Characteristics of laser supersonic heating method for producing micro metallic particles

In this article, the authors analyzed the process characteristics of laser supersonic heating method for producing metallic particles and predicted the in-flight tracks and shapes of micro-particles. A pulse Nd–YAG laser was used to heat the carbon steel target placed within an air nozzle. The high-pressure air with supersonic velocity was used to carry out carbon steel particles in the nozzle. The shock wave structures at the nozzle exit were visualized by the shadowgraph method. The carbon steel particles produced by laser supersonic heating method were grabbed and the spraying angles of the particle tracks were visualized. The velocity of the in-flight particles was measured by a photodiode sensor and compared with the numerical result. The solidification of carbon steel particles with diameters of 1–50 μm in compressible flow fields were investigated. The result shows that there is no significant difference in the dimension of solid carbon steel particles produced at shock wave fields under various entrance pressures (3–7 bar) with a constant laser energy radiation.     

激光辐照下金属靶表面汽化现象研究

用高速纹影诊断技术研究激光辐照下金属表面发生汽化的特征及蒸气发展运动过程,结合汽化模型给出了凝聚相表面温度与激光入射功率密度的关系。由实验得到了不同入射激光功率密度下汽化表面(凝聚相)温度,蒸气羽阵面速度,前驱空气冲击波速度。     

Ultrafast solid–liquid–vapor phase change of a gold film induced by pico- to femtosecond lasers

Melting, vaporization and resolidification processes of thin gold film irradiated by a femtosecond pulse laser are studied numerically. The nonequilibrium heat transfer in electrons and lattice is described using a two-temperature model. The solid–liquid interfacial velocity, as well as elevated melting temperature and depressed solidification temperature, is obtained by considering the interfacial energy balance and nucleation dynamics. An iterative procedure based on energy balance and gas kinetics law to track the location of liquid–vapor interface is utilized to obtain the material removal by vaporization. The effect of surface heat loss by thermal radiation was discussed. The influences of laser fluence and duration on the evaporation process are studied. Results show that higher laser fluence and shorter laser pulse width lead to higher interfacial temperature, deeper melting and ablation depths.     

Coupled cavity modelocking of a Nd:YAG laser using second-harmonic generation

The modelocking of a Nd:YAG laser using second-harmonic generation in an external cavity as the only pulse shortening process is reported. The output of a long pulse Nd:YAG laser was simultaneously modelocked and Q-switched. The average pulse duration was 30–50 ps and the peak power was in the range 60–160 kW.     

The electron temperature distribution of laser erosion plume after ablation of a tantalum target with excimer laser in vacuum

The erosion plume resulting from an ablation of a tantalum target in vacuum with an excimer laser radiation (308 nm) was studied using the Langmuir probe technique. The spatial and temporal dependencies of the electron probe currents were obtained in real time. The electron temperature of different plume regions was determined from a series of I–U characteristics taken at different distances between the probe and the target. We determined that the plume electron temperature is non-uniform and has a maximum value in front of the plume.     

Simulation of the acceleration mechanism by light-propulsion for the powder particles at laser direct material deposition

The results of the numerical analysis of heat- and mass-transfer processes at powder particles' motion in a gas flow and laser beam by light-propulsion force during the laser cladding and direct material deposition are presented. Under consideration were the stainless steel particles, the radiation power range of the CO₂ laser were 1000, 3000 and 5000 W. Finally, the particles of 45 μm in diameter reach the maximum velocity of about 80, 220, 280 m/s. It is shown that as particles are heated by the laser up to the temperature approaching the boiling point, the particles' velocity in the light field by the vapor recoil pressure may increase significantly. The radius of the particles slightly varies due to the evaporation; the losses in the clad material mass are negligibly small. Comparisons of numerical results with known experimental data on light-propulsion acceleration of single particles (aluminum, aluminum oxide and graphite) under the influence of pulse laser radiation are also presented. Particle acceleration resulting from the laser evaporation depends on the particle diameter, powder material properties, focusing degree and attenuation laser beam intensity by the direction of its propagation.     

Design and performance of a transverse discharge, UV-preionized mercury-bromide laser

The design, construction, and operating characteristics of a pulsed, transverse discharge-pumped HgBr laser, capable of operation at pulse repetition frequencies as high as 100 Hz, are presented. Having an active length of 53 cm, this laser system is preionized by two sets of spark arrays and average single pulse energies of 55 mJ are produced from Ne/N₂/HgBr₂ (natural abundance) vapor mixtures, with an output coupling of 50% and 17 J of energy stored in the pulse forming network. Based on measurements of the laser pulse energy for several values of cavity output coupling, the small signal gain coefficient and saturation intensity for the laser were determined to be 4.7% cm^–1 and 260 kW cm^–2, respectively. The single pass gain-to-loss ratio is 12.4.     

High speed drilling by YAG laser

A high-quality laser beam has been obtained using a telescope inserted into a laser cavity. Based on this cavity structure, a high speed laser drilling machine, which produces ruby bearings using a single pulse, has been built. The drilling speed is 16 pieces s^-1 and the yield is 98.8% with a drilling diameter of 0.04–0.05 ± 0.005 mm, and bearing depth of 0.26–0.40 mm.     

The boiling up model for highly superheated liquid with formation of evaporation front

Boiling up of metastable liquid on the surface of a cylindrical heater is studied at high superheating, when the evaporation front is formed. Boiling up begins with formation of a spherical bubble on the heater wall. Evaporation fronts propagating along the heater with the constant velocity are formed due to development of interfacial instability. The mathematical model describing the growth of a spherical bubble and vapor cavity behind the evaporation front is developed. Results of numerical simulation agree with available experimental data.     

电子枪功率与束宽对金属原子蒸气特性的影响

在原子法激光同位素分离工程中,电子枪加热金属铀产生的原子蒸气的密度、速度以及温度等宏观量分布特性是非常重要的参数.为了分析电子枪功率和束宽对原子蒸气密度、速度、温度、质量通量和速度分布等物理特性的影响,采用直接MonteCarlo方法用柱坐标模拟了铀原子平面蒸发动力学过程.在电子枪加热方式下,蒸发源温度场不均匀,而且温度场随电子枪功率和束宽变化.着重研究这种变化对蒸气各种物理特性的影响.模拟结果表明,电子枪功率越高,蒸气径向宏观漂移速度越大,蒸发量越大;电子束束宽越窄,蒸发量越大. 关键词： 金属蒸发 原子法激光同位素分离 直接MonteCarlo 电子枪     

Thermal structure of the evaporation front in laser drilling processes

Dynamic measurements of velocity and temperature yield information on the temperature distribution and the thermal thickness of the evaporation front caused by focused laser irradiation on metals. The thermal thickness of the evaporation front is inversly proportional to the steady-state velocity of the front. Direct temperature values are obtained by measuring the thermoelectric signals from thermocouple junctions of 10 μm average dimensions, located at the back side of the drilled sample. Experimental results are compared to thermal models theory and the implications concerning the drilled efficiency are considered.     

Laser pulse transient method for measuring the normal spectral emissivity of samples with arbitrary surface quality

A laser pulse transient method for measuring normal spectral emissivity is described. In this method, a laser pulse (λ=1064 nm) irradiates the top surface of a flat specimen. A two-dimensional temperature response of the bottom surface is measured with a calibrated thermographic camera. By solving an axisymmetric boundary value heat conduction problem, the normal spectral emissivity at 1064 nm is determined by using an iterative nonlinear least-squares estimation procedure. The method can be applied to arbitrary sample surface quality. The method is tested on a nickel specimen and used to determine the normal spectral emissivity of AISI 304 stainless steel. The expanded combined uncertainty of the method has been estimated to be 18%.     

Transient effects in pulsed laser irradiation

Theoretical analysis of the influence of the temporal profile (rectangular, triangular, Gaussian) of the laser pulse on heating/cooling and phase transition velocities and quantity of ablated material was performed on the basis of a multifront Stephan problem. Modeling showed that material removal under stationary conditions (that correspond to long pulses) is entirely controlled by specific heat and material density, while in the case of transient regimes (short pulses) thermal conductivity and heat capacity play a predominant role. Interaction of the melting and evaporation fronts characterized by an evaporation front velocity far exceeding the melting front one is one of the examples of the transient nature of the phenomena influenced by the laser pulse parameters.     

Laser-induced vibration during pulsed laser forming

In this study, the vibration phenomenon during pulsed laser forming of thin metal plates was investigated numerically and experimentally. The metal plates were made of 304 stainless steel and were heated by a CO₂ Gaussian laser beam with a long pulse duration of 0.1 s, which incited vibration due to the elastic–plastic deformation of the specimen. This uncoupled thermal–mechanical problem was solved using a three-dimensional finite element method and was subsequently satisfactorily verified with experiments. Using the superposition method with multiple laser pulses, the non-linear vibration phenomenon during pulsed laser forming has also been observed experimentally for thin plates.     

XeCl laser excitation by high power microwave pulses

Considerable progress of microwave pumping of excimer laser gas mixtures has been achieved. The present measurable best values for the pulse energy lie in the mJ range. A microwave pulse compression technique is applied using a resonantly charged microwave cavity. The stored energy is extracted by igniting a high density plasma in a quartz tube which acts as a switch and as a laser amplifier yielding a high energy laser pulse.Presented at LASERION '91, June 12–14, 1991, Müchen (Germany)     

短脉冲激光作用下丙酮液池沸腾现象的瞬态观测

本文对短脉冲激光作用下试件表面的温度变化和丙酮液体汽泡行为进行了瞬态观测,研 究了激光参数和细小金属颗粒等因素对丙酮液体沸腾行为的影响。结果表明：激光参数中,脉宽是 影响温度曲线和汽泡行为的主要因素,随着激光脉宽增大,大汽泡的长大时间和脱离直径减小;汽 泡长大速度与常规沸腾时的完全不同,没有出现等温生长阶段,在激光脉冲后很长时间内汽泡长大 速度快速增大;试件表面覆盖细小金属颗粒后,沸腾过程变得非常剧烈。     

电子束激发原子对金属蒸发的影响

在原子蒸气激光同位素分离工程(AVLIS)中,金属受电子束的加热而熔化,并向真空蒸发,蒸气原子通过电子束的过程中,可能与电子发生非弹性碰撞,被激发到高能级.在膨胀的过程中,高能级的原子通过与原子的非弹性碰撞消激发,将原子内的电子能量转换为蒸气的平动能.为了分析电子束与原子作用对蒸气的密度、速度和温度等物理特性的影响,采样直接模拟蒙特卡罗法(DSMC)模拟钆原子蒸发过程.模拟结果表明,电子束与原子的作用使得原子蒸气的速度增加,密度减小,温度升高 关键词： 金属蒸发 AVLIS DSMC 电子枪     

背景气体对金属原子二维平面蒸发过程的影响

在原子蒸气法激光分离同位素中,金属原子蒸气宏观物理性质的空间分布会直接影响到分离过程的电离率和原料利用率.本文从分离过程的实际需求出发,建立了双组分气体的Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook模型方程组,并利用数值计算方法对方程进行求解,研究了背景气体对二维平面蒸发过程中原子蒸气宏观物理性质和蒸发速率的影响.研究结果表明:随着背景气体密度的增加,远离蒸发源位置处的金属原子蒸气密度增大,速度减小,温度升高,而近蒸发源位置处原子蒸气的性质则几乎不受影响,因而蒸发速率基本上不随背景气体密度发生变化.另外,随着尾料板温度的升高和对原子蒸气吸收率的增加,金属原子蒸气宏观物理性质受背景气体的影响逐渐下降.理论计算的结果对于分离装置的真空设计和光斑分布设计有较为重要的参考意义.     

Laser melting of carbide tool surface: Model and experimental studies

Laser controlled melting is one of the methods to achieve structural integrity in the surface region of the carbide tools. In the present study, laser heating of carbide cutting tool and temperature distribution in the irradiated region are examined. The phase change process during the heating is modeled using the enthalpy–porosity method. The influence of laser pulse intensity distribution across the irradiated surface (β) on temperature distribution and melt formation is investigated. An experiment is carried out and the microstructural changes due to laser consecutive pulse heating is examined using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is found that melt depth predicted agrees with the experimental results. The maximum depth of the melt layer moves away from the symmetry axis with increasing β.     

Measurement of laser beam transmittance through laser produced vapour plume

Laser produced plume, consisting of vapor front and ejected substrate on the workpiece surface, is an intermediate between the incident laser beam and the workpiece on which the beam is directed. It partially blocks, defocuses, absorbs, scatters, and deflects the incident beam and thereby reduces the laser energy reaching the workpiece. However, plume additionally acts as a heat source enhancing the machining. Consequently, laser induced plume plays an important role in laser machining process. The present study investigates the transmittance of a reference beam by the plume generated during the laser-workpiece interaction. To achieve the transmittance measurements, a Nd:YAG laser was used and four different materials were employed in the experiment. To obtain realistic values of the plume transmittance in relation to the laser machining process, the reference beam was sampled from the incident laser beam. The study was extended to include the effect of the laser pulse parameters on the transmission process. It is found that about 10–30% of the transmittance of the reference beam through a vapor plume, produced due to laser ablation, occurs close to the workpiece surface.