HIGH POWER LASER

APPLICATIONS
LASER INSTRUMENTATION FOR MATERIAL
PROCESSING:
• The figure shows the laser setup used for surface modification, welding, cutting
and drilling.
• The output of the laser beam is incident on the plane mirror.
• After reflection it passes through a shutter to control its intensity. Then there is
focusing assembly to get a fine beam, further there are shielding gas jet and
power feeder.
• The shielding gas is used
• To remove the molten material and to favour vaporisation
• To provide cooling effect
• To protect the focusing optical arrangement against smoke and to increase
absorption of energy by the samples
• For different materials different gases are used
• Air is the assisting gas for Ti,Nb,Ta,Zr and glass.
• Using high power lasers, copper and Aluminium can be welded , drilled, alloyed
or cut without any assisting gas.
• During the cutting of readily inflammable glass materials like ceramics, wood
and paper, the nitrogen gas is used.
• This will increase the cutting rate by blowing the molten material out if the hole
produced by laser energy. Further it reduces the firing and fire accidents.
• Oxygen gas is mainly used for brittle materials and metals.it will blow out the
molten material and contribute some exothermal chemical reaction.
• So that metal can absorbs maximum energy from the laser beam.
• Argon gas is used for cutting and drilling of wood and ceramics.
• powder feeder is used to spray the metal powder on the substrate for alloying or
cladding.
• For example the satellite powder (cobalt based carbide consisting of various
elements C, Cr, and Fe ) is used during cladding to improve the hardness of the
surface.
• There are various arrangements to monitor the flow of feeder gas or powder
and shielding gas.
 MECHANISM OF LASER HEATING

• When the laser beam is incident on the surface of the specimen, there is
simultaneous absorption and reflection.
• Particularly the metals are good reflectors of light.
• Therefore most of the incident energy is wasted in the form of reflected energy.
• To reduce reflection, antireflection coatings are made on the surface so as to
increase the absorption of energy.
• Absorptivity increases with the increase of laser beam power densities and
temperature.
• It is directly proportional to the square root of resistivity of the specimen.
• Further absorption decreases with the increase of wavelength.
• For example: Nd YAG laser (1.06 micro m) energy is highly absorbed by a given
specimen when we compare it with CO2 laser (10.6 micro )
• In the vapour phase the rate of absorption is more than the liquid or solid phase.
• The absorbed energy creates lattice vibrations and heating of the material. The
rate of rise of temperature during the incidence is given by a relation such that
for a given wavelength,
• It is found that the rate of temperature is very rapid. Similarly the rate of cooling is also
very rapid. Cooling rate and heating rate are enhanced when we go for higher depths.
• Due to rise of temperature, there is local melting. In the case of surface modification the
surface is locally melted and cooled with or without additions of alloying materials and
hardening materials. Similarly for welding, the surfaces to be welded are locally melted
and bonded together. In the case of cutting and drilling, there is vapourisation after
local melting and a hole is formed.
• The hole depth increases when the laser beam has high power
• There are two modes of melting
• 1. Conduction limited melting or melting by low power laser
• 2. Deep penetration melting or key hole melting
• In conduction limited melting, the metal absorbs the incident beam on the
surface and the heat is conducted through the metal to the subsurface region.
• here low power lasers are used. So the deep penetration is limited. This type of
melting is mainly meant for surface treatments and welding and cutting of thin
specimens.
• The weld shape is hemispherical due to the uniform thermal conduction in all
directions.
• In the key hole melting mode, high power lasers are used.
• The incident laser beam melts the small cylindrical volume of metal through the
thickness of the material.
• A column of vapour is trapped inside this volume surrounded by molten metal.
• As the beam is moved the vapour column moves along with that, melting the
metal in front of column through the depth.
• The molten metal flows along the base of the column and solidifies on the
trailing end, the molten metal present in the walls of the cylindrical column of
vapour is held firmly by the equilibrium between high vapour pressure of vapour
and the surface tension of molten metal.
The appearance of the hole is in the form of keyhole surrounded by molten
metal and then solidified metal.
• This type of melting mode provides greater depth of penetration due to
high absorption of vapour column.
• Where dE/dt = rate of laser energy incidence and dH/dt = rate of heat
conduction.
• In case of deep penetration welding the shape of the melted region is in the
form of key hole and dE/dt>>dH/dt
• In case of conduction limited melting the shape of melted region is in the
form of hemispherical and dE/dt<<dH/dt.
 LASER SURFACE TREATMENTS:

• They are used for altering the components and microstructure of surface layers
and there by improving the surface hardness, wear resistance, corrosion
resistance and fatigue strength.
• Laser surface modification processes for changing the surface composition can
be divided into
1)laser surface alloying
2)laser cladding
 1)LASER SURFACE ALLOYING:

• Alloying elements in the laser melt pool may be introduced by means of

predeposition methods like thermal spraying, boronizing, nidriding, carburizing,
laying of loose metal powders, thin sheets or rods on the surface of substrate
etc and co-deposition methods like injecting powder, wire or rod forms of alloys
into the laser melt pool.
• By this method one have the control over the supply of alloying elements.
• In annealing, there is no heat affected zone and melting also take place over few
picometer thickness.
• In hardening process, there is heat affected zone in the form of hemispherical
manner.
• In the case of shock hardening there is melting over thickness of few
micrometres.
• In surface alloying and surface cladding there is coating of alloying or cladding
material on the substrate surface.
• Laser alloying means that there is a controlled melting of a work piece surface
to a desired depth using laser beam with simultaneous addition of powdered
alloying elements. Since the alloying elements diffuse in a thin liquid layer at the
surface it is feasible to obtain the required depth of alloying in small time
intervals.
• Alloy composition will govern the microstructure and the degree of
microstructural grain refinement.
• Laser alloying will increase the resistance to wear, erosion, corrosion and high
temperature oxidation
• 2) LASER CLADDING (OR) HARDFACING:
• Here a laser beam melts a very thin surface layer of the workpiece. This thin
liquid layer mixes with the liquid cladding alloy and subsequently freezes to
form a metallurgical bonding between the cladding and substrate.
• Cladding alloys are usually cobalt,nickel or iron based and are used for the
applications involving the increase of resistance of impact, erosion, corrosion.
• Laser cladding is more superior than the conventional cladding techniques for
high quality surface modification. That is both mechanically and metallurgically
superior.

• 3)LASER WELDING, CUTTING AND DRILLING:

• Here high power lasers are generally used.
• The quality of welding or cutting is affected by beam power, beam diameter,
welding or cutting speed , focussing conditions and TEM mode of laser.
• When the beam power is more the penetration depth is also more.
• The diameter of the beam should be small to get highly focussed radiation.
• For a given power, if the welding or cutting speed increases, the penetration
depth decreases. So to increase the welding or cutting speed as well as the
penetration depth it is advisable to use key hole mode of melting and high
power lasers.
ADVANTAGES OF LASER WELDING,CUTTING
AND DRILLING:

• The heat affected zone is very narrow. Therefore the microstructure of surrounding
layers are not affectd.
• Laser welding,cutting and drilling can be done at room temperature and pressure
without preheating and vacuum condition.
• Difficult materials such as titanium,quart and ceramics can be welded or cut or drilled.
• The work piece is need not be clamped rigidly
• No electrode or filler material is required
• The weld region is correctly bonded together .
• The laser cutting has improved edge quality. That is the surface quality is
maintained in the original condition.