecules
resulting in substantial
conductivity increase in the
conductivity of the gas which is
now in plasma state.

• The high velocity electrons of the arc collide with the gas molecules, causing a
dissociation of the diatomic molecules or atoms into ions and electrons resulting in
a substantial increase in the conductivity of the gas, now in plasma state.
•The free electrons, subsequently, accelerate and cause more ionization and
heating .
•Afterwards a further increase in temperature takes place when the ions and free
electrons recombine into atoms or when the atoms recombine into ions and free
electrons recombine into molecules as these are exothermic processes.
Plasma Arc Machining (PAM)
• So a high temperature plasma is generated which is forced through the nozzle in the
form of a jet.

•The mechanics of material removal is based on (1) Heating and melting (2) removal of
the molten metal by blasting action of the plasma jet.

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