Laser cutting of thick ceramic tile

This paper details developments in the CO₂ laser cutting of thick ceramic tiles, that is thicknesses of 8.5 mm and 9.2 mm. These tiles were cut at a combination of different cutting speeds to determine the necessary cutting parameters for various tile geometries. Different cutting modes were used in conjunction with different cutting speeds to investigate cut quality after laser processing. The work also looked into the effects on cutting through using various shield gases. Multipass cutting and underwater cutting were performed to examine their effects on thermal load during processing.     

Processing of concretes with a high power CO2 laser

Laser material processing, being a non-contact process, minimizes many of the complexities involved in the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. A high power laser beam incident on a concrete surface can produce spalling, glazing or vaporization, depending upon the laser power density and scan speed. This paper presents effect of various laser processing parameters on the efficiency of material removal by surface spalling and glazing. The size of laser beam at constant fluence or energy density had significantly different effect on the spalling process. In thick concrete block cutting the flow or removal of molten material limits the cutting depth. By employing repeated laser glazing followed by mechanical scrubbing process cutting of 150 mm thick concrete block was carried out. Gravitation force was utilized for molten materials to flow out while drilling holes on vertical concrete walls. The dependence of the incident laser beam angle on drilling time was experimentally studied.     

New type of drift tubes for gas-discharge detectors operating in vacuum: Production technology and quality control

A device for fabricating thin-wall (straw) drift tubes using polyethylene terephthalate film 36 μm thick by ultrasonic welding is described together with the technique for controlling their quality. The joint width amounts to 0.4–1.0 mm. The joint breaking strength is 31.9 kg/mm². The argon leakage from a tube of volume 188.6 cm³ under a pressure gradient of 1.0 atm does not exceed 0.3 × 10^–3 cm³/min, which is mainly related to the absence of metallization in the joint vicinity. The high strength, the low tensile creep due to the absence of glued layers, the small value of gas leakage makes the new tubes capable of reliable and long-term operation in vacuum, which is confirmed by the operation of 7168 straw tubes for two years in the NA62 experiment.     

New developments in laser-assisted oxygen cutting

It has been nearly 33 years since the first laser cut was produced at The Welding Institute, Cambridge, UK. It is quite remarkable that laser cutting as we know it today has changed very little since these first trials. The developments that have taken place relate to greater process understanding, improved laser sources, enhanced beam-handling systems and process refinements. Much effort has been placed in improving the efficiency of the process such that thicker sections can be cut with moderate laser powers. Yet, for all of these developments laser cutting has seen little movement in maximum section limits that can be cut. Commercial process providers routinely cut to maximum depths of around 12–15 mm in mild steel with 2 kW lasers. While it is true that the market is small for steel sections above 15 mm it is apparent that some industries such as offshore, marine, construction and heavy engineering would benefit greatly from a laser process capable of cutting sections much greater than 15 mm. This paper presents results obtained from a study of a new thick section laser-cutting process capable of cutting sections up to 50 mm thick in the first instance, with power levels less than 2 kW whilst maintaining excellent cut quality. The work presents initial results of cutting steel up to 50 mm thick and examines the process using theoretical and experimental analysis.     

Selection of the most influential factors on the water-jet assisted underwater laser process by adaptive neuro-fuzzy technique

Water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting has shown some advantages as it produces much less turbulence, gas bubble and aerosols, resulting in a more gentle process. However, this process has relatively low efficiency due to different losses in water. It is important to determine which parameters are the most important for the process. In this investigation was analyzed the water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters forecasting based on the different parameters. The method of ANFIS (adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system) was applied to the data in order to select the most influential factors for water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters forecasting. Three inputs are considered: laser power, cutting speed and water-jet speed. The ANFIS process for variable selection was also implemented in order to detect the predominant factors affecting the forecasting of the water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters. According to the results the combination of laser power cutting speed forms the most influential combination foe the prediction of water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters. The best prediction was observed for the bottom kerf-width (R² = 0.9653). The worst prediction was observed for dross area per unit length (R² = 0.6804). According to the results, a greater improvement in estimation accuracy can be achieved by removing the unnecessary parameter.     

金属隔层和空气间隙对钝感炸药冲击起爆的影响

为了确定空气间隙和金属隔层对冲击起爆的影响,采用火炮加载蓝宝石飞片冲击起爆Φ50 mm×30 mm的A型炸药,产生的冲击波通过空气间隙和金属隔层起爆Φ50 mm的台阶型B型炸药。在B型炸药的后界面粘贴镀膜氟化锂(LiF)窗口,使用光子多普勒测速仪(PDV)测量金属和B型炸药的后界面速度,进而计算得到金属和B型炸药的冲击波透射压力,再利用阻抗匹配计算得到金属和B型炸药的入射压力。结果表明:传爆药和金属隔层间的空气间隙使冲击压缩过程转变为准等熵压缩和冲击压缩两个过程,同时使冲击波的幅值减小;确定了金属隔层厚度为5 mm时冲击波压力的衰减范围;当使用A型炸药作为传爆药,空气间隙为0.3 mm,金属隔层厚度为5 mm时,B型炸药在7~10 mm之间开始反应。     

Investigation of optimum condition in oxygen gas-assisted laser cutting

Laser cutting characteristics including power level and cutting gas pressure are investigated in order to obtain an optimum kerf width. The kerf width is investigated for a laser power range of 50–170 W and a gas pressure of 1–6 bar for steel and mild steel materials. Variation of sample thickness, material type, gas pressure and laser power on the average cut width and slot quality are investigated. Optimum conditions for the steel and mild steel materials with a thickness range of 1–2 mm are obtained. The optimum condition for the steel cutting results in a minimum average kerf width of 0.2 mm at a laser power of 67 W, cutting rate of 7.1 mm/s and an oxygen pressure of 4 bar. A similar investigation for the mild steel cutting results in a minimum average kerf width of 0.3 mm at the same laser power of 67 W, cutting rate of 9.5 mm/s, and an oxygen pressure of 1 bar. The experimental average kerf is about 0.3 mm, which is approximately equal to the estimated focused beam diameter of 0.27 mm for our focusing lens (f=4 cm and 100 W power). This beam size leads to a laser intensity of about 1.74×10⁹ W/m² at the workpiece surface. The estimated cutting rate from theoretical calculation is about 8.07 mm/s (1.0 mm thickness and 100 W power), which agrees with the experimental results that is 7.1 mm/s for 1.0 mm thickness of mild steel at the laser power of 88 W.     

枪弹间隙对水下枪内弹道的影响

为了研究枪炮全水下发射过程中枪弹耦合间隙对内弹道特性的影响,运用AUTODYN有限元仿真软件,针对滑膛水下枪枪弹耦合设置0.1 mm间隙与不设置间隙两种情况的内弹道过程进行了数值模拟;采用21、25和30 g装药量对水下枪全水下带间隙发射内弹道过程进行了仿真分析,获得了膛压、射弹速度以及过间隙燃气射流在内弹道过程中组分、压力与速度的分布规律;并设计了实弹射击实验用于验证仿真结果。仿真和实验结果表明,合适的枪炮耦合间隙能够有效地提高水下枪发射性能。当枪弹耦合设置0.1 mm间隙时,采用3种装药量发射均能产生弹前气幕,内弹道过程膛压下降明显,弹丸炮口速度提升较为显著,有利于产生稳定的超空泡包裹弹体,使其在水下运动时所受阻力大大降低,从而增加射弹水下行程。     

基于水下双目视觉的燃料组件变形检测系统

燃料组件变形状态是堆芯运行过程中的重要监测指标,基于水下双目视觉的变形检测系统不仅能获得燃料组件关键参数的三维尺寸,还可以测量组件的整体轮廓。根据水下大型燃料组件的高热、高辐射特点,研制了一种基于16台摄像单元的水下双目检测系统,并给出各组成模块的详细设计;通过联合Harris特征点和区域灰度互相关方法,实现辐射噪声干扰下的双目摄像模块的组内快速图像配准。经模拟水池和核电现场实验,验证系统局部参数测量精度优于0.2 mm,全局参数测量精度满足0.5 mm,为高热、高辐射的水下乏燃料组件的局部变形和整体弯曲等参数测量提供有力工具。     

An improved approach for hydrogen analysis in metal samples using single laser-induced gas plasma and target plasma at helium atmospheric pressure

We report in this paper the results of an experimental study on hydrogen analysis of solid samples in high pressure helium ambient gas employing the basic scheme of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). It is shown that the metastable excited state of helium atom can be utilized to induce delayed excitation of the ablated hydrogen atoms, and thereby avoid the Stark broadening effect as well as overcoming the undesirable mismatch effect, which are responsible for inefficient excitation respectively. It is further demonstrated that for samples of high boiling-point materials such as zircaloy, successful hydrogen analysis can be achieved by a newly introduced double excitation technique employing single laser realized in a modified configuration of the conventional LIBS method. PACS 51-52     

LIBS-Raman光谱联合水下探测系统及初步试验

水下激光诱导击穿光谱技术(LIBS)和水下激光拉曼光谱技术(Raman)已在深海成功获得应用,这两种技术探测对象互补、器件类似,两者联合探测可更好的进行深海研究。针对此需求研发了一套LIBS-Raman光谱联合水下原位探测原理样机,整个系统集成于L790 mm×Φ270 mm的舱体内,在舱体前端有光学窗口和水密插头,舱体内部主要包括脉冲激光器、光谱仪、嵌入式计算机和供电转换装置,甲板控制终端通过水密电缆实现对系统的供电、控制和数据采集。该联合系统采用一台双波长脉冲激光器同时作为LIBS和拉曼光谱的激发光源,LIBS采用1 064 nm波长,拉曼光谱采用532 nm波长。双波长激光器发出的光束经分光镜分为两路,经过后向散射光路收集的两路信号分别进入两个小型光纤光谱仪进行分光探测,LIBS采用AvaSpec-ULS2048光谱仪,拉曼光谱采用QE 65000光谱仪。利用搭建的原理样机在青岛近海进行水下原位探测,在实验室开展了水中固体靶的探测,实验结果证明了LIBS-Raman联合光谱探测装置的可行性。下一步将优化系统并开展深海探测应用。     

核燃料棒反光表面条纹自适应中心提取方法

针对水下检测中激光条纹中心难以准确提取的问题,提出了一种适用于水下核燃料棒反光表面的条纹自适应中心提取方法.根据检测环境中存在水体散射及物体表面高反光的特点,去除水下噪点、反光噪点,实现激光条纹分割提取;充分利用BP神经网络曲线拟合及由光条几何信息生成的自适应卷积模板,实现反光区域的轮廓与灰度分布修正,使光条截面灰度分...     

In-situ laser material process monitoring using a cladding power detection technique

Progress in laser material processing may require real-time monitoring and process control for consistent quality and productivity. We report a method of in-situ monitoring of laser metal cutting and drilling using cladding power monitoring of an optical fibre beam delivery system—a technique which detects the light reflected or scattered from the workpiece. The light signal carries information about the quality of the process. Experiments involving drilling and cutting of two samples, a thin aluminum foil and a 2-mm thick stainless steel plate, confirmed the effectiveness of this method.     

Traveling wave tube measurements for low-frequency properties of underwater acoustic materials

A traveling wave tube measurement technique for measuring acoustic properties of underwater acoustic materials was developed.Water temperature and pressure environments of the ocean can be simulated in a water-filled tube,and the acoustic parameters of samples of underwater acoustic materials are measured in the range of low-frequency.A tested sample is located at central position of the tube.A pair of projectors is separately located at both ends of the tube.Using an active anechoic technique,the sound wave transmitting the tested sample is hardly reflected by the surface of secondary transducer.So the traveling sound field is built up in the tube.By separately calculating the transfer functions of every pair of double hydrophones in the sound fields from the both sides of the sample,its reflection coefficients and transmission coefficients are obtained.In the measurement system,the inside diameter of the tube isΦ208 mm,the working frequency range is from 100 to 4000 Hz,the maximum pressure is 5 MPa.The reflection coefficients and transmission coefficients of a water layer and a stainless steel layer samples are measured actually and calculated theoretically.The results show that the measured values are in good agreement with the values calculated,and the measurement uncertainty is not greater than 1.5 dB.     

Pressure-sensitive paint as a distributed optical microphone array

Pressure-sensitive paint is presented and evaluated in this article as a quantitative technique for measurement of acoustic pressure fluctuations. This work is the culmination of advances in paint technology which enable unsteady measurements of fluctuations over 10 kHz at pressure levels as low as 125 dB. Pressure-sensitive paint may be thought of as a nano-scale array of optical microphones with a spatial resolution limited primarily by the resolution of the imaging device. Thus, pressure-sensitive paint is a powerful tool for making high-amplitude sound pressure measurements. In this work, the paint was used to record ensemble-averaged, time-resolved, quantitative measurements of two-dimensional mode shapes in an acoustic resonance cavity. A wall-mounted speaker generated nonlinear, standing acoustic waves in a rigid enclosure measuring 216 mm wide, 169 mm high, and 102 mm deep. The paint recorded the acoustic surface pressures of the (1,1,0) mode shape at approximately 1.3 kHz and a sound pressure level of 145.4 dB. Results from the paint are compared with data from a Kulite pressure transducer, and with linear acoustic theory. The paint may be used as a diagnostic technique for ultrasonic tests where high spatial resolution is essential, or in nonlinear acoustic applications such as shock tubes.     

High-power multibeam CO2 laser for industrial applications

Multibeam CO₂ lasers consist of a large number of closely packed parallel glass discharge tubes, all sharing a common plane parallel resonator. This paper describes construction and operation of a CW multibeam CO₂ laser consisting 20 discharge tubes and cooled length of 1500 mm, delivering 1 kW power. A high-frequency pulser is used for producing preionization in all discharge sections for initiating the main DC discharge simultaneously in all discharge tubes. Plane parallel resonator consists of a plane ZnSe mirror of 90 mm diameter having 60% reflectivity and a gold-coated copper mirror of same diameter. This laser operates in waveguide regime and laser power is not critically sensitive to mirror misalignment.     

Using a wide-aperture argon ion beam to finish the outer surfaces of tubular samples

The effect ion-beam treatment with a wide-aperture beam of argon ions has on the outer surfaces of tubular samples is investigated. Samples are treated on the specialized KVK-10 installation. Experiments are performed for tubes 500 mm in length (Ø9.15 mm; wall thickness, 0.65 mm) made of E110 zirconium alloy that are used in the nuclear power industry as the shells of fuel elements. Analysis of the samples shows that surfaces can cleaned and polished via ion-beam treatment, and roughness R _a can be reduced from 2.0 ± 0.5 μm to 0.6 ± 0.1 μm.     

Laser cutting of rectangular geometry into alumina tiles

Laser cutting of rectangular geometry into the 5 mm thick alumina tiles is carried out. Temperature and stress fields, which are developed during the cutting process, are simulated in line with the experimental conditions. The morphological changes in the cutting sections are examined using optical and electron scanning microscopes, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction technique. The predictions of surface temperature and the residual stress are validated through the experimental data. It is found that von Mises stress attains high values in the region of the mid-thickness of the workpiece. The laser cut sections are free from major cracks and large scale sideways burning. The predictions of surface temperature and residual stress agree well with their counterparts obtained from the experiment.     

Study of a Waveguide CO_2 Laser with Two Parallel Tubes

ＳｔｕｄｙｏｆａＷａｖｅｇｕｉｄｅＣＯ２ＬａｓｅｒｗｉｔｈＴｗｏＰａｒａｌｅｌＴｕｂｅｓＨＵＡＮＧＹｕａｎｇｑｉｎｇ（Ｄｅｐｔ．ｏｆＳｃｉ．Ｉｎｓｔｒ．ａｎｄＰｒｅｃｉｓｉｏｎＭｅｃｈ．ｏｆＸｉａｍｅｎＵｎｉｖ．，Ｘｉａｍｅｎ，３６１００５，Ｃｈｉｎ...     

Plasma generation for the plasma cutting process

This study is an attempt to estimate the overall properties, viz. the thermal power and force, of an intense plasma jet produced by a plasma cutting torch, and to relate the properties of the plasma to the diameter of the nozzle of the plasma torch and the flow rate of plasma-forming gas. For cutting metallic plates using a thermal plasma, a narrow plasma jet is produced by means of a transferred electric are between an electrode in a plasma torch and the material to be cut. The power density and pressure exerted by the plasma jet on the material at the region of cut needs to be high so that a straight cut, without dress at the bottom of the plate, can be obtained. A simple theory to describe the behavior of the arc in a plasma cutting torch has been developed to predict the are radius, pressure, and arc voltage at the nozzle exit as a function of are current for a range of nozzle sizes and air flow rates. The results obtained are in good agreement with the measured values for an air plasma cutting torch nominally rated for 100-A operation. The relationships between the mass flow rate of plasma gas, plasma power, and arc force have been discussed in the light of design of plasma torches for plasma cutting