The affect of varying a wide range of excimer laser parameters on the average etch rate per shot of aerospace alloys (Al, Ti and Ni) has been investigated. The parameters found to most profoundly influence the etch rate were, the laser fluence (up to 70 J/cm2), pulse length (20 - 160 nsec FWHM), gas environment, beam spot size (35 - 300 micrometers ) and material thickness (0.4 - 1.8 mm). Optimization of these parameters has produced an increase in average etch rate per shot from 0.05 to 1.5 micrometers with Ti alloy (2 TA - 10). Such increases in etch rate are seen to occur above a relatively well defined 'critical' fluence for thick samples which it is postulated corresponds to the transition from a largely vaporization dominated to a vaporization/melt expulsion regime. Information is also included on the quality of the processing and on the extent of the laser affected zone around the processed area. Potential aerospace application areas identified and discussed include drilling multiple hole arrays for producing porous surfaces for drag reduction on aircraft and the cutting and profiling of alloy/glass fiber composites (GLARE).
Excimer laser processing of aerospace alloys
Excimer Lasers: Applications, Beam Delivery Systems, and Laser Design ; 1992 ; Boston,MA,United States
Proc. SPIE ; 1835
1993-04-19
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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