A study of the effect of laser beam geometries on laser bending of sheet metal by buckling mechanism

Laser beam forming has emerged as a new and very promising technique to form sheet metal by thermal residual stresses. The objective of this work is to investigate numerically the effect of rectangular beam geometries, with different transverse width to length aspect ratio, on laser bending process of thin metal sheets, which is dominated by buckling mechanism. In this paper, a comprehensive thermal and structural finite element (FE) analysis is conducted to investigate the effect that these laser beam geometries have on the process and on the final product characteristics. To achieve this, temperature distributions, deformations, plastic strains, stresses, and residual stresses produced by different beam geometries are compared. The results suggest that beam geometries play an important role in the resulting temperature distributions on the workpiece. Longer beam dimensions in the scanning direction (in relation to its lateral dimension) produce higher temperatures due to longer beam–material interaction time. This affects the bending direction and the magnitude of the bending angles. Higher temperatures produce more plastic strains and hence higher deformation. This shows that the temperature-dependent yield stress plays a more dominant role in the deformation of the plate than the spread of the beam in the transverse direction. Also, longer beams have a tendency for the scanning line to curve away from its original position to form a concave shape. This is caused by buckling which develops tensile plastic strains along both ends of the scanning path. The buckling effect produces the opposite curve profile; convex along the tranverse direction and concave along the scanning path.     

Research and application of a pocket CO2 laser in the near field

The axisymmetrical structural traveling wave cavity (ASSC) CO₂ laser is introduced based on the propagation theory of the standing wave cavity CO₂ laser. Then the propagation characteristics of the elliptically polarized Gaussian beam are studied in detail. The transforms of the coordinate were used to solve the near field distributions of the output laser beams. The numerical calculations show that the combination of the output beams in the near field can be fulfilled. The diminutive ASSC CO₂ laser can be applied into the laser gyro and the measure of the angular velocity.     

Statistical analysis of parameter effects on bending angle in laser forming process by pulsed Nd:YAG laser

In recent years, laser application has been introduced for bending and forming as new processes in manufacturing. The capability of laser bending demands more studies to recognize parameters influencing bending angle of sheet metals. In this study the effects of parameters such as material, laser power, beam diameter, scan velocity, sheet thickness, pass number and pulse duration on bending angle were studied by FEM initially and then followed by experiments. Furthermore, the Taguchi experimental design method was employed to pin point parameters, which significantly affect the bending process of laser bending of St12 and 304 alloy steels, which have a wide range of applications in products manufacturing. A regression analysis was conducted and a closed form equation was derived. The closed form equation can be used in industry to determine which process parameters (factors) enhance the bending angle in laser bending process.     

Color filters featuring high transmission efficiency and broad bandwidth based on resonant waveguide-metallic grating

A one-dimensional transmission color filter based on a resonant waveguide-metallic subwavelength grating was numerically investigated by employing rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) and genetic algorithm (GA). The hybrid numerical method is used to determine the optimal parameters (the grating period, filling factor, grating thickness, and waveguide thickness) of two waveguide-grating structures, namely a double-layer resonant waveguide-metallic grating and a triple-layer resonant waveguide-metallic grating. The optical responses of these structures are evaluated and compared in terms of the ideal transmission efficiency aiming at the central wavelengths of 645 nm, 546 nm, and 455 nm of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) lights, respectively, over the visible region (380–780 nm). The results show that the optical performance of the double-layer with silver grating achieves the highest transmission efficiency of 82% (R), 81% (G), and 66% (B); and the largest bandwidth of about 125 nm (R), 118 nm (G), and 85 nm (B). Compared with existing color filters, the proposed device not only obtains a higher transmission and broader bandwidth, but it also suppresses redundant spectral peaks and transmission sidebands.     

On the origin of optics

The first optical devices in animals evolved in the Cambrian period. The first reflector known dates from around 508 million years ago (Ma); the first eyes with lenses evolved at around 521 Ma. Consideration of the introduction of vision leads to a hypothesis for the cause of evolution's Big Bang—the Cambrian explosion. Suddenly, and for no obvious reason, the range and variety of life-forms erupted somewhere between 520 and 515 Ma (as limited by of our dating techniques). At no other time in Earth's history there has been such a profusion, such an exuberance, and such an overwhelming diversity in so short time, within one million years. Prior to this Cambrian explosion event, all animals were soft-bodied and mainly worm-like, as they had been for millions of years before that. But during the Cambrian explosion many of the major animal groups on Earth today independently evolved their hard body parts for the first time. Following the appearance of the first trilobites, some animals evolved shells and spines, some with bright colours, to visually warn of their new armour. Others evolved streamlined appearances and swimming oars to advise trilobites that they could not be caught. The Light Switch Theory provides an explanation for what triggered this event—that it was the development of vision (in trilobites); the introduction of optics. Once visual capability arose, it allowed predators to identify prey, triggering an arms race. From here on, vision became a dominant force of evolution and resulted in the eyes and reflecting optics that we have in nature today. This paper provides a summary of the first optical devices to evolve in animals, along with the implications of these in their relevance to the Big Bang of evolution, written for the physical sciences.     

Analysis,presentation, and understanding in experimental fluid flow studies: A colourful evolutionary story

The digital computer has revolutionised the ability of the experimentalist to obtain, analyse and interpret physical data, and no-where is this more apparent than in the study of fluid flow and heat transfer problems. The emergence of digital methods is reviewed, with the discussion reflecting the first author's personal experience over the past 50 years.To illustrate how modern experimental study relies heavily on digital technology, representative results are presented for a number of fluid flow problems that have been investigated using advanced forms of optical instrumentation—namely laser light sheet visualisation, three-component laser Doppler anemometry (LDA), and particle image velocimetry (PIV). These examples are used to emphasise the importance of digital methods for data capture and analysis, with samples of the reduced results being presented in the form of multi-functional colour graphs and images. The discussion shows how the processed data can yield improved understanding, revealing complex three-dimensional flow features that probably could not have been identified, and certainly could never have been quantified, in previous years.Colour, specifically, is shown to have emerged with increasing prominence in the last few decades, and its various uses are now seen to be crucial for the modern experimentalist. These aspects are comprehensively discussed.     

Analytical modeling and experimental investigation of laser induction hybrid rapid cladding for Ni-based WC composite coatings

Laser induction hybrid rapid cladding (LIHRC) cannot only increase the cladding efficiency, but can also eliminate porosity and cracking of ceramic–metal composite coatings. In order to obtain a deep understanding of LIHRC with rapid cladding speed and high powder deposition rate, an analytical model of LIHRC for Ni-based WC composite coatings is proposed in the paper. The predictions of cladding height and powder efficiency obtained with this model are in good agreement with experimental results. Injection angles at which the attenuation rate of laser power is relatively low are identified and crack-free composite coatings with smooth surface, good profile and metallurgical bonding to substrate can be obtained. The calculated results for the temperature of the powder particles are compared to experimental data of the microhardness profiles and show a similar trend.     

An improved radial temperature model of a high-powered He–SrBr2 laser

When designing and modeling metal vapor and metal halide vapor lasers, the radial distribution of the gas temperature is found by solving the steady-state heat conduction equation for the internal tube at mixed boundary conditions. The volume power density is usually taken as a constant and the unknown value for the temperature of the inner wall is substituted by the measured temperature of the outer wall of the composite laser tube. In this paper, these inaccuracies are overcome. A general solution of the steady-state heat conduction problem has been suggested for an arbitrary volume power density. In order to determine the temperature of the inner wall, a complete model of the radial heat flow has been constructed. The resulting model has been applied in order to evaluate the gas temperature of a new high-powered strontium laser at different qualitative distributions of volume power density. The results have been compared with the known simple models. The presented model could be used on its own for existing and future lasers or as part of other types of theoretical or computer models.     

All-optical pseudorandom binary sequence generator with TOAD-based D flip-flops

An all-optical pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) generator is designed using serially interconnected discrete Terahertz Optical Asymmetric Demultiplexer (TOAD)-based D flip-flops in a configuration exactly like the standard electronic setup. The performance of the circuit is evaluated through numerical simulation, which confirms its feasibility in terms of the choice of the critical parameters. The proposed scheme has been theoretically demonstrated for a 3-bit and 7-bit degree PRBS but can be extended to higher order by means of additional TOAD-based D flip-flops. Thus it can constitute an efficient solution for implementing all-optically a PRBS in an affordable, controllable and realistic manner.     

Analysis of one-dimensional Fibonacci-class quasicrystals using perturbation theory

In this work, we present a new and semi-analytical method to investigate one-dimensional Fibonacci-class photonic quasicrystals from waveguiding properties point of view. Usually, the exact treatment for obtaining band diagram in these situations is very hard and the numerical methods are used. In this paper, we investigate the waveguiding properties of one-dimensional quasicrystals by using perturbation method. In this direction, the band diagram and field distribution of this structure are investigated.