ME F315: Advanced MP

Laser Beam Machining

 LBM
❑ In laser beam machining (LBM) work material is melted and
evaporated by means of an intense, monochromatic beam of light
called the laser.
❑ LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
of Radiation.
❑ The laser is electromagnetic radiation with wavelength varying from
0.1 to 70 μm. Usable wavelength range is 0.4 to 0.6 μm.
❑ Laser beam are perfectly parallel (collimated) and monochromatic
(photons have same energy), it can be focused to a very small
diameter and can produce a very high power density i.e. 107
W/mm2.
❑ The heat produced in the small area where the laser beam strikes
can melt almost any of the known material.
❑ LBM is used in machining difficult-to-machine material.
 Laser Principle
❑ Key principle behind the operation of laser was first published in
1917 by Albert Einstein when he hypothesized that under the proper
conditions light energy of a particular frequency could be used to
stimulate the electrons in an atom to emit additional light exactly
with the same characteristics as the original stimulating light source.
 Laser Principle

Electrons at higher energy meta-stable state, can

return to the ground state in the form of an
avalanche provided stimulated by a photon of
suitable frequency or energy.
 Types of Laser
❑ Depending on the lasing medium, lasers can be classified as
➢ Solid-state lasers
➢ Gas lasers

❑ Solid-state lasers can be further classified as: Uses flash lamp

➢ Ruby laser
➢ Nd: glass laser
➢ Nd:YAG laser (commonly operated in pulse mode)
Nd – Neodymium; YAG – Yttrium Aluminium Garnet

❑ Gas lasers can be further classified as: Uses direct electrical

➢ Helium-Neon lasers energy
➢ Argon lasers
➢ Carbon dioxide lasers (operated in continuous mode)
LBM – Solid state

▪ Output energy = 20 J
▪ Peak power = 20 KW
▪ Spot diameter = 50 μm
▪ Efficiency = 0.3 – 0.5%

Used for:
• Low pulse applications
like spot welding, drilling,
etc.
• Mean Power = 1 KW
• Nd: YAG laser - Cutting
 LBM - Gas

The advantages of CO2 laser over solid lasers are:

• Relatively high and continuous output
• High conversion efficiency
• Few maintenance problems
• It is compact
LBM – Solid state vs Gas
LBM – Applications
LBM – Applications
 LBM – Adv. And Dis Adv.
Advantages
▪ No physical tool. Thus no machining force or wear of the tool.
▪ Large aspect ratio in laser drilling can be achieved along with
acceptable accuracy or dimension, form or location.
▪ Micro-holes can be drilled in difficult – to – machine materials
▪ Heat affected zone specially in pulse laser processing is not very
significant due to shorter pulse duration.
Limitations
▪ High initial capital cost, High maintenance cost.
▪ Not very efficient process (Low efficiency and large power
consumption).
▪ Presence of Heat Affected Zone – specially in gas assist CO2 laser
cutting.
▪ Thermal process – not suitable for heat sensitive materials (materials
with high heat conductivity and high reflectivity)
 LBM Mechanics
❑ Machining by laser beam is achieved by following Phases:
➢ Interaction of laser beam with work material
➢ Heat conduction and temperature rise
➢ Melting, vaporization and Ablation
 LBM Mechanics
❑ Interaction of laser beam with work material:
➢ Thermo-optic interaction between beam and solid work
material.
➢ The absorbed light propagates into the medium and its energy is
gradually transferred to the lattice atoms in the form of heat.
➢ The absorption is described by
Lambert’s Law as

➢ Most of the energy is absorbed

in a very thin layer (0.01 μm
thickness) at the surface and
converted into heat.
 LBM Mechanics
❑ Heat conduction and temperature rise
➢ Laser beam considered to be a heat flux.
➢ Reradiation from surface is negligible.
➢ Diameter of the beam spot is assumed to
be larger than the depth of penetration.
➢ Conductivity and specific heat remain
unaffected by temperature change.
➢ The conduction problem is represented by a uniform heat flux at
the surface of a semi-infinite body.
➢ The equation for heat conduction for region z > 0 is

➢ At the surface, z = 0
 LBM Mechanics
➢ At t = 0, the temperature of the body is zero,
➢ Solving the above equation,

➢ Assuming laser pulse to be a step function, then heat flux is

constant, therefore,

➢ Above expression show the variation of temperature over a period of

time and depth.
➢ The surface temperature at z = 0 is

➢ The time required for the surface to reach the temperature θm is

 Example 1
Ex.1. 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. Given the following properties of tungsten,
Melting temperature = 3400 °C
Thermal conductivity = 2.15 W / cm-°C
Volume specific heat = 2.71 J / cm3-°C
Assume the 10% of the beam is absorbed.
Solution:
 LBM Mechanics
❑ Steady state penetration:
➢ Molten pit is assumed to be deep
and narrow.
➢ Heat conduction from molten hole
takes place through the side wall.
➢ If heat input rate = rate of heat
loss then shape & size of the hole
is maintained.
➢ At steady state condition, the rate of heat loss by molten portion
is given by,

➢ Equating heat input rate to the heat loss rate we get,

 LBM Mechanics

When the beam intensity is very high (>107 W/cm2), the heating is very
rapid, and the mechanism we have just given is not valid. The incident
beam heats up the surface quickly and 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 (equal to the rate of heat input from the incident
beam) is
𝑯 ≈ 𝝂𝑳
Where,
𝜈 is the velocity with which the surface recedes.
𝐿 is amount of energy to vaporize unit volume of material.
 Example 2
Ex.1. A laser beam with a power intensity of 105 W/mm2 is used to drill
holes in a tungsten sheet of 0.5 mm thickness. The drill diameter is 200
μm. If 3 X 104 J/cm3 are required to vaporize tungsten, estimate the
time required to drill a through hole. The efficiency may be taken to be
10%.
Solution:
The rate of heat input required to vaporize the material (equal to rate
of heat input from the incident beam) is
𝑯 ≈ 𝝂𝑳
Where,
𝜈 is the velocity with which the surface recedes.
𝐿 is amount of energy to vaporize unit volume of material.
EDM
Thanks