Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

Series Editor: Carlos P. Bergmann

Shrikrishna N. Joshi
Uday Shanker Dixit Editors

Lasers Based
Manufacturing
5th International and 26th All India
Manufacturing Technology, Design and
Research Conference, AIMTDR 2014
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials
Engineering

Series editor
Carlos P. Bergmann, Porto Alegre, Brazil
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11054
Shrikrishna N. Joshi Uday Shanker Dixit
•

Editors

Lasers Based Manufacturing

5th International and 26th All India
Manufacturing Technology, Design and
Research Conference, AIMTDR 2014

123
Editors
Shrikrishna N. Joshi Uday Shanker Dixit
Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Guwahati, Assam Guwahati, Assam
India India

ISSN 2364-3293 ISSN 2364-3307 (electronic)

Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
ISBN 978-81-322-2351-1 ISBN 978-81-322-2352-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8

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Preface

The manufacturing industry contributes a major share in the development of a

nation. However, it is now facing several challenges such as rapid product devel-
opment, flexibility, low to medium volume, and low-cost production. Many
advanced/unconventional technologies/tools are being developed worldwide to face
these challenges. Among these technologies laser has become quite popular due to
its ability for precise focusing and ease in controlling the heat source. Researchers
worldwide are now focusing their attention on improving productivity and product
quality in the application of laser technology for the manufacture of components
required for consumer electronics, aerospace systems and vehicles, bio-medical
instrumentation, automobiles, and shipbuilding applications. Scientists, researchers,
and engineers across the globe are striving to achieve excellence in the area of laser-
based manufacturing by carrying out systematic experimental as well as numerical
studies. The present book represents some of these efforts.
The chapters in this book present the basic and advanced topics in laser-based
manufacturing. These chapters focus on theoretical as well as practical aspects of
laser technology for various applications such as sheet metal bending, welding,
sintering and micro-manufacturing, viz., micro-channelling, micro-turning, micro-
drilling, etc. These chapters are the extended versions of peer-reviewed manuscripts
presented at the 5th International and the 26th All India Manufacturing Technology,
Design and Research (AIMTDR) conference held during December 12–14, 2014 at
the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. The book will be useful to
researchers and practicing engineers working in the area of manufacturing in
general and laser-based manufacturing in particular.
The book comprises 22 chapters. First six chapters present the application of
lasers for bending of metal sheets. The fundamentals of laser bending are discussed
at length in these chapters. The research work carried out on numerical as well as
experimental aspects is presented. In Chapters “Surface Alloying of Aluminium
with Copper Using CO2 Laser” and “Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters in
Preplaced TiC Coating on Aluminium Substrate,” the surface modification by laser
processing is presented. Chapter “Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding for
Tool Steel Repair” deals with finite element simulation of laser cladding for repair

v
vi Preface

of cutting tools. Chapters “Excimer Laser Micromachining and Its Applications”

and next six chapters present laser-based advanced technologies developed for
manufacturing of micro-sized features such as channels. The state of the art on the
employment of various types of lasers, viz., Nd-YAG, Excimer for processing of
advanced materials such as Ti-6Al-4V, zirconia, alumina, and PMMA are presented
in the respective chapters. The application of laser for micro-drilling of SiC-30BN
nanocomposite is presented in the Chapter “Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-
30BN Nanocomposite: Experimental Study and Process Optimization.” Chapter
“Pulsed Nd:Yag Laser Micro-Turning Process of Alumina Ceramics” depicts
experimental studies on Pulsed Nd:YAG laser micro-turning alumina ceramic.
Chapter “A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding” presents an overview of the
recent trends in laser welding, while Chap. “Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled
Inert Gas Atmosphere: An Experimental and Numerical Investigation” presents
numerical as well as experimental investigations on fiber laser welding. Chapter
“A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature Profile of Laser Welded
Ti-6Al-4V Alloy” discusses the finite element method-based methodology of 3-D
simulation of laser welding of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Finally, Chap. “Selective Laser
Sintering: A Case Study of Tungsten Carbide and Cobalt Powder Sintering by
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser” presents an important application of laser, i.e., sintering of
tungsten carbide and cobalt powder using pulsed Nd:YAG Laser. Overall, the
coverage is very wide, encompassing different manufacturing processes.
The authors and editors have taken utmost care in presenting the information and
acknowledging the original sources wherever necessary. The editors express their
gratitude toward the authors, organizers of AIMTDR, and staff of Springer (India)
for making possible the publication of this research book. Readers are requested to
provide their valuable feedback on the quality of the presentation and inadvertent
errors or omission of information if any. We expect that the book will be welcomed
by students as well as practising engineers/researchers.

Shrikrishna N. Joshi
Uday Shanker Dixit
About the Conference

AIMTDR series of conferences is a highly prestigious biennial event in the field of

mechanical engineering. It has a glorious history. The first conference entitled All
India Machine Tools Design and Research Conference was held at Jadavpur Uni-
versity, Kolkata. Later it was renamed All India Manufacturing Technology, Design
and Research Conference in order to widen its scope. It became an international
event in 2006 with the first international conference held at IIT Roorkee. The
conference aims to bring together academicians and industry professionals working
in the field of manufacturing for the exchange of ideas.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati organized the 5th International
and the 26th All India Manufacturing, Technology, Design and Research (AIM-
TDR) conference during 12–14 December 2014. The conference was attended by
more than 400 delegates from academia and industry. Apart from the addresses
by Chief Guest Prof. Amitabaha Ghosh, former Director of IIT Kharagpur and
Mr. P.K. Borthakur, Former Director (offshore), ONGC, a total of 22 invited lec-
tures were presented at the conference. Some of the notable speakers from academia
were Prof. Kornel Ehmann, Prof. Shiv G. Kapoor, and Prof. Marc Madou from
USA, Prof. Hocheng from Taiwan, and Prof. V. Radhakrishnan from India. Some
of the invited speakers from industry/R&D organizations were Dr. V.K. Suri from
BARC, Mr. Khongwir from IOCL Bongaigaon, Dr. Sumitesh Das from Tata Steel,
Dr. Sanyal from CSIR, and Dr. K. Ramesh from DRDL Hyderabad. Some man-
ufacturing organizations also gave presentations on their products. A total of 423
papers were published in the proceedings of the conference by young and senior
engineers/scientists.
Professor M. Rahman of National University of Singapore delivered the Prof.
Amitabha Bhattachraya Memorial Lecture. He advocated sustainable manufactur-
ing that should not harm the environment. He emphasized the role of revolutionary
and evolutionary innovation to achieve sustainable manufacturing. Overall, the
conference was a huge success in terms of participation by delegates from premier
educational and research institutions from India and abroad.

vii
Editorial Acknowledgments

We extend our thanks to all the authors for contributing to this book by sharing their
valuable research findings. We especially thank a number of reviewers for promptly
reviewing the papers submitted to the conference. We are grateful to the volunteers,
invited speakers, sponsors, subcommittee members, members of the national
advisory committee, and members of the scientific advisory committee for suc-
cessful conduct of the conference. The editors express their heartfelt gratitude
toward Prof. Gautam Biswas, Director IIT Guwahati, Prof. Gautam Barua, former
Director IIT Guwahati, Prof. Anoop K. Dass, Head Mechanical Engineering, and
Prof. P. Mahanta, former Head Mechanical Engineering IIT Guwahati for their
encouragement and motivation to organize such a prestigious event that paved the
way for this book on laser-based manufacturing. Lastly, we express our sincere
gratitude toward the staff members of Springer (India) who helped in publishing
this book.

ix
Contents

A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A. Eideh, Uday S. Dixit and Raghu Echempati

Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets Using Different

Surface Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Sachin S. Gautam, Sunil K. Singh and Uday S. Dixit

Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets . . . 41

Besufekad N. Fetene and Uday S. Dixit

Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser

Forming of Sheet Metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Kuntal Maji, D.K. Pratihar and A.K. Nath

Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear

Laser Bending of Aluminum Alloy Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Ravi Kant, Parag M. Bhuyan and S.N. Joshi

Mathematical Formulation for Development of Compound

Curve Surface by Laser Line Heating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Biplab Das and Pankaj Biswas

Surface Alloying of Aluminum with Copper Using CO2 Laser . . . . . . . 107

Woldetinsay G. Jiru, Mamilla R. Sankar and Uday S. Dixit

Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters in Preplaced

TiC Coating on Aluminium Substrate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chinmaya Kumar Sahoo, Jageshwar Kumar Sahu and Manoj Masanta

xi
xii Contents

Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding for Tool Steel Repair . . . 139
Santanu Paul, Ramesh Singh and Wenyi Yan

Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

James Jacob, P. Shanmugavelu, R. Balasubramaniam
and Ramesh K. Singh

Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments

on Manufacturing of Micro-channel on Mild Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Sanasam Sunderlal Singh, S.N. Joshi and Alika Khare

Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer

Laser Micromachining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Syed Nadeem Akhtar, Shashank Sharma and J. Ramkumar

Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA to Fabricate

Micro Channel for Microfluidic Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Rishi Kant, Ankur Gupta and S. Bhattacharya

Energy Based Analysis of Laser Microchanneling Process

on Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Shashi Prakash and Subrata Kumar

Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

A. Sen, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Josephine Peter, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite:

Experimental Study and Process Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
N. Roy, A.S. Kuar, S. Mitra and B. Acherjee

Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process

of Alumina Ceramics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
G. Kibria, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Rakesh Bhadra, Pankaj Biswas and M. Ravi Sankar

Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas Atmosphere:

An Experimental and Numerical Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Yadaiah Nirsanametla, Swarup Bag, C.P. Paul and L.M. Kukreja
Contents xiii

A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature Profile

of Laser Welded Ti-6Al-4V Alloy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Chandan Kumar, Manas Das and Pankaj Biswas

Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of Tungsten Carbide

and Cobalt Powder Sintering by Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Subrata Kumar Ghosh, Alok Kumar Das and Partha Saha

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

About the Editors

Dr. Shrikrishna N. Joshi has completed his doctoral studies in the area of
“Intelligent modeling and optimization of electric discharge machining process”
from IIT Bombay in the year 2009. Since then he is working as an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati. His
research interests are Micro-machining and Micro-bending using Lasers; Computer
aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM); Manufacturing process modeling
and optimization; and Mechatronics. He is guiding five Ph.D. students those who
are working on various research areas such as laser bending, laser induced plasma
micro-machining, thin-wall milling and single point diamond turning. Dr. Joshi has
about 25 papers published in international journals and conferences of national/
international reputes.
Dr. Uday Shanker Dixit obtained a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering
from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee) in
1987, an M.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Kanpur in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in
1998. A Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Guwahati, Dr. Dixit has published numerous papers and five books. He
has also edited a book on Metal Forming, guest-edited a number of special journal
issues, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Institution of Engineers Series C.

xv
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser
Bending Process

A. Eideh, Uday S. Dixit and Raghu Echempati

Abstract Laser bending is a process of bending a sheet by the irradiation of laser

beam on the surface of the sheet. A number of analytical and numerical methods
have been proposed for the estimation of bend angle. A brief review of these
methods is presented. A finite element analysis of laser bending process is carried
out with ABAQUS package for the purpose of understanding the physics of the
laser bending. Afterwards, a simple analytical model is developed to evaluate the
bending angle in laser bending of metal sheet. The model is based on the elastic-
plastic bending of sheet. It is ascertained from the experimental results available in
literature that the model provides reasonably good prediction of bend angle. It is
also shown that the model can be used for the quick estimation of yield stress of the
material during laser bending process.

Keywords Laser forming
Inverse problem
FEM
Elastic-plastic bending

1 Introduction

Laser forming is a thermo-mechanical process used to deform sheets by means of

thermal heating by a laser beam. The process is suitable for rapid prototyping and
deforming the low ductility materials. Since last two decades, several papers have
been published on laser forming process, amongst them straight line bending by
laser beam has been researched extensively. The researchers tried to understand the
physics of the process and produced various models for the prediction of bend angle.

A. Eideh
U.S. Dixit (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati, India
e-mail: uday@iitg.ac.in
R. Echempati
Kettering University, Flint, MI 48504, USA

© Springer India 2015 1

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_1
2 A. Eideh et al.

Some of these models are analytical and some are based on numerical methods like
finite element method (FEM).
Shen and Vollertsen (2009) reviewed the modeling of laser forming. There are
three prominent mechanism of laser bending. These are temperature gradient
mechanism (TGM), buckling mechanism (BM) and upsetting mechanism (UM).
The temperature gradient mechanism activates when laser beam diameter is of the
order of sheet metal thickness and scan speed is high. In buckling mechanism, the
beam diameter is relatively larger and scan speed is lower. In the upsetting
mechanism, the beam diameter is much smaller than the thickness of the sheet.
Vollertsen (1994) derived an expression for the bending angle for TGM. The
analytical expression is giving by
3ath Pg
ab ¼ ð1Þ
qcp vh2

where αb is the bending angle, αth is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the
work piece, P is the laser power, η is the absorption coefficient, ρ is the density, cp is
the specific heat capacity, v is the velocity and h is the sheet thickness. The
Vollertsen’s model does not include the effect of yield stress of material. Yau et al.
(1997) included this effect. In their model, the bending angle is giving by

21ath Pg 36lry
ab ¼  ð2Þ
2qcp vh2 hE

where l is the half length of heated zone, E is the Young’s modulus and σy is the
yield stress.
A mathematical model was developed by Kyrsanidi et al. (2000) who considered
non-uniform temperature distribution throughout the thickness of the plate due to
the developed plastic strains. This model, although computationally efficient,
requires programming and includes iterative steps. Cheng et al. (2006) proposed
analytical model for plate with varying thickness. The bending angle of the plate at
the location with h(x) thickness is


3f ðxÞp 4f 2 ðxÞ
ab ¼ bð1  m2 Þemax  ; ð3Þ
2h2 ðxÞ h3 ðxÞ

where
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
b ¼ c1 P=v; ð4Þ

and

f ¼ c2 P=ðvhÞ ð5Þ
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 3

Here v is scan speed, c1 and c2 are constants dependent on materials properties,

h(x) is the thickness of the sheet and ν is the Poisson’s ratio. In Eq. (3), εmax is the
maximum plastic strain at the heated surface given by

emax ¼ ath hmax  ry =E; ð6Þ

where θmax is the maximum temperature increase.

Shen et al. (2006) proposed analytical model based on the assumption that the
plastic deformation is generated only during heating, while during cooling the plate
undergoes only elastic deformation. According to them, the bending angle is giving
by
 
12kry 2ap r hap
ab ¼ 4bv þ ; ð7Þ
E hðh  ap Þ ðh  ap Þ2

where bv is the bending angle derived by Eq. (1), r is the laser beam radius, k is a
reduction coefficient to account for the variation of yield strength and Young’s
modulus of elasticity with temperature and ap is the characteristic length of plastic
zone. The constants k and ap need to be evaluated empirically. The model is valid
for TGM as well as BM.
Lambiase (2012) proposed expression for the bending angle based on assump-
tion of elastic-bending theory without taking into account plastic deformation
during heating and cooling phases. The bending angle is given by

3gPðh  h1 Þath
ab ¼ ; ð8Þ
qvcp hðh2  3hh1 þ 3h1 Þ

where h is sheet thickness and h1 is the thickness of heated volume, which is

invariably estimated empirically. Lambiase and Ilio (2013) developed a more rig-
orous analytical model to predict the deformation of thin sheets.
Several other analytical models have been proposed. Shi et al. (2007) provided a
model for estimating the bend angle in an in-plane axis perpendicular to the scan
direction. Vollertsen (1994) provided an expression for estimating the bend angle
during BM mechanism. Kraus (1997) provided a closed-form expression for esti-
mating the bend angle during upsetting mechanism.
Several FEM methods have also been proposed for laser forming (Chen et al.
1999; Kyrsanidi et al. 1999; Chen and Xu 2001; Hu et al. 2001). However, FEM
simulation takes several hours and is not suitable for online optimization and
control (Kyrsanidi et al. 2000). Some finite difference models have been proposed,
which also require a large computational time.
In the present work a simple analytical model based on the elastoplastic bending
of beams is proposed. This model takes into account the effect of the yield stress of
the material. The temperature is estimated by a series solution. The method is very
efficient and matches well with FEM simulations.
4 A. Eideh et al.

2 Modeling by ABAQUS

FEM simulations were carried out using ABAQUS package. 8-noded brick ele-
ments (DCC3D8) were used for the uniform mesh. The material properties of D36
shipbuilding steel were chosen based on the table provided in Dixit et al. (2012).
However, the properties were considered as temperature independent. A plate of
size 80 mm × 40 mm × 6 mm, laser power P = 1000 W, η = 0.3, scan veloc-
ity = 8 mm/s and laser beam radius r = 8 mm were chosen. The temperature
distribution is assumed to be Gaussian and the heat flux is given by


2gP x2 þ y2
q ¼ 2 exp 2 : ð9Þ
pr r2

The coefficient of thermal expansion is taken as constant and is equal to

12 ×10−6/°C and the room temperature is taken as 20 °C. In this work, FEM model
is developed for the prediction of bend angle of finite thickness plate, which is
heated by a moving heat source having a Gaussian distribution. Laser beam is
assumed to traverse along the width direction and it is sufficiently far away from the
edges in the length direction. A schematic diagram of this arrangement is shown in
Fig. 1. The sheet is clamped at the right edge parallel to scan direction, but the
clamping arrangement is not shown in the figure.
No external loads are applied on the sheet. The right edge of the sheet is fixed to
avoid the rigid body movements. The boundary condition of zero displacement at
the fully constrained right edge of metal plate is imposed. The plate is divided into
80 elements along the length side (y-direction) of the plate, 40 elements along the
width side (x-direction) of the plate and 6 elements through the thickness direction
of the plate. The total number of elements is 19,200. The decision was based on the
mesh sensitivity analysis.
Three FEM simulations were carried out with different values of yield stress to
show the effect of yield stress on the bend angle. The calculation time required for

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of

straight line bending process Laser
Power
(clamping of the sheet not
shown)

on
recti
x Di
y g
Bend Angle nnin
Sca

z
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 5

Table 1 Variation of bend

angle with yield stress Yield stress (MPa) Bend angle (°)
50 0.79
335 0.51
495 0.0

Fig. 2 Variation of
temperature with time on the
top and bottom surface of the
sheet and variation of bend
angle during heating and
cooling

the finite element analyses presented in this work is 6–7 h on a Pentium IV PC.
Table 1 shows the bend angle for three different values of yield stress.
It is observed that the yield stress has significant effect on the bend angle and
neglecting the effect of yield stress in an analytical model may not be appropriate.
The maximum temperature in the sheet was about 165 °C. Thus, the maximum
increase in the temperature is about 145 °C. If the locally heated material is suf-
ficiently constrained, the maximum thermal stress is 145αE = 145 ×
12 × 10−6 × 200 × 109 = 358 × 106 Pa. If the yield stress is more than 358 MPa, no
plastic deformation takes place and the bend angle should be zero. Table 1 also
shows that at a yield stress of 495 MPa, the bend angle is zero.
Figure 2 shows the variation of top and bottom surface temperatures with time
for a material with yield stress of 335 MPa. Initially, the temperature of both the
surfaces increases, which causes counter bending due to the temperature difference
in the temperatures of top and bottom surfaces. As the material underneath the laser
beam is surrounded by the cold material and the yield stress drops due to tem-
perature, there is some localized plastic deformation. After that cooling starts, and
both top and bottom surfaces contract. The relative contraction on the top surface is
more than that at bottom surface, causing the upward bending (towards laser beam
side). After a certain time, the temperature at bottom and top surfaces becomes
equal. There is a small decrease in the final bend angle, when the cooling beneath
the surface is going on, whilst the top surface has already cooled.
6 A. Eideh et al.

3 Model for the Prediction of Bending Angle

The model for the prediction of bending angle is based on the following
assumptions:
(1) During heating, the material beneath the laser beam undergoes plastic defor-
mation. No counter bending is assumed.
(2) During the cooling phase, the top surface contracts and the bottom surface
expands as both surfaces attain the average temperature.
(3) The strains during cooling are caused due to equivalent mechanical stresses.
If a surface cools by DT amount, it amounts to applying αthEDT compressive
stress to surface. The similar analogy can be given when the surface heats.
(4) The equivalent mechanical stresses cause elastoplastic bending and the bend
angle can be obtained by usual elastoplastic theory of bending described in
standard textbooks, e.g., Chakrabarty (2006).
The temperature is estimated by a model provided in Mishra and Dixit (2013).
The heat flux due to laser beam is assumed as Gaussian of the following form in
Mishra and Dixit (2013):
 
gP ð x2 þ y2 Þ
qðx; yÞ ¼ 2 exp  ð10Þ
pr r2

However, in the present work the heat flux is assumed to follow Eq. (9).
Accordingly the expressions are modified. For a heat source moving with velocity
u parallel to x-axis, the time to scan the sheet is denoted by t1. Temperature at a
point (x, y, z) at time t > t1 is given as
0
1
Zt1 2 f x  uðt  t 0 2
Þ g þy 2
gP 2
T  T1 ¼ exp@ A
pcp h 8aðt  t0 Þ þ r 2 8aðt  t0 Þ þ r 2
0
(
 )
X
n¼1
an2 p2 ðt  t0 Þ npz
 1þ2 exp  cos dt0 ; ð11Þ
n¼1
h2 h

where T is the temperature at time t at point (x, y, z), P is the laser power, η is the
absorptivity of the material, r is the laser beam radius at the surface of the material,
α is the thermal diffusivity and h is the thickness of the sheet. Temperature at time
t < t1 at a point (x, y, z) is given as
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 7

0
1
Zt 2 fx  uðt  t0 Þg2 þy2
gP 2
T  T1 ¼ exp@ A
pcp h 8aðt  t0 Þ þ r 2 8aðt  t0 Þ þ r 2
(
0
) ð12Þ
nX¼1

an2 p2 ðt  t0 Þ npz
 1þ2 exp  2
cos dt0 :
n¼1
h h

Figure 3 shows the typical variation of temperature along thickness direction of

the sheet. The average temperature can be calculated as
Rh
Tdz
Tav ¼ 0
: ð13Þ
h

Then, the equivalent longitudinal thermal stresses at any location along the
thickness is given as

rx ¼ ath EðTav  TÞ; ð14Þ

where αth is coefficient of thermal expansion and E is Young’s modulus of elasticity.

The moment resulting from thermal stresses is given as

Zh
M¼ rx zdz: ð15Þ
0

Figure 4 shows schematic diagram of plain strain bending of the sheet of

thickness h, where line corresponding to Tav is a neutral axis, c is the distance from

Fig. 3 Variation of
temperature along thickness
direction
8 A. Eideh et al.

Line corresponding to Tav

x s

h
c
(h-s)
z
Plastic
Elastic-Plastic boundary

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of plain strain bending

neutral axis to elastic plastic boundary, s is the distance from neutral axis to the top
surface of the sheet, (h − s) is the distance between neutral axis and elastic plastic
boundary. When c > s, the moment during elastic plastic bending is given in
Eq. (16).

Zs Zc Z
ðhsÞ
ry z21 ry z21 2ry z1
M¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffidz1 þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi dz1 þ pffiffiffi dz1 ; ð16Þ
c 1  m þ m2 c 1  m þ m2 3
0 0 c

where ν is the Poisson’s ratio. After simplification,

 i
2ry 1 3 1h
M ¼ pffiffiffi ðs þ c3 Þ þ ðh  sÞ2  c2 ; ð17Þ
3 3c 2

when c < s, then in both sides of the neutral axis, there are elastic as well as plastic
zones and the moment is given as

Zc Z
ðhsÞ Zs
ry z21 2ry z1 2ry z1
M¼2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi dz1 þ pffiffiffi dz1 þ pffiffiffi dz1 : ð18Þ
c 1  m þ m2 3 3
0 c c

After simplification,
 o c2 
2ry 1 n
M ¼ pffiffiffi ðh  sÞ2 þ s2  : ð19Þ
3 2 3

The value of M can be calculated from Eq. (15). Thereafter, c can be obtained
from Eq. (17) or Eq. (19) using bisection method. To begin with, it is assumed that
c > s and Eq. (17) is used to find out c. If c comes out to be less than s, then Eq. (19)
is used.
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 9

For the plane strain elastic bending, the longitudinal stress is given as (Cha-
krabarty 2006),

Ez1
rx 1 ¼ , ð20Þ
ð1  m2 ÞR

where R is the radius of curvature. Applying this equation at the elastoplastic

boundary and using von-Mises yield criterion

2ry Ec
pffiffiffi ¼ : ð21Þ
3 ð 1  m2 ÞR

When the yielding just begins on the bottom surface

2ry E ðh  sÞ
pffiffiffi ¼ ; ð22Þ
3 ð1  m2 ÞRe

where Re is the radius of curvature when the yielding just commences. From
Eqs. (21) and (22), the radius of curvature during elastic plastic bending is given as
c
R¼ Re ; ð23Þ
ðh  sÞ

where Re is given as
pffiffiffi
3E ð h  s Þ
Re ¼ ð24Þ
2ry ð1  m2 Þ

Hence, the final radius of the curvature during the elastic plastic bending is given
as
pffiffiffi
3Ec
R¼ : ð25Þ
2ry ð1  m2 Þ

Referring to Fig. 5, the bend angle is calculated as

d
h¼ ð26Þ
R

where d is the diameter of laser beam. Here, it is assumed that R is large compared
to the thickness of the sheet.
10 A. Eideh et al.

Fig. 5 Schematic representation of bend angle

4 Validation of Model

For validating the model, the analytical results have been compared with experi-
mental results for four different laser powers, reported by Kyrsanidi et al. (2000). In
all cases, the dimension of the sheet is equal to 300 mm × 150 mm × 6 mm, and it is
made of 1.0584 (D36) shipbuilding steel. The scanning velocity ranges between
0.03 and 1.4 m/min and the power between 1 and 3 kW. The laser beam diameter is
equal to 16 mm. The material properties are as follows: specific heat = 427 J/(kg °C),
thermal conductivity = 35.1 W/(m °C), density = 7860 kg/m3, absorption coefficient
of the material = 0.3, coefficient of thermal expansion 12 × 10−6 1/°C, Young’s
modulus = 200 GPa, Poisson ratio = 0.3. The values of yield stress are taken from
Dixit et al. (2012) based on the average temperature. Average temperature is taken
as the mean of maximum temperature and room temperature. Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5
compare the experimental and analytical results. Table 2 shows that at 1 kW laser
power, the bend angle prediction matches well with the experimental results except
at the highest and the lowest bend angle cases. Table 3 shows that at 1.5 kW per-
centage deviation between experimental and analytical results is less than 25 %.
Table 4 shows that for many scan speed, the predicted bend angles match very
closely with experimental bend angles. Table 5 also shows the similar results. The
large percentage deviation in many cases may be due to uncertainty in the coefficient
of absorption.

Table 2 Comparisons between present model and experimental data of Kyrsanidi et al. (2000) for
1 kW laser power
Scanning velocity Experimental bend angle Predicted bend angle % deviation
(m/min) (°) (°)
0.05 1.067 0.93 12.84
0.1 1.153 0.81 29.75
0.15 0.7 0.63 10
0.25 0.367 0.485 11.8
0.3 0.268 0.3 11.94
0.45 0.048 0.11 129.17
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 11

Table 3 Comparisons between present model and experimental data of Kyrsanidi et al. (2000) for
1.5 kW laser power
Scanning velocity Experimental bend angle Predicted bend angle % deviation
(m/min) (°) (°)
0.05 0.718 1.32 83.84
0.15 1.07 1.19 11.21
0.2 0.81 0.95 17.28
0.25 0.7 0.845 20.76
0.3 0.48 0.59 22.92
0.45 0.258 0.319 23.64
0.6 0.124 0.23 85.48
0.75 0.105 0.16 52.38

Table 4 Comparisons between present model and experimental data of Kyrsanidi et al. (2000) for
2 kW laser power
Scanning velocity Experimental bend angle Predicted bend angle % deviation
(m/min) (°) (°)
0.1 1.1 1.17 6.3
0.15 1.15 1.08 6.1
0.3 0.96 0.9 6.25
0.35 0.75 0.84 12
0.5 0.34 0.47 38.23
0.65 0.21 0.33 57.14
0.8 0.2 0.25 25

Table 5 Comparisons between present model and experimental data of Kyrsanidi et al. (2000) for
3 kW laser power
Scanning velocity Experimental bend angle (°) Predicted bend angle % deviation
(m/min) (°)
0.1 0.81 1.62 98.76
0.15 1.48 1.54 4.05
0.3 1.24 1.31 5.65
0.45 0.88 0.95 7.95
0.6 0.66 0.74 12.12
0.9 0.11 0.31 181.8
1.2 0.28 0.22 21.42

To further validate the proposed model, the present analytical solution is com-
pared with the experimental results from Shen et al. (2006). Here, the line energy
(LE) which is defined as LE = P/v applied to heated surface is constant. The
material properties are as follows: Young’s modulus = 210 GPa, yield
stress = 275 MPa, mass density = 7860 kg/m3, specific heat = 427 J/(kg °C),
12 A. Eideh et al.

Table 6 Comparisons between present model and Shen et al. (2006) model
Power (W) Scan velocity Experimental Predicted bend % deviation
(mm/s) bend angle (°) angle (°)
800 40 0.41 0.463 12.93
1000 50 0.47 0.542 15.32
1300 65 0.49 0.58 18.37

thermal conductivity = 35.1 W/(m °C). The absorption coefficient = 0.8. The sheet
size is 80 mm × 80 mm × 2.3 mm. The diameter of laser beam is 4 mm and
LE = 20 J/mm. The scan velocity is varied between 40 and 65 mm/s. Table 6 shows
comparisons between proposed model and experimental results for three different
values of laser power and scan velocity. It shows that the results predicted by the
proposed model are in good agreement with the experimental values reported by
Shen et al. (2006).
Further, the proposed model is compared with experimental data in Lambiase
(2012). The dimension of the sheet is 80 mm × 40 mm × 2 mm, which is made of
AISI 304 stainless steel. A diode laser with a maximum power of 1.5 kW, over a
minimum spot size of 3.6 mm × 0.8 mm is used in the experiment. In the proposed
model it is considered that the laser beam is circular and equal in area to the spot area.
Consequently the equivalent diameter of laser beam is 1.91 mm. The scanning speed
is varied between 15 and 50 mm/s. The material properties required for the model are
as follows: specific heat = 500 J/(kg °C), thermal conductivity = 19 W/(m °C),
density = 7850 kg/m3, absorption coefficient of the material = 0.42, coefficient of
thermal expansion 17 × 10−6 1/°C, Young’s modulus 210 GPa, Poisson ratio 0.3 and
yield stress = 215 MPa. Four cases have been compared at different values of laser
power and scan velocity. Laser power is 370, 420, 475 and 550 W respectively with
variation of scan speed in range 15–50 mm/s for four cases. Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10
show comparison between proposed model and experimental results in Lambiase
(2012). In all cases, the agreement between predicted and experimental bend angle is
good, although in some cases the error is more than 30 %.

Table 7 Comparisons between present model of first case (370 W) and Lambiase (2012)
Scanning velocity Experimental Predicted bend % deviation
(mm/s) bend angle (°) angle (°)
15 0.95 1.16 22.1
30 0.54 0.63 16.67
40 0.31 0.42 35.48
50 0.23 0.3 30.43
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 13

Table 8 Comparisons between present model of second case (420 W) and Lambiase (2012)
Scanning velocity Experimental Predicted bend % deviation
(mm/s) bend angle (°) angle (°)
15 1.18 1.32 11.86
30 0.63 0.75 19.05
40 0.44 0.51 15.9
50 0.38 0.44 15.79

Table 9 Comparisons between present model of third case (475 W) and Lambiase (2012)
Scanning velocity Experimental Predicted bend % deviation
(mm/s) bend angle (°) angle (°)
15 1.36 1.51 11.02
30 0.73 0.81 10.96
40 0.52 0.64 23.07
50 0.44 0.52 18.18

Table 10 Comparisons between present model of fourth case (550 W) and Lambiase (2012)
Scanning velocity Experimental Predicted bend % deviation
(mm/s) bend angle (°) angle (°)
15 1.54 1.72 11.68
30 0.94 1.02 8.51
40 0.83 0.77 7.23
50 0.5 0.61 22

5 Estimation of Yield Stress by Inverse Analysis

and Model Updating

With the model presented in this work, the yield stress can be estimated in an
inverse manner to match the experimental results. The bisection method can be used
to find out the proper value of σy, that produces very small error between the model
predicted and experimental bend angle. Table 11 uses the data of Kyrsanidi et al.
(2000). It is observed that inverse estimated yield stress is slightly different from the

Table 11 Inverse estimation of yield stress

Power (kW) Yield stress (MPa)
Used in direct model Predicted by inverse analysis
3 287.35 296.25
3 319.9 326.25
3 344.7 336.25
2 359.54 374.75
14 A. Eideh et al.

yield stress values used in direct model. This difference is not more than ±5 %.
In fact this much uncertainty is always present in yield stress of any typical
material. Thus, the proposed model can be used for the quick estimation of yield
stress of the sheet material.

6 Conclusion

In this work a simple analytical model has been developed for estimating bend
angle during laser forming of the sheet based on elastic-plastic theory. This model
has been compared with some experimental results. A good agreement is obtained
between experimental and predicted results. Although in some cases, the error
between predicted and experimental results seems to be high, but as per the review
paper of Shen and Vollertsen (2009) the average model prediction error by the best
available analytical model is about 40 % and generally the error is always more than
20 %. Considering this, the present model provides a very good estimate and is
fairly simple. The model can also be used for the quick estimate of yield stress.

References

Chakrabarty, J. (2006). Theory of plasticity (3rd ed.). Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Chen, G., & Xu, X. (2001). Experimental and 3D finite element studies of CW laser forming of
thin stainless steel sheets. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 123, 66–73.
Chen, G., Xu, X., Poon, C. C., & Tam, A. C. (1999). Experimental and numerical studies on
microscale bending of stainless steel with pulsed laser. Transaction of the ASME Journal of
Applied Mechanics, 66, 772–779.
Cheng, P., Fan, Y., Zhang, J., Mika, D. P., Zhang, W., Graham, M., et al. (2006). Laser forming of
varying thickness plate-part1: Process analysis. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and
Engineering, 128, 634–641.
Dixit, U. S., Joshi, S. N. & Kumar, V. H. (2012). Microbending with laser. In V. K. Jain (Ed.),
Micromanufacturing processes. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.
Hu, Z., Labudovic, M., Wang, H., & Kovacevic, R. (2001). Computer simulation and experimental
investigation of sheet metal bending using laser beam scanning. International Journal of
Machine Tools and Manufacture, 41, 589–607.
Kraus, J. (1997). Basic processes in laser bending of extrusions using the upsetting mechanism.
Laser Assisted Net shape Engineering 2, Proceeding of the LANE, 2, 431–438.
Kyrsanidi, A. K., Kermanidis, T. B., & Pantelakis, S. G. (1999). Numerical and experimental
investigation of the laser forming process. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 87,
281–290.
Kyrsanidi, A. K., Kermanidis, T. B., & Pantelakis, S. G. (2000). An analytical model for the
predictions of distortions caused by laser forming process. Journal of Materials Processing
Technology, 104, 94–102.
Lambiase, F. (2012). An analytical model for evaluation of bending angle in laser forming of metal
sheets. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 21, 2044–2052.
A Simple Analytical Model of Laser Bending Process 15

Lambiase, F., & Ilio, A. D. (2013). A closed-form solution for thermal and deformation fields in
laser bending process of different materials. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology, doi:10.1007/s00170-013-5084-9.
Mishra, A., & Dixit, U. S. (2013). Determination of thermal diffusivity of the material, absorptivity
of the material and laser beam radius during laser forming by inverse heat transfer. Journal of
Machining and Forming Technology, 5, 208–226.
Shen, H., Shi, Y., Yao, Z., & Hu, J. (2006a). An analytical model for estimating deformation in
laser forming. Computational Materials Science, 37, 593–598.
Shen, H., & Vollertsen, F. (2009). Modeling of laser forming—A review. Computational Material
Science, 46, 834–840.
Shen, H., Yao, Z., Shi, Y., & Hu, J. (2006b). An analytical formula for estimating the bending
angle by laser forming. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering, Part C:
Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 220, 243–247.
Shi, Y., Shen, H., Yao, Z., & Hu, J. (2007). Temperature gradient mechanism in laser forming of
thin plates. Optics & Laser Technology, 39, 858–863.
Vollertsen, F. (1994). An analytical model for laser bending. Laser in Engineering, 2, 261–276.
Yau, C. L., Chan, K. C. & Lee, W. B. (1997). A new analytical model for laser bending. In M.
Geiger & F. Vollertsen (Eds.), Laser assisted net shape engineering (Vol. 2, pp. 357–366),
Proceedings of the LANE’97. Meisenbach, Bamberg.
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets Using
Different Surface Coatings

Sachin S. Gautam, Sunil K. Singh and Uday S. Dixit

Abstract Laser forming is a comparatively recent technique which has been

developed to shape metal components. It has also been applied to the forming of
composite materials. In this process, thermal stresses are produced in the sheet
metal by irradiating the surface of the sheet using a controlled defocused laser
beam. This causes the sheet to bend, usually, towards the side of the sheet which is
exposed to laser irradiation. The laser beam power, scan speed, beam size, and
number of laser passes determine the shape of the final product. Laser forming is
different when compared to the traditional forming techniques like bending,
drawing, pressing, stamping, etc. in the sense that it is a non-contact technique.
Hence, the advantage of the laser forming process for a small batch of components
is its flexibility and reduction in cost and time. Research to-date on laser forming
has been done theoretically, experimentally, and numerically. Effect of almost all
the parameters—geometric, material and energy—affecting the shape of final
product have been studied at length. Some experimental studies have been carried
out using surface coating like graphite on the face of the sheet where the laser is
passed. However, there are limited studies on the effect of different surface coatings
on laser forming of sheets. Hence, the objective of the present work is to investigate
the effect of different surface coatings on the laser forming of metal sheets. In the
present work, mild steel is selected as the work material. Two different coatings,
viz., commercial lime and cement are selected. First, the effect of the coatings is
studied on simple line bending operation. The experiments are carried out at dif-
ferent values of laser power and laser scan speed for each coating. The results are
compared with the results obtained from line bending of uncoated specimen. It is
found that the cement coating performs better than the lime coating. Next, the effect

S.S. Gautam (&)
S.K. Singh
U.S. Dixit

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: ssg@iitg.ernet.in
S.K. Singh
e-mail: sunil.singh@iitg.ernet.in
U.S. Dixit
e-mail: uday@iitg.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 17

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_2
18 S.S. Gautam et al.

of coatings is investigated on laser forming of complex shapes like dome and bowl
shaped surfaces. For each coating the experiments are carried out at different values
of laser power. It is found that the cement coated specimens can undergo more
deformation than the lime coated specimens.

Keywords Laser forming
Surface coatings
Lime coating
Cement coating

Dome shaped surfaces

1 Introduction

1.1 What Is “Laser”?

The word “laser” is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of

radiation”. Radiation refers to “electromagnetic radiation” of which light is a special
case. Laser light is different from the ordinary light because it has photons of same
frequency, same wavelength and phase. While ordinary light is multidirectional a
laser beam is highly unidirectional. Hence, laser has high power density and better
focusing characteristics. The output of the laser can be continuous or pulsed.
Continuous means that the power output is constant whereas it is not in the case of
pulsed. An overview of the short pulsed laser is given in Table 1 (Meijer 2004).
Lasers are classified in different types depending on the type of lasing medium
employed. The lasing medium can be solid, gas, liquid, semiconductor. Some of the
examples are as follows:
(a) Solid-state lasers where the lasing material is distributed in a solid matrix such
as the ruby and Nd: Yag (neodymium doped yttrium–aluminium garnet) lasers.
(b) Gas lasers (argon and helium-neon) have a primary output in the visible red
light. CO2 lasers emit energy in the far-infrared, and are used for cutting hard
materials.
(c) Excimer lasers use reactive gases (e.g., chlorine and fluorine) mixed with inert
gases (e.g., argon, krypton, or xenon).
(d) Dye lasers use organic dyes (e.g., rhodamine 6G) in liquid solution as lasing
media, and
(e) Semiconductor lasers (also called diode lasers) are different from solid-state
lasers. They use low power and are small in size. They find application in laser
printers/CD players.
The CO2 laser is one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed (invented by an
Indian named Dr. C.K.N. Patel of Bell Labs in 1964). It is also one of the highest
power continuous wave lasers and the most useful. It is also very efficient: the ratio
of output power to pump power can be as large as 20 %. As shown in Table 1 the
CO2 laser produces a beam of infrared light with the wavelength bands centering
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 19

Table 1 Overview of short pulsed lasers

Laser type Wavelength (nm) Pulse length Frequency (kHz)
CO2 9400–10,600 200 µs 5
Nd: YAG 1060, 532, 355, 266 100, 10 ns 50
Excimer 193–351 20 ns 0.1–1
Copper vapor 611–578 30 ns 4–20
Ti sapphire 775 111 fs 1–250
With permission from Meijer (2004). Copyright (2004) Elsevier

around 9.4 and 10.6 µm. The active lasing medium (laser gain/amplification
medium) is a gas discharge which is air-cooled (water-cooled in higher power
applications). The filling gas within the discharge tube consists primarily of:
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 20–35 %), Nitrogen (N2) (around 10–20 %),
Hydrogen (H2) and/or xenon (Xe) (a few percent; usually only used in a sealed
tube.), and Helium (He) (which forms the remainder of the gas mixture). The
specific proportions vary according to the particular laser. Because of the high
power levels available combined with reasonable cost for the laser, CO2 lasers are
frequently used in material processing applications like cutting and welding, sur-
gical applications (as water absorbs this frequency of light very well) like laser
surgery, skin resurfacing, treatment of skin conditions, construction of microfluidic
devices, military range finding using LIDAR techniques, enriching uranium using
Silex process etc. In the present work, CO2 laser (Model: Orion, Make: LVD) is
used for all the studies.

1.2 Forming Process

Forming process is a process that changes the shape of the material by producing
plastic deformation. This is carried out by applying compressive stress or tensile
stress or shear stress or combination of stresses on the material. There is no removal
of material in this process. The material is only deformed in this process. Forming
processes may be of different types, for example: compressive forming, tensile
forming, bending (combined tensile and compressive forming), shearing (combined
tensile and compressive forming).

1.3 Manufacturing Through Lasers

Laser in manufacturing is further classified into two main categories namely

(a) laser forming and,
(b) laser assisted forming.
20 S.S. Gautam et al.

In laser forming, the final shape of the part is obtained by the exclusive use of the
laser technology, eliminating other operations of the traditional forming. On the
other hand laser assisted forming combines the features of both the laser forming
and the traditional forming operations.

2 Laser Forming

Traditionally, machining and metal forming are two prominent methods of making
a finished product from raw material. Machining is a process in which material is
removed in the form of chips by means of a tool in machines like lathe, shaper etc.
Some of the examples of machining process are cutting, shaping, milling, etc. On
the other hand, in metal forming finished product is obtained by inducing plastic
deformation in the material. During this process no material is removed. However,
some material is removed during finishing operation to obtain the final product.
Some of the examples of forming process are deep drawing, bending, spinning, etc.
Metal forming can again be classified into two process namely bulk metal forming
and sheet metal forming. In bulk metal forming process the work piece has a high
volume to surface area ratio. Examples are rolling, extrusion, wire drawing, forging,
etc. In sheet metal forming the work piece has a low volume to surface ratio. The
deformation in the thickness direction is not desirable. Some of the examples of
sheet metal forming process are deep drawing, stretch forming, bending, spinning,
etc. Despite having low process time, accurate results are difficult to obtain through
these conventional techniques (Dixit and Dixit 2008).
Laser forming is one of the newer forms of unconventional form of shaping a
metallic or a non-metallic material. In this process, work piece, usually in the form
of sheets, is deformed into a desired shape by irradiating the surface using high
powered laser beam. This leads to development of thermal stresses especially near
the heated area. The work piece expands and when it is restrained by the sur-
rounding material localized plastic deformation takes place. On cooling, the
bending takes place towards the laser beam. The desired shape of the work piece is
achieved by controlled plastic and elastic deformation. Figure 1 shows the sche-
matic diagram of the laser forming process. Laser forming is different when
compared to the traditional forming techniques like drawing, stamping, pressing,
etc. in the sense that it is a non-contact technique. Also, it is a highly flexible and
low-volume manufacturing process.
Laser forming can also be used for cutting, welding, and drilling operation by
changing the processing parameters. It is used to deform sheets of various metals
e.g., stainless steels, aluminium alloys, magnesium alloys etc., which have high
coefficient of thermal expansion. Also, many hard and brittle materials, such as
titanium and nickel alloys, ceramics, glass, semiconductors, etc. also can be formed
with little distortion or degradation.
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 21

Fig. 1 Schematic view of a

straight line bending of a flat
metal sheet by a defocused Width (b)
laser beam
Beam diameter (d)

Scan Path
Bend Angle

Thickness (t)

2.1 Parameters Affecting Laser Forming

In laser forming, the shape and the position of the zone, intended to be deformed
into desired shape, is determined by a number of parameters which can broadly be
divided into three groups- energy parameters, material parameters, and work piece
related parameters. Next, each group is discussed in more detail.
(a) Energy based parameters: These parameters are directly related to the laser
being used to form the product. The forming process is affected by the laser
power, scanning speed (or the feed rate), geometry and size of laser beam,
number of passes, absorption coefficient of the material, cooling conditions etc.
(b) Material parameters: The material properties of the material being formed
have a direct influence on the forming process. Some of these are Young’s
modulus, Poisson’s ratio, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal conductivity
and heat capacity.
(c) Work piece related parameters: The geometric parameters of the sheet being
formed also affect forming. This includes the sheet thickness, length and width.
The sheet thickness is considered the most important geometric parameter
(Singh 2013) in forming process.

2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Laser Forming

Laser forming process induces thermal stresses in the material using high powered
laser beam without making any physical contact. Hence, the laser forming tech-
nique has the following advantages over the conventional metal forming processes.
22 S.S. Gautam et al.

(a) The lead time, i.e., the time required to design a product before it is actually
manufactured is eliminated as conventional tools like die and punch, hammer,
mallet etc. are not required.
(b) The cost of the forming process is greatly reduced because no tool or external
forces are involved in the process.
(c) It is good for small batches and for a variety of sheet metal components.
(d) Quality of the product is improved by this process. Accurate deformations and
patterns can be achieved because there is no spring-back effect.
(e) Even unreachable areas of a complex shaped work piece can be given the
desired shape because of the non-contacting nature of the process.
(f) Laser bending is suitable for materials which are difficult to form by
mechanical approaches. Processing of brittle, hard, and heavy materials such as
titanium alloy, nickel alloy, ceramics, etc. can be carried out at hot condition.
(g) By applying specific irradiation patterns, a metal sheet can be formed into
complex curved shapes like dish, screw, cone, saddle etc.
(h) It can be used for the forming of the laser parts at micro scale. Such a forming
is called micro forming (µforming).
(i) Laser forming can be used for automated production as it is easy to control the
process parameters.
Although laser forming has the aforementioned advantages, it does suffer from
certain drawbacks which are discussed below.
(a) The laser forming process is a slow process compared to mechanical process.
(b) This process is energy consuming because of the low energy conversion factor
of the laser source.
(c) Protective gears must be worn by the personnel and safety measures must be
followed strictly because the reflection of the laser beam in all directions from
the metal surface may cause damage.

3 Literature Review of Some Recent Work

Application of laser forming in the field of manufacturing specially forming is

relatively new. One of the first references to the use of laser as the heat source for
bending was in the work of Scully (1987). Further details and references on the
laser forming process and process mechanisms can be found in Steen and
Mazumder (2010) and references cited therein. A recent review on modelling of
laser forming has been presented by Shen and Vollersten (2009) and some recent
developments applicable to macro and micro laser forming have been discussed by
Dearden and Edwardson (2003). In the present work, a brief overview of literature
on laser forming specifically using some form of coating on the material surface
during the laser bending process is presented.
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 23

Barletta et al. (2006) defined and investigated a new hybrid forming process
consisting of a fluidized bed pre-treatment to coat with Al2O3 and pre-curve
aluminium thin sheets and subsequently diode laser forming to perform the proper
line bending of fluidized bed pre-treated sheets. A comparison with the diode laser
forming of untreated aluminium thin sheets was carried out. Their experimental
results showed that the bending angles up to 45° could be achieved on Al2O3 coated
aluminium thin sheets employing output power in the range of 150–250 W. The
uncoated specimens exhibited maximum bending angles of 25° employing output
power of about 400 W. Recently, Roohi et al. (2012) studied the effect of external
forces assisting the laser bending—known as “External Force Assisted Forming
Process”. They used anodised and graphite coated 5 mm thick Al-5005 alloy. It was
found that the bending angle increased by about 30 %, in laser assisted bending in
comparison to laser bending at the same values of the parameters. A numerical
simulation using ABAQUS package was also performed which found that the
equivalent plastic strain in laser forming process increases in a step wise manner
with increasing the number of scanning passes. Griffiths et al. (2010) employed
finite element modelling to ascertain the quantitative contribution of various process
parameters such as thermal, geometrical and coefficient of absorption towards the
variation in the bend angle per pass with multiple irradiations. They found that the
thermal parameters have lesser influence than the geometrical parameters and
coefficient of absorption. Burning-off of the graphite coating due to continued
irradiation affects the achievement of bend angle significantly. The effect of dif-
ferent coatings, viz., lime, graphite and grease, was studied by Singh (2013). He
studied the effect of coatings on the absorption of CO2 laser beam in line bending of
mild steel sheets. The bend quality was compared with mechanically bent sheets.
It was observed that all the coatings increased the coefficient of absorption. More
than 100 % increase in the coefficient of absorption for the case of graphite coated
sheets was observed. The increase for lime coated sheets was found to be in the
range of 400–1500 %.

4 The Objective of the Present Work

Based on the review of some recent work in Sect. 3, it can be seen that the use of
coatings in laser forming process is very important. Use of coatings increases the
coefficient of absorption of laser, which in turn causes greater deformation. Singh
(2013) studied the effect of coatings on line bending. However, it is felt that there is
need to study the effect of coatings further using some more coatings. Also, the
effect of coatings needs to be studied for more complex shapes. The present work,
thus, extends the work of Singh (2013) and explores these aspects further. The
specific objectives of this work are
(a) to study the effect of different coatings on the line bending of mild steel sheets
at various levels of laser power, and scan speeds,
24 S.S. Gautam et al.

(b) to identify a suitable coating, which leads to maximum bending angle, and
(c) to study the effect of the coating identified in (b) on the forming of complex
shapes like bowl and dome.

5 Experimental Details

In the present work, commercially available mild steel is used for all the studies. All
the specimens have the thickness of 2 mm. First, tensile tests are carried out. For
this flat tensile test specimens are prepared along the three different directions of the
sheet namely 0°, 45°, and 90° respectively. In each direction three specimens were
prepared. Figure 2 shows the different tensile test specimens, and tensile test
setup. Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the stress-strain curves for the tensile test specimens
in three different directions. From the experimental results, the yield strength,
ultimate strength, and fracture strength of the mild steel used in the current work
was found to be 274 MPa (standard deviation: 9.21 MPa), 383 MPa (standard
deviation: 5.74 MPa), 305 MPa (standard deviation: 30.54 MPa) respectively.
The specimens used for the experimental work were cut by a CNC 2.5 kW CO2
laser cutting machine (Model: Orion 3015, Make: LVD). They were cleaned with
acetone to remove any foreign particle from the surface. The same laser machine
was used to impinge laser beam on the specimen surface. Figure 6 shows the
photograph of the experimental setup used in the present work with different parts
labelled. A circular laser beam of 3 mm diameter with a stand-off distance of 30 mm
was used in Gaussian mode. Various levels of laser power and scanning speed were
used in the experiments. The specific values are mentioned in respective sections.
As mentioned in the previous section, application of surface coating during laser
forming leads to increase in the coefficient of absorption. This results in more
deformation when compared to uncoated specimens. Singh (2013) found that lime

Fig. 2 Tensile test: a specimens, b setup, and c close up view of the setup
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 25

Fig. 3 Stress–strain curves

for mild steel sheet along 0°
direction for three different
specimens

Fig. 4 Stress–strain curves

for mild steel sheet along 45°
direction for three different
specimens

Fig. 5 Stress–strain curves

for mild steel sheet along 90°
direction for three different
specimens
26 S.S. Gautam et al.

Fig. 6 A photograph of the

experimental setup

coating performed better than the graphite and grease coatings. Hence, in this work,
graphite and grease coatings are not considered. For the present study, lime coating is
considered along with commercially available cement. Lime coating was prepared
using following procedure. Commercially available lime (CaO) was put in a beaker
and 100 ml water was added slowly. It is well known that when lime is mixed with
water, it forms calcium hydroxide, which is also called slaked lime. The temperature
of the mixture rises considerably on addition of water. In the meantime, the mixture is
stirred well to ensure a homogeneous mix. Then, the mixture is kept for about one
hour after which the lime precipitates at the bottom leaving some water at top.
The water is then gently removed. The mixture which remains later is used as a
coating. The cement coating is prepared in a similar manner. The amount of heat
released is considerably lower when preparing cement coating.
The coatings are applied manually using a brush uniformly on the mild steel
specimens. About 0.2 mm thick coating is applied in the middle of all the speci-
mens. After applying the coating, the samples are dried to remove the moisture,
although it has already been reported by Singh (2013) that moisture does not affect
the performance of the coatings. Some experiments were also conducted by mixing
sand particles with both lime and cement coatings. However, no substantial changes
were observed and hence the results are not reported.

6 Effect of Surface Coatings on Energy Absorption

First, the effect of surface coatings on energy absorption is studied. Mild steel
samples of size 50 mm × 50 mm and thickness 2 mm are prepared. An infrared
pyrometer (Make: Raytek) is placed at a distance of 2 mm from the bottom surface
of the specimen at a point directly beneath the midpoint to measure the temperature
at that point. The output cable from the pyrometer is directly connected to a
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 27

computer where DATATEMP software records the temperature as a function of

time. For each data point the experiment is repeated three times. Number of passes
is taken as 10.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the variation of maximum temperature of the bottom
surface of the sheet for first three passes at three different values of laser power and
laser scan speed. As expected, the temperature rises with increasing the laser power
and decreases with increase in scan speed. The error bar shows significant deviation
at higher value of laser power. One of the reasons may be due to the non-uniformity
of the sheet thickness over different specimens. The repeatability is better at the
lower values of laser power.
Figures 10, 11 and 12 show the effect of hydrated lime coating on the maximum
temperature at the bottom surface of the specimen for first three passes at three
different values of laser power and laser scan speed. As in the case of uncoated

Fig. 7 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for uncoated sheet
at different laser powers for
first pass

Fig. 8 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for uncoated sheet
at different laser powers for
second pass
28 S.S. Gautam et al.

Fig. 9 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for uncoated sheet
at different laser powers for
third pass

Fig. 10 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for first pass

Fig. 11 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for second pass
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 29

Fig. 12 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for third pass

sheet, the temperature increases with increasing laser power and decreases with
increasing scan speed. As compared with the uncoated specimens it can be clearly
seen that the maximum temperature for a given laser power and scan speed is higher
especially for 200 and 300 W case.
Figures 13, 14 and 15 show the effect of cement coating on the maximum
temperature at the bottom surface of the specimen for first three passes at three
different values of laser power and laser scan speed. It can be clearly seen that for
any given laser power and scan speed the maximum temperature is higher as
compared to the uncoated and lime coated specimens. This is because unlike the
lime coating which wears off after second pass the cement coating wears off slowly.
Again, the maximum temperature increases with increase in laser power and
decreases with increase in scan speed.

Fig. 13 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for first pass
30 S.S. Gautam et al.

Fig. 14 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for second pass

Fig. 15 Variation of
maximum temperature with
scan speed for lime coated
sheet at different laser powers
for third pass

7 Effect of Different Coatings on Line Bending of Mild Steel

Sheets

Next, the effect of different coatings on simple line bending of mild steel sheets is
investigated. For this study, mild steel sheet specimens of size 150 mm ×
100 mm × 2 mm were made. The specimens were cut by the 2.5 kW CO2 laser
cutting machine (Model: Orion 3015, Make: LVD) and were cleaned in acetone.
The specimens were held as a cantilever beam along the 100 mm edge and built-in
length was 10 mm. For each data point the experiment was repeated three times.
Laser beam diameter was kept constant at 6 mm. Laser beam path was 100 mm
from the fixed end and along 100 mm width.
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 31

Fig. 16 Variation of bending

angle with laser power for
uncoated specimens for three
different scan speeds after 10
passes

Figures 16, 17 and 18 show the variation of bending angle with laser power for
uncoated, lime coated, and cement coated specimens respectively. It can be seen
that for all the coatings the bending angle increases with increasing the laser power
and decreasing the scan speed. It can be clearly seen from the figures that for a
given laser power and scan speed the bending angle for the cement coated specimen
is more as compared to uncoated and lime coated specimens.
Figures 19, 20 and 21 show the line bent specimens for uncoated, lime coated,
and cement coated specimens respectively at 300 W laser power, 5 mm/s scan
speed, and total of 10 passes.
To summarize, first, the effect of lime and cement coatings is studied for
absorption. It is found that the use of coatings leads to increase in absorption which
is evident by increase in the temperature measured at the bottom surface of a
specimen. Also, it is found that the temperature measured at the bottom surface of a
specimen is the highest for the cement coated specimen for all values of laser power

Fig. 17 Variation of bending

angle with laser power for
lime coated specimens for
three different scan speeds
after 10 passes
32 S.S. Gautam et al.

Fig. 18 Variation of bending angle with laser power for cement coated specimens for three
different scan speeds after 10 passes

Fig. 19 Uncoated line bent specimen (power: 300 W, scan speed: 5 mm/s, number of passes: 10)

Fig. 20 Lime coated line bent specimen (power: 300 W, scan speed: 5 mm/s, number of passes: 10)

Fig. 21 Cement coated line bent specimen (power: 300 W, scan speed: 5 mm/s, number of
passes: 10)
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 33

and scan speeds. Then, the effect of lime and cement coatings is studied on a simple
line bending operation. Again, it is observed that the cement coated specimens
show higher values of bending angles as compared to lime coated and uncoated
specimens. Hence, the conclusions are: (a) use of surface coatings leads to increase
in the absorption, and (b) cement coating performs better than the lime coating.

8 Effect of Surface Coatings on Generation of Complex

Shaped Surfaces

In the previous section, the effect of different coatings was studied on simple line
bending operation. It was found that the use of coatings, in general, leads to
increase in the absorption. Also, cement coating was found to be better than the
lime coating. Laser forming a three dimensional shape from metal sheets requires
multiple irradiation strategy i.e., passing the laser along different paths. The present
section presents the effect of cement coating on laser forming of three dimensional
shaped surfaces viz., dome and bowl. First, the effect of cement coating is studied
on forming of dome shaped surface and then on bowl shaped surface.

8.1 Dome Shaped Surfaces

Maji et al. (2014) investigated the forming of dome shaped surface under tem-
perature gradient mechanism. In the present section, we study the effect of cement
coating on forming of dome shaped surface from a square metal sheet. Again, a
CNC controlled 2.5 kW CO2 laser machine (Model: Orion, Make LVD) is used to
impinge the laser beam on the surface. Circular laser beam of 3 mm diameter at a
stand-off distance of 30 mm is used in Gaussian mode. Four levels of laser power—
200, 300, 400, and 500 W—are used. Mild steel sheet specimens of dimension
120 mm × 120 mm × 2 mm were cut from a large sheet using laser cutting. The
specimens were cleaned in acetone to remove any unwanted dirt and grease before
they are used as work piece in the experiments. The work piece was kept freely on a
flat surface on the workbench of the laser machine. The total number of laser pass is
kept at one and scan speed chosen is 5 mm/s.
As stated earlier, forming of complex 3D shaped surfaces requires multiple
irradiation strategies. Hennige (2000) has described various scanning strategies
using both simple and curved laser scan paths for laser forming of dome shaped
surface from flat sheet metals. He also investigated the forming behaviour of sheet
metal in case of simple and curved scan paths. The differences were identified and
explained. Also, some finite element analysis results for curved laser forming were
presented for better understating of the 3D laser forming process. Kim and Na
(2009) proposed two methods, distance-based and angle-based, to generate an
irradiation strategy and to form angles at each irradiation path.
34 S.S. Gautam et al.

In the present work, the irradiation strategy mentioned in Yang et al. (2010) is
adopted. Figure 22 shows the schematic of the laser scan strategy used in the
present work. This scan strategy involves two types of laser scans i.e., diagonal and
axial which are used alternatively. The scan starts at the point marked ‘Start’ and
moves diagonally to point 2 as shown in the Fig. 2. Then, the laser is moved from
point 2 to point 3 axially downwards and then moved diagonally to point 4 fol-
lowed by axial scan to point 5 followed by diagonal scan to 6 and so on until the
laser reaches the point 9 which also happens to be the starting point. From there the
laser is moved to point 10 and the previous steps are repeated until the laser reaches
the center of the sheet. In the present work, the scan strategy was first drawn in
AUTOCAD software from which the CNC code was generated using CADMAN-
PL software. A total of three diagonal and three axial scan per quadrant of the sheet
were used.
Figure 23 shows the dome height measured at the center of the dome with
different laser power for both the uncoated and cement coated specimens. All the
heights were measured using coordinate measuring machine. It can be seen that the
cement coated specimens have higher deformation level. However, the difference is
not significant except at 400 W laser power. One of the possible reason is that only
one pass has been used. It would be interesting to see the effect of multiple irra-
diations and the investigation is left for future work. The final shape of the spec-
imens is shown in Fig. 24 for both uncoated and cement coated case. The scan lines
can be clearly seen. The front view of the dome is shown in Fig. 25 where the red
lines show the dome height.

Fig. 22 Laser irradiation

strategy proposed by Yang
et al. (2010) is considered in
the present experimental work
for forming dome shaped
surface
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 35

Fig. 23 Height of dome at the center for different values of laser power for uncoated and cement
coated specimens. For each data point three specimens were tested

Fig. 24 Dome shaped specimens: a uncoated specimen, b cement coated specimen

Fig. 25 Dome shaped specimen after laser forming. The horizontal red lines show the dome
height measured from the base to the top most point at the center of the specimen
36 S.S. Gautam et al.

8.2 Bowl Shaped Surfaces

Chakraborty et al. (2012) investigated the effect of process parameters, viz., laser
spot diameter, laser power, and scan speed on the in-plane and out-of-plane forming
of circular stainless steel specimens for various circular and radial scan schemes.
Shaping of a circular specimen into a bowl requires both in plane thickening and
out-of-plane bending. It offers considerable challenge for the laser forming. Hence,
in the present work, this case is selected for studying the effect of cement coating.
Again, a CNC controlled 2.5 kW CO2 laser machine (Model: Orion, Make LVD) is
used to impinge the laser beam on the coating surface. Circular laser beam of 3 mm
diameter at a stand-off distance of 30 mm is used in Gaussian mode. Four levels of
laser power (200, 300, 400, and 500 W) are used. Circular specimens of mild steel
sheet of diameter 100 mm × 2 mm were cut from a large sheet using laser cutting.
The specimens were cleaned in acetone to remove any unwanted dirt and grease
before they are used as work piece in the experiments. To ensure that the specimen
does not move during the forming operation a circular hole of diameter 6 mm was
made at the center of specimen through which the specimen was held on a base
plate with the help of screw and nut. As suggested in Chakraborty et al. (2012), a
gap was maintained between the base plate and the specimen by use of washers.
In the present section, the irradiation strategy mentioned in Chakraborty et al.
(2012) is adopted. Figure 26 shows the schematic of the laser scan strategy used in
the present work. Three circular scans (scans 2, 4, and 6) and three radial scans
(scans 1, 3, and 5) are used alternatively to achieve the final shape. Further details
can be found in Chakraborty et al. (2012).

Fig. 26 Laser scan scheme proposed by Chakraborty et al. (2012) considered in the present
experimental work for forming bowl shaped surface
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 37

Fig. 27 Height of bowl at the

center for different values of
laser power for uncoated and
cement coated specimens. For
each data point three
specimens were tested

Fig. 28 Bowl shaped

specimens: a the top view,
and b shows the side view of
cement coated specimen. In
b the horizontal red lines
show the dome height
measured from the base to the
top most point at the center of
the specimen

Figure 27 shows the bowl height at the center of both the uncoated and cement
coated specimen at different values of laser power. As in laser forming of dome
shaped surface, the cement coated specimens have higher deformations. Figure 28a, b
show the top view and front view of the bowl shaped specimen after the completion of
the laser scan.

9 Conclusion

In the present work, the experimental investigations on the performance of lime and
cement coating in laser forming are carried out. Mild steel is used as the working
material for all the experiments. The sheet thickness and laser spot diameter is kept
38 S.S. Gautam et al.

constant in all the experiments. First, the effect of coatings is studied on simple line
bending operation. Then, the effect of cement coating is studied on laser forming of
more complex shapes like bowl and dome. The conclusions, based on the above
studies, are presented in the next section. On the basis of the results presented in
Sects. 7 and 8, the following specific conclusions are made:
(a) The use of surface coatings leads to increase in the absorption of laser. This is
evident by the increase in the temperature measure at the bottom of the sheet as
compared to the uncoated specimen.
(b) The increase in temperature at the bottom of the sheet for cement coated
specimen is found to be greater than that of the lime coated specimen.
(c) The bending angle increased the most when cement coating was applied.
(d) During the forming of complex shaped 3D surfaces like bowl and dome it is
found that the use of cement coating leads to increase in the deformation as
compared to uncoated specimen. However, the deformation does not increase
with increasing laser power.
Following are the areas which offer scope of future work for other investigators:
(a) Effect of surface coating on sheets with varying thickness can be studied.
(b) Effect of different beam geometry like square, rectangle can be investigated.
(c) Effect of surface coating can be studied on deformation of some more complex
shapes like saddle shape, tube bending etc.
(d) Effect of surface coating on the deformation can be investigated on different
materials like metals and composites.
(e) A detailed investigation of the effect of various process parameters like laser
spot diameter, scan speed, number of passes, and laser power need to be
carried out.
(f) Effect of different scanning strategies other than those used in the current work
can be carried out.
(g) Metallurgical and mechanical studies should be carried out to see the prop-
erties of the sheet after the laser forming.
(h) Numerical studies like finite element simulation need to be carried out to
further understand the effect of coating on laser forming process.

References

Barletta, M., Casamichele, L., & Tagliaferri, V. (2006). Line bending of Al2O3 coated and
uncoated aluminium thin sheets. Surface & Coatings Technology, 201, 660–673.
Chakraborty, S. S., Racherla, V., & Nath, A. K. (2012). Parametric study on bending and
thickening in laser forming of a bowl shaped surface. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 50,
1548–1558.
Dearden, G., & Edwardson, S. P. (2003). Some recent developments in two- and three-
dimensional laser forming for ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ application. Journal of Optics A: Pure ad
Applied Optics, 5, S8–S15.
Laser Forming of Mild Steel Sheets … 39

Dixit, P. M. & Dixit, U. S. (2008). Modelling of metal forming and machining processes by finite
element and soft computing methods, Springer-Verlag, London, UK.
Dixit, U. S., Joshi, S. N., & Hemanth, K. V. (2013). Microbending with laser. In V. K. Jain (Ed.),
Micro manufacturing processes. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Griffiths, J., Edwardson, S. P., Dearden, G., & Watkins, K. G. (2010). Finite element modelling of
laser forming at macro and microscales. Physics Procedia, 5, 371–380.
Hennige, T. (2000). Development of irradiation strategies for 3D-laser forming. Journal of
Materials Processing Technology, 103, 102–108.
Kim, J., & Na, S. J. (2009). 3D laser forming strategies for sheet metal by geometrical information.
Optics & Laser Technology, 41, 843–852.
Maji, K., Pratihar, D. K., & Nath, A. K. (2014). Laser forming of a dome shaped surface:
Experimental investigations, statistical analysis and neural network modelling. Optics and
Lasers in Engineering, 53, 31–42.
Meijer, J. (2004). Laser beam machining (LBM), state of the art and new opportunities. Journal of
Materials Processing Technology, 149, 2–17.
Roohi, A. H., Gollo, M. H., & Naeini, H. M. (2012). External force-assisted laser forming process
for gaining high bending angles. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 14, 269–276.
Scully, K. (1987). Laser line heating. Journal of Ship Production, 3, 237–246.
Shen, H., & Vollertsen, F. (2009). Modelling of laser forming—a review. Computational
Materials Science, 46, 834–840.
Singh, K. (2013). Effect of lime coating on laser bending process. M. Tech Thesis, IIT Guwahati,
Guwahati, India.
Steen, W., & Mazumder, J. (2010). Laser material processing. London: Springer.
Yang, L., Wang, M., Wang, Y., & Chen, Y. (2010). Dynamic analysis on laser forming of square
metal sheet to spherical dome. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,
51, 519–539.
Finite Element Simulations of Laser
Bending of Small Sized Sheets

Besufekad N. Fetene and Uday S. Dixit

Abstract Recently, laser bending has received the attention for a wide variety of
applications in industries due to its excellent bend quality with high productivity and
flexibility. In this work, finite element simulations of bending of small sized sheets
are carried out using ABAQUS package. The temperature and strain-rate dependent
material properties of D36 shipbuilding steel sheet are considered. Simulation results
throw light on the bending behavior of small sized sheet components.

Keywords Laser bending
Stationary heat source
Moving heat source
FEM

1 Introduction

Laser bending is a process of bending the work piece by using controlled laser heat
source, which induces thermal stress through a specified path to shape the work
piece without any mechanical forces. Geiger and Vollertsen (1993) identified three
most relevant mechanisms to explain the thermo-mechanical behavior in laser
forming depending on specific combinations of component geometries and laser
process parameters. These are temperature gradient mechanism (TGM), buckling
mechanism (BM) and upsetting mechanism (UM). TGM is the most common
mechanism of sheet metal bending and is activated when the beam diameter is
much smaller than the work piece thickness. In the case of the BM, the laser beam
diameter is much larger than the sheet thickness and laser scan speed is slower than
that in TGM. Here, the part can be made to bend either away from laser beam or
towards laser beam depending on a number of factors. UM is activated when the

B.N. Fetene (&)
U.S. Dixit (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: b.negash@iitg.ernet.in
U.S. Dixit
e-mail: uday@iitg.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 41

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_3
42 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

beam diameter is much smaller than the sheet thickness of the work piece. Addi-
tionally, a high thermal conductivity of the sample material facilitates the activation
of UM (Pretorius 2009).
The laser bending process has been investigated for many materials, such as mild
steel (Thomson and Pridham 2001), stainless steels (Liu et al. 2009; Vásquez-Ojeda
and Ramos-Grez 2009), aluminum and its alloys (Merklei et al. 2001; Labeas 2008;
Smith et al. 2012), titanium and its alloys (Walczyk et al. 2000) and silicon (Wang
et al. 2011). These studies considered large sized sheets. The geometry parameters
like sheet thickness, length and width influence the bend angle. For example, the
bending angle is approximately inversely proportional to the square of the sheet
thickness (Geiger and Vollertsen 1993). The length of the work piece has little
influence on the bend angle (Shichun and Jinsong 2001). However, in the bending
of small components, all geometric dimensions will have profound influence on the
bend angle. The direction of bend is also influenced by a number of parameters. Li
and Yao (2001) suggested that direction of bending can be assessed by evaluating
the Fourier number given by

ad D
F0 ¼ ; ð1Þ
s2 v

where αd is the thermal diffusivity, D is the diameter of beam at the surface of the
sheet, s is the sheet thickness and v is the scan speed.
Computational and experimental investigations of laser forming have been
extensively carried out during the recent years. The majority of computational models
for laser forming use the finite element method (FEM) and finite difference method
(FDM) for achieving highly accurate laser forming predictions. Geiger and Vollertsen
(1993) first modeled the laser bending by using both the FDM and FEM. Ji and Wu
(1998) mainly dealt with FEM simulation of the temperature field during the laser
forming of the sheet metal. Hu et al. (2001) carried out computer simulation and
experimental investigation of sheet metal bending using laser beam scanning. Zhanga
et al. (2004) investigated the finite element modeling discretization requirements for
the laser forming process. These studies also considered large sized sheets.
The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of laser power, work piece
geometry and laser diameter on the bending angle of the small sized sheets for the
stationery and the moving heat sources. Simulations of the 3D laser bending were
performed by using ABAQUS package in order to investigate the influence of laser
forming with variation of laser parameters on small sized work piece.

2 Finite Element Modeling Using ABAQUS

Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of laser bending. Numerical simulations are
carried out using ABAQUS package in order to analyze the variations in the bend
angle and temperature by applying stationery and moving heat sources with
Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 43

different laser parameters. In this work, a coupled thermo-mechanical analysis is

carried out using ABAQUAS/Explicit. In ABAQUAS/Explicit, the heat transfer
equations are integrated using an explicit forward-difference time integration rule
and the mechanical solution response is obtained using an explicit center-difference
integration rule. The strategies for time control are fixed time incrementation.
Nonlinear system is solved using full Newton solution technique.
A laser beam scans the top surface parallel to the fixed side with a constant laser
power and a constant scanning speed as shown in Fig. 1. D36 shipbuilding steel
specimens of size 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm and 15 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm were
considered. Figure 2a and b shows the top views of work-pieces indicating the
locations of moving and stationary heat sources. For each work-piece, 5 mm length
is used for clamping at one side of the work piece parallel to scanning direction.
Heat convection is modeled by Newton’s law given by

q ¼ hðTs  T Þ; ð2Þ

where q is the heat flux, h is the heat transfer coefficient, Ts is the sheet metal
temperature and T is the ambient temperature, taken as 20 °C. Radiation is
neglected. As shown in Fig. 3, clamped surfaces are considered to be insulated and
h = 10 W m−2 K−1 is used for the exposed surfaces.
The non-linear transient thermo-mechanical analysis is carried out. The tem-
perature dependent thermal property and mechanical properties of the D36 ship-
building steel are taken from Dixit et al. (2013). During the simulation, the thermal
load is given in the form of heat flux that obeys a normal Gaussian distribution as
follows:
 
cgP ð x2 þ y2 Þ
qðx; yÞ ¼ 2 exp c ; ð3Þ
pr r2

Fig. 1 Schematic of laser bending

44 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

Stationary heat source

10 mm Scan line of moving heat source
(a) 10 mm 10 mm

20 mm

20 mm
20 mm 5 mm 20 mm 5 mm
Effective length Clamp Effective length Clamp
25 mm 25 mm
Total length Total length

Stationary heat source Scan line of moving heat source

5 mm 5 mm
(b)
5 mm

10 mm
10 mm

10 mm 5 mm 10 mm 5 mm
Effective length Clamp Effective length Clamp
15 mm 15 mm
Total length Total length

Fig. 2 The work-pieces for movable and stationary heat source a 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm sheet.
b 15 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm sheet

Fig. 3 Assignment of heat transfer coefficient

Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 45

Table 1 Mesh sensitivity study

Type of heat source: stationary
Work piece size: 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
Laser power: 225 W
Laser diameter: 8 mm
Element size Number of elements Simulation time Bend angle
1 mm × 1 mm × 1 mm 1000 2 min –0.016
0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 1 mm 3600 10 min –0.1
0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm 6560 20 min –0.2
0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 0.25 mm 15,360 1h –0.218
0.25 mm × 0.25 mm × 1 mm 13,600 45 min –0.108
0.15 mm × 0.15 mm × 1 mm 36,708 2h –0.115

Table 2 FEM models for work piece of different geometry size

Case Geometry of work piece Element size Total no. elements
1 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm 6560
2 15 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm 1760

where q is the thermal heat flux density of laser beam, g is the absorptivity of the
sheet material g = 0.8, P is the power of the laser (100–250 W), r is the radius of the
laser beam and c is constant value between 1 and 3. For this work c has been taken
equal to 2.
Moving heat source along a straight line is modeled as a moving heat flux with
small steps. The heating time for every single load step is 0.05 s for both the work
pieces. The jumping of consecutive heat flux node is kept to a minimum of 1 mm
for both 4 and 8 mm laser diameters. The total heating time depends on the
scanning speed and the width of the work piece. The same scanning speed 20 mm/s
is used for both the work pieces. The stationery heat source is modeled as a
stationery heat flux at the center of the effective length.
3D thermally coupled brick elements (C3D8RT) with 8 nodes are used. As
illustrated in Table 1, mesh sensitivity study is carried out by varying the number of
elements and comparing the simulation time. After mesh sensitivity study, the
element of size 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm is chosen throughout for all the cases
(Table 2).

3 Effect of Parameters on Bending Angle

The behavior of material components under this process is influenced by a specific

combination of laser process parameters, geometry and material parameters. The
bending angle is calculated at the edge after the steady state has reached. The steady
state is arrived after cooling for 15 s.
46 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

3.1 Effect of Laser Power

The effects of laser power on the bending of 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm work piece

size is observed for stationery and moving heat sources. The scanning speed is
20 mm/s and heating time is 1 s. For one case, the laser diameter is 8 mm and for
the other case it is 4 mm. The simulation result reveals that the bend angle is
critically dependent on the laser power. As seen in Fig. 4a for 8 mm beam diameter,
the bending direction is negative (away from laser source) from 100–200 W
powers, but for more than 200 W powers, the bending direction is positive during
stationary heat source. In the case of moving heat source, the bending direction is
negative (away from laser source) even though the bend angle is very small for
100–250 W laser powers.
As shown in Fig. 4b, at stationary heat source of 4 mm beam diameter, the bend
direction is negative at 100 W, after which it tends to positive direction increasing up
to 250 W laser powers. However in the case of scanning laser, the bending angle is
negative up to 200 W, but starts increasing beyond 200 W towards positive direction.

Fig. 4 Computational results

for the effects of laser power
on the bending angle by
applying stationary and
moving heat source on
25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
work piece a 8 mm beam
diameter. b 4 mm beam
diameter
Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 47

The similar study is carried out for 15 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm work piece. Here,

for 8 mm laser beam diameter, the bend angle is very small and the bending is away
from the heat source for both stationary and moving heat source as shown in
Fig. 5a. The trend is different for 4 mm laser beam diameter as shown in Fig. 5b.
The bending direction is negative from 100–150 W powers, but starts increasing
beyond 150 W towards positive direction during stationary heat source. In the case
of moving heat source, the bending direction is negative for 100–250 W laser
powers.
In all the cases, the bend angle is greater in the case of stationary heat source.
However, in the case of stationary heat source, the bend angle is not uniform across
the width as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5 Computational results

for the effects of laser power
on the bending angle by
applying stationary and
moving heat source on
15 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm
work piece a 8 mm laser
diameter. b 4 mm laser
diameter
48 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

Fig. 6 The effects of

stationary heat source on
bending angle along width
direction by using 4 mm laser
diameter on
25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
work piece

For the case of 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm, the effect of change in the power on the
bend angle variation along the width direction is studied. For 250 W laser powers,
the bend angle variation between stationary and moving heat source is approxi-
mately 2 degrees and the bend angle is the maximum in the middle (Fig. 7a). This is
not the case for 100 W moving heat source, although the bend angles are very small
(Fig. 7b).
Figure 8 shows the top and bottom surface temperatures versus laser power. Rate
of increase of power is greater for top surface than for bottom surface. The max-
imum temperature at 250 W is 1200 °C, which is below the melting point of the
work piece.
Figure 9 shows that laser beam diameter has a profound effect on temperature.
At small laser beam diameter, the maximum temperature is much higher compared
to that at large beam diameter.
In all the cases of moving heat source, the Fourier number is less than one as
shown in Tables 3 and 4 for 4 and 8 mm laser diameter. Li and Yao (2001) obtained
Fourier numbers in the range of 6.25–7.75, in which the smaller values provide
positive (towards the laser beam) bending. Here, also the small Fourier numbers
tend to provide positive bending. However, due to want of enough data, no definite
conclusions with respect to Fourier number can be drawn at this stage.
Figure 10a and b shows the temperature and bend angle variation with time. It is
observed that the bend angle is negative in the beginning and becomes the highest
in the magnitude when the top surface temperature is the highest. During cooling
phase, the sheet starts bending towards the laser beam source. The steady state is
reached when the temperatures of the top and bottom surface become equal.
Moving heat source is applied at 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm size work piece at the
power 250 W and 8 mm laser diameter, it is observed that the bend angle is
negative. For stationary heat source, the bend angle is positive.
Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 49

Fig. 7 Effect of laser power

on bend angle variation for
4 mm beam diameter and
25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
work piece a 250 W power.
b 100 W power

Fig. 8 Variation of top and

bottom surface temperature
with laser power on
25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
work piece
50 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

Fig. 9 Variation of top and

bottom surface temperature
with beam diameter on
25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm
work piece

Table 3 Calculated Fourier number 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm work piece at 4 mm laser diameter

Scanning speed: 20 × 10−3 m/s and thickness of work piece: 2 × 10−3 m
Power (W) Thermal diffusivity (m2/s) Fourier number Bending direction
100 9.404 × 10−6 0.9404 Away from laser direction
150 9.404 × 10−6 0.9404 Away from laser direction
200 9.404 × 10−6 0.9404 Away from laser direction
225 9.404 × 10−6 0.9404 Toward the laser beam
250 8.655 × 10−6 0.8654 Toward the laser beam

Table 4 Calculated Fourier number for 25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm at 8 mm laser diameter

Scanning speed: 20 × 10−3 m/s and thickness of work piece: 2 × 10−3 m
Power (W) Thermal diffusivity (m2/s) Fourier number Bending direction
100 9.404 × 10−6 0.4702 Away from laser direction
150 8.655 × 10−6 0.4327 Away from laser direction
200 7.784 × 10−6 0.3892 Away from laser direction
225 7.784 × 10−6 0.3892 Away from laser direction
250 6.766 × 10−6 0.3383 Away from laser direction

Figure 11a and b show the stationary and moving heat source temperatures
versus time at a point on top surface and the just opposite point at the bottom
surface. Laser scanning speed has a profound effect on temperature. Temperature is
greater for smaller than larger scanning speed in moving heat source case. Simi-
larly, for stationary heat source, more the heating time, greater is the temperature.
Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 51

Fig. 10 Temperature distributions and variation of bend angle with time at the top and bottom
surface of the work piece (25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm) a Moving heat source. b Stationary heat
source
52 B.N. Fetene and U.S. Dixit

Fig. 11 Temperature distributions with time at top and bottom surface of the work piece
(25 mm × 20 mm × 2 mm) a Stationary heat source at different heating time. b Moving heat source
at different scan speed

4 Conclusions

Following conclusions can be drawn:

• The bending angle is highly dependent on laser power; as the power increases
the bend angle also increases for both stationary and moving heat sources.
• The bending angle is highly dependent on type of heat sources, the stationary
heat source provides more bend.
• Changing laser beam diameter from 4 to 8 mm changes the bend angle and it is
greater for small diameter.
Finite Element Simulations of Laser Bending of Small Sized Sheets 53

• The pattern of bend angle variation along width direction is different for laser
power of 100 and 250 W.
• With stationary heat source, the bend angle is non-uniform across the width.
• The temperature difference in the thickness direction is increased with increase
of the laser power (100–250 W).
• Laser scanning speed has a profound effect on temperature.

References

Dixit, U. S., Joshi, S. N., & Kumar, V. H. (2013). Microbending with lasers. In V. K. Jain (Ed.),
Micromanufacturing processes. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Geiger, M., & Vollertsen, F. (1993). The mechanisms of laser forming. CIRP Annals
Manufacturing Technology, 42, 301–304.
Hu, Z., Labudovic, M., Wang, H., & Kovacevic, R. (2001). Computer simulation and experimental
investigation of sheet metal bending using laser beam scanning. International Journal of
Machine Tools and Manufacture, 41, 589–607.
Ji, Z., & Wu, S. (1998). FEM simulation of the temperature field during the laser forming of sheet
metal. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 74, 89–95.
Labeas, G. N. (2008). Development of a local three-dimensional numerical simulation model for
the laser forming process of aluminium components. Journal of Materials Processing
Technology, 207, 248–257.
Li, W., & Yao, Y. L. (2001). Numerical and experimental investigation of convex laser forming
process. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 3, 73–81.
Liu, J., Sun, S., & Guan, Y. (2009). Numerical investigation on the laser bending of stainless steel
foil with pre-stresses. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 209, 1580–1587.
Merklei, M., Hennige, T., & Geiger, M. (2001). Laser forming of aluminum and aluminum alloys
microstructural investigation. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 115, 159–165.
Pretorius, T. (2009). Laser forming. In J. Dowden (Ed.), The theory of laser materials processing
(Vol. 119, pp. 281–314). UK: Springer.
Shichun, W., & Jinsong, Z. (2001). An experimental study of laser bending for sheet metals.
Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 110, 160–163.
Smith, T.M., Michaleris, P., Reutzel, E.W., & Hall, B. (2012). Finite element model of pulsed laser
forming. In the 13th International Symposium on Laser Precision Microfabrication.
Thomson, G., & Pridham, M. (2001). Material property changes associated with laser forming of
mild steel components. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 118, 40–44.
Vásquez-Ojeda, C., & Ramos-Grez, J. (2009). Bending of stainless steel thin sheets by a raster
scanned low power CO2 laser. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 209, 2641–2647.
Walczyk, D. F., Vittal, S., & York, N. (2000). Bending of titanium sheet using laser forming.
Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 2, 258–269.
Wang, X., Xu, W. X., Xu, W. J., Hu, Y. F., Liang, Y. D., & Wang, L. J. (2011). Simulation and
prediction in laser bending of silicon sheet. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of
China, 21, s188–s193.
Zhanga, L., Reutzelb, E. W., & Michalerisc, P. (2004). Finite element modeling discretization
requirements for the laser forming process. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 46,
623–637.
Numerical and Experimental Studies
on Pulsed Laser Forming of Sheet Metal

Kuntal Maji, D.K. Pratihar and A.K. Nath

Abstract Pulsed laser forming is a non-contact thermal forming process, where

sheet metal gets plastically deformed by thermal residual stresses induced by
controlled discontinuous laser irradiations. The temperature and deformation fields
have been determined using finite element analysis under different processing
conditions. Two types of pulsed laser forming processes, i.e., overlapped and
discrete spot forming have been identified depending on the combinations of pro-
cess parameters. Bending angle is found to increase with the degree of overlap and
decrease with the increase of gap in case of the two types of spot forming processes.
A comparative study between pulsed and continuous laser forming has also been
performed using both finite element simulations and experiments. Bending angle in
case of discrete spot pulsed laser forming is found to be more compared to the
continuous laser forming. The results of finite element simulations have been found
to be in good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords Pulsed laser forming
Finite element analysis
Experimental study

1 Introduction

Laser forming (LF) is a non-traditional forming process for flexible shaping of sheet
metal components by laser induced thermal stress instead of applying any external
mechanical force. In this process, thermal stresses can be induced by a controlled

K. Maji
D.K. Pratihar (&)
A.K. Nath

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
e-mail: dkpra@mech.iitkgp.ernet.in
K. Maji
e-mail: kuntalmajiiitkgp@gmail.com
A.K. Nath
e-mail: aknath@mech.iitkgp.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 55

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_4
56 K. Maji et al.

laser beam either in continuous or pulsed modes of irradiations. It has potential

applications in macro and micro scale manufacturing for rapid prototyping and
precision adjustment in ship building, aerospace, automobile, microelectronics
industries (Steen and Mazumder 2010). It is a complex thermo-elasto-plastic pro-
cess and depends on interaction of a large number of process parameters related to
laser irradiation, thermo-physical properties of workpiece material, sheet geometry,
and others. Depending on the combination of process parameters, there are mainly
three types of mechanisms, namely temperature gradient mechanism (TGM),
buckling mechanism (BM) and upsetting mechanism (UM) (Steen and Mazumder
2010). TGM is the most commonly used mechanism in laser metal forming, where
due to rapid localized heating of sheet metal, a steep temperature gradient is pro-
duced along the thickness direction, and after the cooling, the metal finally gets bent
towards the laser beam due to compressive plastic strain at the top surface. The LF
process, in its present stage, is far from automation and it has limited applications in
small series production, rapid prototyping, shape correction and precision adjust-
ments in sheet metal industries. Automation of the process requires integrations of a
lot of software and hardware components, development of predictive models and
control scheme for both continuous and pulsed laser forming processes. Defor-
mation behavior and process parameters of pulsed laser forming are different from
that of the continuous laser forming. The studies on pulsed laser forming of sheet
metal carried out by different researchers are discussed below.

2 Literature Review

Extensive studies had been carried out by various researchers (Shen and Vollertsen
2009) to investigate the continuous laser bending process. Sheet metal forming
using pulsed mode of laser irradiation was also investigated by some researchers to
study the effects of different process parameters on the deformation and properties
of the laser formed samples. Numerical and experimental investigations were car-
ried out by various investigators (Chen et al. 1999; Lee and Lin 2002; Zhang et al.
2002; Hseih and Lin 2004) to determine the temperature and deformation fields,
and others, in pulsed laser forming considering different process parameters, i.e.,
laser parameters, laser beam shapes, single and multiple pulses etc. Good correla-
tions were found between the numerical and experimental results of deformation in
their studies. Transient nonlinear 3D finite element (FE) simulation of pulsed laser
forming process is computationally expensive because of finer mesh sizes at the
laser irradiated zone and the small time steps required for the convergence and good
accuracy. Zhang et al. (2002) proposed an efficient method to reduce the compu-
tational time in determining bending angle using FE method in pulsed laser bending
of thin stainless steel sheet. Experimental investigations and empirical modeling
were carried out by Gollo et al. (2008) in laser bending of sheet metal with a Nd:
YAG pulsed laser. Taguchi experimental design was used and regression analysis
was performed by considering the various process parameters like laser power,
Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser Forming … 57

beam diameter, scan speed and pulse duration to express the bending angle in terms
of process parameters. Yang et al. (2010) investigated the metallurgical changes of
surface properties of stainless steel due to pulsed laser forming. The effects of
different process parameters on the surface properties of heat affected zone (HAZ)
like microstructure, micro-hardness etc. were studied with the metallographic
microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and micro-hardness tester,
respectively. Gollo et al. (2011) investigated further the effects of different process
parameters, such as laser power, beam diameter, scan speed, sheet thickness,
number of passes and pulse duration on bending angle using FE simulations and
experiments. Significant process parameters were identified through Taguchi
experimental design method and regression analysis was also performed to predict
the bending angle in pulsed laser forming process. However, a few studies had been
carried out on the different types of processing conditions and their effects on
deformation in pulsed laser forming process. Moreover, much less attention had
been given on a comparative study of continuous and pulsed laser forming pro-
cesses for energy efficiency. Recently, Maji et al. (2012, 2013) have performed
empirical modeling of pulsed laser bending process using statistical and soft
computing-based methods to predict bending angle and studied the effects of dif-
ferent process parameters. However, transient temperature and deformation fields
determined through FE analysis could give better insight of the process.
This chapter deals with the studies related to the effects of different types of
pulsed laser forming, i.e., effects of gap and overlapping on deformation in discrete
spots and overlapped spots pulsed laser forming. The efficiency of continuous and
pulsed laser forming processes is also investigated in terms of energy requirement
and produced deformation. The different process parameters and processing con-
ditions for their various combinations are discussed in the following section.

3 Theory of Pulsed Laser Forming

In pulsed laser forming process, the workpiece is actually heated by a modulated

power laser beam in a discontinuous manner, forming a series of discontinuous or
discrete, continuous and overlapping spots as shown schematically in Fig. 1. During
pulsed laser forming process, the laser spot becomes elliptical in the scan direction
(Tzeng 2000; Yang 2010). Depending on the combinations of process parameters
like scan speed (v), spot diameter (d), frequency (f) and duty cycle (Cd), different

Fig. 1 Different types of spots (overlapped, continuous and discrete) formed in pulsed laser
forming process
58 K. Maji et al.

types of spots, i.e., overlapped, continuous and discontinuous or discrete may be

formed as shown in Fig. 1. The major diameter of the elliptical spot can be
determined as dm ¼ d þ v  s, where s denotes pulse duration; and the distance
moved by the spot during a cycle time (Tc) can be calculated as dc ¼ v  Tc . For
forming overlapping spots, dm has to be greater

 dc (dm  dc ). The degree or
than
dm dc
percent of overlapping can be calculated as dm  100 %. Continuous spots are
formed, when dm is set equal to dc.
Similarly,
in case
 of discrete spots forming, the percent of gap can also be
dc dm
calculated as dm  100 %. The frequency (f = 50 Hz), duty cycle (Cd = 50 %),
pulse duration ðs ¼ 10 msÞ, laser power and beam diameter (d = 1.0 mm) have
been kept constant during the study. Both finite element simulations and experi-
ments have been performed to study the effects of gap between spots and their
overlapping on bending angle. Finite element formulation for the pulsed laser
forming and the details are stated as given in the following section.

4 Finite Element Formulation

Numerical simulation of pulsed laser forming process has been carried out to
determine temperature distribution and deformations. Laser bending or forming is a
weakly-coupled thermo-mechanical process. A nonlinear transient indirect coupled
field analysis has been performed using the ANSYS APDL (2011). The simulation
process consists of a few steps. The first step involves model generation and
selection of input process parameters. The next step deals with the thermal and
structural analyses. The thermal equilibrium equation for heat transfer analysis of an
isotropic material can be written as given in Eq. (1).
 2 
@ T @2T @2T _
k þ þ þ q_ ¼ qcT; ð1Þ
@x2 @y2 @z2

where q, c and k are the density, specific heat and thermal conductivity of the
material, respectively, and q_ is the rate of heat generation per unit volume of the
material. The heat flux density of moving laser beam (Fiber laser) is assumed to
obey the normal distribution along radial direction as given in Eq. (2).
 
2AP 2r 2
I¼ exp  ; ð2Þ
prb2 rb2

where I is the heat flux density at a radial distance ‘r’ from the center of the laser
beam. The symbols: A, P and rb stand for the absorptivity of the sheet metal surface,
laser power and laser beam radius, respectively. The basic FEM equation for the
Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser Forming … 59

indirectly-coupled thermo-mechanical calculation can be written, as given in

Eq. (3).
 
  


½0 ½0 fu_ g þ
½K  ½0 fug
¼
fF g þ fFth g
; ð3Þ
½ 0 ½ C  T_ ½ 0 ½KT  fT g fQg
R R
where ½C ¼ V qc½N ½N T dV is the heat capacity matrix; ½K  ¼ V ½BT ½Dep ½BdV
R
is the tangential stiffness matrix; ½KT  ¼ V k ½B½BT dV represents the heat con-
duction matrix; {u} and {T} are the nodal displacement and temperature vector,
respectively; [N] and [B] denote the shape function matrix and the general geo-
metric matrix, respectively; bD ep c is the elasto-plastic stress-strain matrix; F and Fth
are the applied nodal force and the force caused by the thermal strain, respectively;
{Q} is the heat flux vector. Solid 70 and solid 185 elements (ANSYS theory manual
2011) have been used for the thermal and structural analysis, respectively. The
following assumptions have been made for the FE analysis of pulsed laser bending
process.
(i) The workpiece material has been assumed to be isotropic, and considered to
be flat and free of residual stresses.
(ii) The laser beam energy follows a Gaussian distribution.
(iii) Melting of the workpiece surface has been neglected and no external force
has been applied to the sheet metal.
(iv) Cooling of the laser irradiated material occurred through free convection to
air, and radiation has been neglected.
(v) Temperature dependent properties (i.e., thermal conductivity, specific heat,
density, Young’s Modulus, Poisson’s ratio etc.) have been considered and
their variations have been determined by means of linear interpolation of the
data given in Cheng and Lin (2000).
(vi) Von Mises Criteria have been used for plastic yielding in the simulation
process.
(vii) The hardening effect of material behaviour has been considered as bilinear
isotropic hardening model.
(viii) The dissipation of energy due to plastic deformation has been neglected
compared to energy input from the laser beam.
Computer simulation of the laser-forming process is complex and the main steps
of the analysis are the thermal and structural analyses. In these analyses, the finite
element code: ANSYS has been used to calculate the thermo-structural coupled
field with a large plastic deformation. An indirect coupled-field analysis (i.e., two
sequential analyses) has been performed. The flow-chart of the FEM simulation is
shown in Fig. 2. In this method, the results from the transient thermal analysis for
nodal temperatures are applied as loads for the structural analysis (Dhondt 2004;
Nicholson 2008). Therefore, the calculations related to the temperature distributions
are very much essential for the determination of the stress–strain distributions. The
following assumptions have been made in this study:
60 K. Maji et al.

Fig. 2 Flow-chart of FEM simulation of laser forming process

(i) The workpiece material is isotropic.

(ii) Laser operates in a continuous wave mode.
(iii) There is no melting and no external forces are applied to the sheet metal.
(iv) Von Mises criterion is used as the yield criterion.
(v) Sheet metal is considered to be flat and free from any kind of residual stress.
For the thermal and structural analyses, the elements: SOLID 70 (eight-node 3D
thermal solid with thermal conduction, convection, material nonlinearities) and
SOLID 185 (eight-node 3D solid with extra shape functions, large elasto-plastic
deformation, geometric and material nonlinearities) (ANSYS Release 12.0 Docu-
mentation 2011) have been used, respectively. An ANSYS parametric design
language (APDL) has been used to model the moving laser beam. For the appli-
cation of the proposed FE model, the required different parameters are the plate
dimensions (length, width and thickness), laser power, laser beam diameter, scan
speed, material absorption coefficient etc. The calculated outputs are mainly the
transient temperature and deformation fields, and the final bending angle. The FE
Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser Forming … 61

model results have been validated through experiments as discussed in the fol-
lowing sections.
Numerical simulations have been carried out for studying the effects of gap and
overlap on bending angle in the two types of pulsed laser forming processes.
Simulations have been conducted by taking the model size to be equal to that of
workpiece excluding the clamped length, and laser irradiation has been done at the
middle of the workpiece and parallel to the free edge of the sample, as shown in
Fig. 3. Fine mesh size has been used in the laser irradiated zone and gradually
coarse meshing has been utilized away from the irradiated zone to reduce the
computational time as shown in Fig. 3.
The laser beam has been moved for a small distance at each time-step for
simulating the moving pulsed laser beam. A small time-step has been taken during
laser heating for convergence and gradually increasing time-steps have been con-
sidered during cooling to reduce the total computational time. For studying the
effects of gap and overlap, other process parameters, i.e., laser power and spot
diameter have been kept constant. AISI304 steel samples of the size of
100 × 30 × 0.5 mm3 have been used for the study. One end of the sample has been
clamped, therefore, this end has been kept fixed or the displacement of that end has
been made zero as boundary condition. The bending angle has been calculated
using the triangulation method from the displaced or deformed sample as obtained
from the simulations. The results of the numerical simulations have been validated
by performing real experiments as discussed in the following section.

5 Experimental Validations

Laser bending experiments have been conducted on a fiber laser (wave-

length = 1.07 µm, Model YLR-2000) having a maximum laser power of 2.0 kW (refer
to Fig. 4). A 10 mm diameter collimated laser beam is delivered through an optical
fiber onto a focusing optical system consisting of a lens of 200 mm focal length. This

Fig. 3 Model of the sample

with meshing
62 K. Maji et al.

Fig. 4 2 kW fiber laser

system

minimum spot diameter available is 250 µm at the focal plane, and nitrogen gas at
0.5 bar pressure has been used for shielding to protect the optical system.
The work-pieces are AISI 304 stainless steel sheets of 120 mm × 30 mm × 0.5 mm
dimensions. The samples have been cleaned using acetone to remove any unwanted
dirt and grease. A 10,000 W-Lp Ophir power meter has been used to measure the
laser power. By measuring the incident and reflected laser power, the average
absorption coefficient of the work-piece surface is estimated to be in the range of
0.35–0.45. During laser bending experiment, one end of the rectangular workpiece is
held in a clamp and laser scans have been performed parallel to the free edge of the
sample, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 Experimental setup

Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser Forming … 63

After laser irradiations, samples are allowed to cool in the atmosphere. After
cooling, the samples have been measured using a laser displacement sensor (Make:
Micro-Epsilon, Model: Opto-NCDT 1402). Measurements have been taken at 3–4
locations along the scanning direction and their average value has been calculated.
Bending angle has been calculated by the triangulation method. Results have been
compared with that obtained from the finite element simulations of the laser
bending process as discussed in the following section.

6 Results and Discussion

Experiments and FE simulations have been performed to study the effects of gap
between spots and their overlapping on bending angle in pulsed laser bending
(PLB). The degrees of overlap and gap have been controlled by varying the scan
speed after keeping the other parameters constant.
Figure 6 shows the temperature profile obtained during heating with a laser power
of 600 W and 50 % gap. The corresponding deformation field is shown in Fig. 7.
Figure 8 shows the variations of bending angle, both experimentally obtained
and FE calculated, with the degree of gap between spots, obtained at constant laser
power (600 W) and laser spot diameter (1.0 mm). At constant laser power, as the

Fig. 6 Temperature profile during heating

64 K. Maji et al.

1
NODAL SOLUTION
STEP=114
SUB =2
TIME=20.617
USUM (AVG)
RSYS=0
DMX =.00131
SMX =.00131 MX

Z
Y X

MN

0 .291E-03 .582E-03 .873E-03 .001164

.146E-03 .437E-03 .728E-03 .001019 .00131

Fig. 7 Deformation field due to pulsed laser forming with 50 % gap and 600 W laser power

Fig. 8 Effect of gap on 3 Experimental

Bending angle (Deg.)

bending angle
2.5 FE Model

1.5

0.5
0 25 50
Percentage of gap

gap is increased by increasing the scan velocity, the discrete line energy input
reduces, and the power density also decreases as the spot size increases at the higher
scan speed. As a result, the bending angle decreases.
The bending angle increases with the increase of percentage of overlap at
constant laser power, as shown in Fig. 9. Laser power and beam diameter have been
kept constant at 300 W and 1.0 mm, respectively, to study the effects of overlapped
pulsed laser irradiation. With the increase of overlap, the line energy increases,
which increases the thermal energy input and thermal stress, and resulting in a
higher bending angle.
FE simulation results also match well with the experimental trend of the bending
angle with the gap and overlap (refer to Figs. 7 and 8). At the higher degree of
Numerical and Experimental Studies on Pulsed Laser Forming … 65

Fig. 9 Effect of overlap on 2

Bending angle (Deg.)

bending angle
Experimental
1.5 FE Model

0.5

0
0 25 50
Percentage of overlap

overlap, the workpiece surface melts and this effect has not been taken into account
in the FE simulation to calculate the bending angle. Finite element analyses of
pulsed laser irradiations have been carried out, and transient temperature and
deformations have been calculated for different processing conditions. Bending
angle is found to increase with the increase of overlap and decrease with the
increase of gap.
FE simulation and experiments have been conducted to study the deformation
and process efficiency in thermal forming of sheet metal under continuous and
discrete laser heat inputs. The variation of bending angle with the line energy is
plotted in Fig. 10 for both the cases. The line energy for continuous laser bending is
given by LEc ¼ p=v, and that for pulsed laser bending is calculated as follows:
p  s
p
s 
LEp ¼ ¼  ¼ LEc  Cd ; ð4Þ
vT v T

where the symbols carry usual meaning as stated above. The bending angle
obtained in case of pulsed laser forming is found to be more compared to that in
continuous laser forming for the same line energy as shown in Fig. 10. The larger
bending angle in case of discrete spots pulsed laser bending (gap between two spots
has been kept 25 %) can be attributed to the fact that the discontinuous thermal
energy input produces more thermal stress due to the higher resistance imposed by
the cold material, which is not getting laser irradiation during laser pulse-off time.
The rise in surface temperature at the irradiated spot is also expected to be high in

Fig. 10 Comparison of 3 Experimental_CWLB

Bending angle (Deg.)

pulsed and continuous laser 2.5 FE Model_CWLB

forming Experimental_PLB
2 FE Model_PLB
1.5
1
0.5
0
1.33 2 2.67
Line energy (J/mm)
66 K. Maji et al.

case of pulsed laser forming compared to that of continuous laser forming at

constant line energy (McBride et al. 2005). This could also be another reason for
producing more bending in case of pulsed laser bending process.
Therefore, pulsed laser forming is found to be more energy efficient compared to
continuous mode of laser forming. In future, a comparative study will be made for
more number of processing conditions and for 3D forming also. The conclusions
from the present study are summarized in the following section.

7 Summary

Finite element analyses of laser bending process with pulsed laser irradiations have
been carried out. Transient temperature and deformations have been calculated for
different processing conditions. The effects of different processing conditions on
deformation have also been studied. Deformation in pulsed laser forming has been
found to decrease and increase with the increase of gap and that of overlap between
spots, respectively. A comparative study of continuous wave (CW) and pulsed laser
bending processes has also been done through FE simulations and experiments.
Discrete spot pulsed laser forming has been found to be more energy efficient
compared to the continuous laser forming. Results of finite element simulations
have been validated through experimental results and these are found to be satis-
factory. The present study can be extended in different ways as mentioned in the
scope for future study.

8 Scope for Future Study

Numerical simulations of laser bending process with both CW and pulsed laser
irradiations have been carried out and compared. However, a detailed study on the
effects of different other process parameters like frequency, duty cycle etc. can be
investigated. A comparative study of CW and pulsed laser bending processes has
been done through FE simulations and experiments. Discrete spot pulsed laser
forming has been found to be more energy efficient compared to the continuous
laser forming. A more detailed study on the comparisons of pulsed mode with the
continuous mode of laser forming can be made in future for forming 3D shapes.

References

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Chen, G., Xu, X., Poon, C. C., & Tam, A. C. (1999). Experimental and numerical studies on microscale
bending of stainless steel with pulsed laser. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 66, 772–779.
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Cheng, P. J., & Lin, S. C. (2000). An analytical model for the temperature field in laser forming of
sheet metal. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 101, 260–267.
Dhondt, G. (2004). The finite element method for three-dimensional thermomechanical
applications. West Sussex, England: Wiley.
Gollo, H. M., Mahdavian, S. M., & Naeini, H. M. (2011). Statistical analysis of parameter effects
on bending angle in laser forming process by pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Optics & Laser
Technology, 43, 475–482.
Gollo, M. H., Naeini, H. M., Liaghat, G. H., Torkamany, M. J., Jelvani, S., & Panahizade, V.
(2008). An experimental study of sheet metal bending by pulsed Nd:YAG laser with DOE
method. International Journal of Material Forming, 1, 137–140.
Hsieh, H. S., & Lin, J. (2004). Thermal–mechanical analysis on the transient deformation during
pulsed laser forming. International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, 44, 191–199.
Lee, K. C., & Lin, J. (2002). Transient deformation of thin metal sheets during pulsed laser
forming. Optics & Laser Technology, 34, 639–648.
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using neuro-fuzzy system, In 4th International and 25th All India Manufacturing Technology,
Design and Research (AIMTDR) Conference, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India (Vol. 1,
pp. 46–51).
Maji, K., Pratihar, D. K., & Nath, A. K. (2013). Experimental investigations and statistical analysis
on pulsed laser bending of AISI304 stainless steel sheet. Optics & Laser Technology, 49,
18–27.
McBride, R., Bardin, F., Gross, M., Hand, D. P., Jones, J. D. C., & Moore, A. J. (2005). Modeling
and calibration of bending strains for iterative laser forming. Journal of Physics D: Applied
Physics, 38, 4027–4036.
Nicholson, D. W. (2008). Finite element analysis: Thermomechanics of solids (2nd ed.). London,
New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
Shen, H., & Vollertsen, F. (2009). Modeling of laser forming—An review. Computational
Materials Science, 46, 834–840.
Steen, W. M., & Mazumder, J. (2010). Laser material processing (4th ed.). London: Springer.
Tzeng, Y. (2000). Parametric analysis of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser seam-welding process. Journal
of Materials Processing Technology, 102, 40–47.
Yang, L. J., Tang, J., Wang, M. L., Wang, Y., & Chen, Y. B. (2010). Surface characteristics of
stainless steel sheet after pulsed laser forming. Applied Surface Science, 256, 7018–7026.
Zhang, X. R., Chen, G., & Xu, X. (2002). Numerical simulation of pulsed laser bending. Journal
of Applied Mechanics, 69, 254–260.
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM
Dominated Curvilinear Laser Bending
of Aluminum Alloy Sheets

Ravi Kant, Parag M. Bhuyan and S.N. Joshi

Abstract During Laser bending process, the worksheet bends by means of thermal
stresses induced by the laser beam irradiation. It can be achieved by various
mechanisms viz. temperature gradient mechanism (TGM), buckling mechanism
(BM) and upsetting mechanism (UM). The interactive effect of process parameters
viz. laser power, scanning speed, beam diameter and absorption coefficient decide
the occurrence of bending mechanism during a laser bending operation. Literature
reports experimental as well numerical studies on the effect of process parameters
viz. laser power, scan speed, beam diameter on the process mechanism and process
performance. However, a very few attempts have been made on the study of shape
of laser irradiation path on the quality and productivity of laser bending operation.
Curvilinear laser bending is generally used to produce complex shapes using lasers.
In this chapter an experimental study on the curvilinear laser bending of aluminum
sheets for TGM and BM mechanisms has been presented. Initially the basic prin-
ciple of the laser bending process and TGM and BM are discussed. Then the
experimental procedure, plans are presented. The results are discussed in terms of
the effect of laser power and scan speed on the bend angle and edge effect during
parabolic irradiation. The experiments are carried out for both thick as well as thin
worksheets. It was found that, in thin sheets, the scanning path curvature does not
have significant effect on the bend angle however, in thick sheets the bend angle
increases with decrease in scanning path curvature. The deformation behavior of
curvilinear laser bending was found to be different from that of straight line laser
bending process. The presented results may be used as guidelines to generate
complex shapes in aluminum and its alloys using lasers.

R. Kant
S.N. Joshi (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: snj@iitg.ac.in
R. Kant
e-mail: r.kant@iitg.ac.in
P.M. Bhuyan
Engineering Research Center, Tata Motors Ltd., Pune 411018, India
e-mail: parag.bhuyan@tatamotors.com

© Springer India 2015 69

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_5
70 R. Kant et al.

Keywords Laser bending Curvilinear irradiation Edge effect

Temperature


gradient mechanism Buckling mechanism Aluminum alloy

1 Laser Bending Process

In conventional sheet bending operation, bending is done with the help of

mechanical punches and dies. The mechanical bending is economical and generally
used for mass production of components. In general, the capital cost and time
involved in alteration or adjustment of the tools is high in mechanical bending
process. Therefore, it is not suitable for prototyping or low volume production. The
spring-back effect, deformation of material having low ductility and the processing
at the inaccessible region are some of the important issues which limit the appli-
cation of mechanical bending operation in real practice. The lasers helped to
overcome some of these limitations. Laser bending is a type of thermo-mechanical
forming process, which uses a focused laser beam to deform the sheet metal
worksheet by means of thermal stresses without the application of any external
mechanical load. The laser beam irradiates over the worksheet surface as shown in
Fig. 1. The temperature of the irradiated region increases which leads to the thermal
expansion. The thermal expansion is restricted by the surrounding material which
generates thermal stresses in the heated region. These thermal stresses result in
permanent deformation during laser bending of the worksheet (Walczyk and Vittal
2000; Geiger et al. 2004; Kannatey-Asibu 2009).
In laser bending, the hard tooling such as punches, dies, and presses are not
required. The laser beam works as a non-contact virtual tool to bend the worksheet
(Li and Yao 2000). The non-contact nature of the process makes the process
independent of tool inaccuracies that might result in worksheet form errors and
undesired deflections. The lead time associated with replacement of tools and dies
also gets reduced due to the application of lasers. The laser irradiation can easily be
controlled by using the microprocessor based controllers. The laser beam can be

Fig. 1 Schematic of laser Laser

bending process Head Convection and
e
sid

radiation
ed

Stand-off Thickness
mp

Distance
Cla

z Irradiation
Line
Conduction
th

x
ng
Le

y
Bend
Angle

Length
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 71

transferred easily by using fiber optics cables which makes the process suitable for
the applications in which the mechanical tools are not accessible. The laser beam
can be focused at a small spot (in the range of μm) which makes it suitable for the
processing of small components (Jain 2012). The process can be used to bend
sheets, plates, foils and pipes for a wide range of materials including metals, non-
metals, composites and ceramics (Kant and Joshi 2013). The brittle, hard and thick
materials can also be processed as the deformation occurs at elevated temperature.
Precise small bend angles (of the order of 1 °C) can easily be produced which may
not be possible in mechanical bending due to presence of spring-back effect
(Lawrence et al. 2001; Chen and Xu 2001). The other advantages include the
flexibility of the process, small heat affected zone due to narrow focus of the laser
beam and ease of complex shapes generation with selected irradiation strategies etc.
The laser bending uses localized heating to induce controlled deformation instead
of entire work-piece heating. Therefore, it has the advantage of energy efficiency as
compared with other thermal bending operations (Casamichele et al. 2007).
In spite of various advantages, the laser bending has some limitations too. For
mass production, the laser bending process is slow in comparison with the traditional
punch and die technique. The process is not suitable for the materials having high
reflectivity. The application of suitable coating on the irradiation region can solve this
problem (Singh 2013). The improper selection of laser parameters may lead to the
surface melting which degrades the material properties. The mechanical and micro-
structural properties of irradiated region may deteriorate due to presence of high
temperature and thermal stresses in the heated region (Cheng and Yao 2001). The
bend angle per laser scan is small and therefore, to get higher bend angle, multiple
irradiations are required. The high capital cost of the laser machine makes the process
more expensive than other forms of thermo-mechanical bending such as flame
bending. The interaction of laser beam with human body may be dangerous and hence
special safety precautions are essential (Yanjin et al. 2003; Kant and Joshi 2013).
Laser bending has many applications in several fields of industrial manufac-
turing which include—automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, medical, micro-elec-
tronics and material processing. Laser bending is also useful in car body part
straightening. Laser bending is used as an accurate and cost effective process to
adjust or align the mating parts in welded constructions and ship building industry
(Kant and Joshi 2014). Due to small size of the laser beam, and the ease of control,
the laser bending is suitable for deformation of small meso-scaled components. The
laser bending is now being used to manufacture small and precise bend angles in
very small parts of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), chemical and
sensor industries (Ocana et al. 2007).
Laser bending is the best option for low volume production requirements viz.
forming of ship planks and production of aerospace fuselage. Due to high flexibility
of the laser beam, it is well suited for the production of sheet metal components in
space (Shen and Vollertsen 2009). Since it does not require external tools, dies or
presses; the laser bending is suitable for rapid prototyping and rapid product
development. It is also used for bending of brittle materials which is not possible
with conventional bending operations (Li and Yao 2000; Wu et al. 2010).
72 R. Kant et al.

2 Laser Bending Mechanisms

The laser bending occurs due to the plastic deformation resulted by the induced
thermal stress generated in the heated region. It involves complex interaction of
laser process parameters, workpiece material properties and the workpiece geom-
etries. Variation in material properties, process parameters and workpiece geome-
tries results in bending of work sheets through three different mechanisms. These
mechanisms are: temperature gradient mechanism (TGM), buckling mechanism
(BM) and shortening or upsetting mechanism (UM). TGM and BM are mainly
responsible for worksheet bending and UM is responsible for shortening and
thickening of the worksheet (Shi et al. 2006). These mechanisms are discussed in
details in the following sections.

2.1 Temperature Gradient Mechanism (TGM)

Temperature gradient mechanism (TGM) is the most widely reported mechanism in

the literature. It is used to bend the worksheet in the direction of the laser source.
TGM occurs when energy parameters generate steep temperature gradient along the
thickness direction. In TGM, the beam diameter is approximately equal to the
worksheet thickness and the scanning speed is high enough to generate a steep
temperature gradient along the worksheet thickness. To bend the material with high
thermal conductivity using TGM, it is recommended that higher scanning speeds
must be employed (Li and Yao 2001). This will help in generating higher tem-
perature gradients due to lesser time for heat conduction into the work sheet.
Figure 2 shows the various steps involved in TGM. Initially, a steep temperature
gradient generates along the thickness direction due to laser beam irradiation as
shown in Fig. 2a. It results in non-uniform thermal expansion in the heated region.
The temperature of the top surface is higher therefore the thermal expansion is more
at the top surface which leads to the bending of the worksheet away from the laser
source as shown in Fig. 2b. The thermal expansion of the heated region is restricted
by the surrounding cooler material which generates compressive thermal stresses in
the heated region and tensile stresses in the surrounding cooler region. When these
thermal stresses exceed temperature dependent flow stress, the plastic deformation
occurs. The flow stress decreases with temperature and hence, the compressive
plastic deformation occurs in the heated region. The cooler region does not undergo
any deformation as the flow stress is high at low temperature. The top irradiated
surface has the highest temperature and therefore, the compressive deformation is
more at the top surface. The plastic deformation is negligible at the bottom surface
due to lower temperature. The material contracts during cooling. The plastic
compressive deformation causes local shortening at top surface. Thus the worksheet
finally bends towards the laser source as shown in Fig. 2c. Thus the bending
occurs due to difference between plastic deformation at top and bottom surfaces
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 73

Laser
Head
(a) (b) Thickness

Temperature

Stress
Thickness

(c) (d)
Thickness
Bend angle

Plastic strain

Fig. 2 Process steps of temperature gradient mechanism (process condition for figure (d): laser
power = 400 W, scanning speed = 400 mm/min, beam diameter = 6.77 mm and total number of
laser beam irradiations = 3). a Temperature distribution due to laser irradiation. b Thermal
expansion and stress distribution due to laser heating. c Final bending towards laser source and
plastic strain distribution. d Laser bent mild steel specimen with TGM

(Shi et al. 2006). A small plastic re-strain occurs during worksheet cooling as the
yield stress and Young’s modulus return to the higher level (Lawrence et al. 2001).
Figure 2d shows a typical TGM dominated laser bent mild steel sheet with a small
bend angle. In general, bend angle in the range of 0.1 to 3° can be achieved in a
single laser beam irradiation.

2.2 Buckling Mechanism (BM)

The buckling mechanism (BM) occurs during laser bending of thin worksheets. In
BM, temperature gradient between the top and bottom surfaces is negligible. BM
generally occurs when a thin worksheet of high thermal conductivity material is
irradiated with a laser beam of large beam diameter and low scanning speed. The
beam diameter is about 10 times of the worksheet thickness (Hu et al. 2002).
Figure 3 shows the various steps involved in BM dominated laser bending
process. The laser irradiation generates high temperature isotherms along the
thickness direction as shown in Fig. 3a. It results in large amount of thermal
expansion in the heated region. The thermal expansion is uniform along the
thickness direction which is restricted by the surrounding material. This generates
compressive stresses in the heated region. The buckling stiffness of the worksheet is
less as the worksheet is thin. The buckling stiffness further reduces due to high
temperature field caused by laser beam irradiation. Due to large beam diameter, the
lateral expansion is more in the heated region. The combined effect of large thermal
expansion and less buckling stiffness generates a buckle in the heated region as
shown in Fig. 3b. The buckle tendency is more when the sheet is thin and coeffi-
cient of thermal expansion and temperature dependent flow stress are high.
74 R. Kant et al.

(a) Laser (b) Thickness

Temperature
Head Large beam
diameter

Stress
Isotherm

Thermal expansion Thickness

(c) (d)
Thickness
Irradiation Aluminum

Plastic strain
line thin sheet
Bend angle
Bend angle

Fig. 3 Process steps of buckling mechanism (process condition for Figure (d): Laser
power = 150 W, scanning speed = 200 mm/min, beam diameter = 6.77 mm). a Temperature
isotherm due to laser irradiation. b Growth and development of buckling due to uniform thermal
stress along the thickness. c Final bending occurs due to buckling. d Laser bent aluminum thin
sheet with BM

Once buckling is initiated, it extends along with laser beam irradiation. When
thermal stresses exceed temperature dependent flow stress, plastic deformation
occurs in the buckle. Finally, based on the direction of the buckle, the worksheet
bends towards or away from the laser source as shown in Fig. 3c.
Figure 3d shows a typical laser bent thin aluminum sheet with BM dominated
process conditions. It can be seen that the bend angle is significantly higher as
compared with that obtained with TGM process conditions. In general, the bend
angle in the range of 1°–15° can be achieved in a single laser scan using BM
dominated process conditions. Unlike TGM, the counter bending does not occur in
BM. However it has been noted that the bending direction is not certain in BM.
Bending in BM is also governs by pre-curvature of the sheet, internal stresses and
external or gravitational forces acted on the worksheet (Shi et al. 2006).
Li and Yao (2001) proposed an irradiation scheme by which a certain convex
bending (away from laser source) can be achieved in BM without application of
pre-bending or external mechanical constraints. In this scheme, the laser irradiation
was started near to the middle of the scanning path instead from an edge of the
worksheet. Jamil et al. (2011) studied the effect of rectangular beam geometries
with different transverse width to length aspect ratio on BM dominated laser
bending of thin sheets. The beam geometry played an important role in temperature
distribution and deformation behavior. Longer beam dimensions in the scanning
direction (in relation to its lateral dimension) produced higher temperatures and also
had a tendency to form a concave shape.
Shi et al. (2006) gave a critical condition to know whether the process is
dominated by the TGM or by the BM. The condition was given as:

Pd 1=2 gp7=2 k1=2 q1=2 c1=2

[ ð1Þ
2
hV 1=2 41:52ð1 þ lÞAath
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 75

where P; d; h; V; g; k; q; c; l; A and ath are laser power, beam diameter, sheet

thickness, scanning speed, correction factor, thermal conductivity, density, specific
heat, Poisson’s ratio, absorption coefficient and coefficient of thermal expansion
respectively. Also, the process conditions for the dominating mechanism can be
obtained by using a Fourier number derived by Shi et al. (2008). It is given by,

F0 ¼ ad d=h2 V ð2Þ

where ad ; h; d and V are thermal diffusivity, sheet thickness, beam diameter and
scanning speed respectively. The smaller value of the Fourier number corresponds
to a TGM dominated laser bending while a high Fourier number indicates the
dominance of BM.

2.3 Upsetting Mechanism (UM)

In upsetting mechanism (UM), the worksheet shortens and therefore, it is also called
as shortening mechanism. This mechanism is used for shortening of small frames,
pipe bending of various kinds of cross-sections and alignment of micro-parts.
In UM, due to laser irradiation high temperature isotherms occur along the
worksheet thickness as shown in Fig. 4a. It results in uniform thermal expansion
along the thickness. Due to uniform thermal expansion, the counter-bending does
not occur. The thermal expansion is restricted by the surrounding cooler bulk
material which generates compressive thermal stresses in the heated region. The
worksheet is thick and the beam diameter is small; therefore, the buckling is pre-
vented by the worksheet. When the thermal stresses in the heated region exceed
temperature dependent flow stress, the plastic deformation occurs. The plastic

(a) (b) Thickening

Temperature

Thickness Thickness
Plastic strain

Final shape
Stress

Thickness Initial shape

Temperature, stress and plastic strain along thickness Front view
Final shape

Laser
Head
Small beam
diameter

Isotherm
Thermal expansion Isometric view Initial shape

Fig. 4 Process steps of upsetting mechanism. a Temperature isotherm in thickness due to laser
irradiation. b Final bending and thickening in UM
76 R. Kant et al.

deformation is uniform and compressive along the worksheet thickness. The plastic
deformation is almost uniform along the worksheet thickness. During cooling it
results in local shortening and thickening of the worksheet (Shi et al. 2012). As the
worksheet is thick, a small temperature gradient occurs in the thickness direction.
This results in little bending of worksheet with thickening of the irradiated region as
shown in Fig. 4b.

3 Edge Effect in Laser Bending Process

Heat conduction is the most significant parameter in laser bending. A schematic of

variation in heat conduction during laser irradiation is shown in Fig. 5. It can be
seen that the thermal conduction is low at the start and end of the irradiation line
due to availability of less material. However it is uniform when laser beam is at the
middle. This variation results in the higher surface temperatures near the edges and
lower surface temperature at middle of the scanning path. The mechanical con-
straint provided by the surrounding cooler material also varies from one end to the
other end of irradiation path. At start of laser irradiation path, the heated region is
less. The surrounding cooler material provides higher restriction to the thermal
expansion of the heated region. As the beam moves further, heat starts conducting
in the surrounding cooler region and increases its temperature. This results in the
reduction of flow stress of the material. Thus the plastic deformation in the heated
region increases along the scan line. This can be seen in Fig. 6. When laser beam is
just about to leave the worksheet surface, the worksheet material is heated all along
the irradiation line. Therefore, the surrounding material provides less restriction to
the thermal expansion caused by laser heating. In this way, the changes in thermal

Fig. 5 Non-uniform thermal

conduction during laser
irradiation
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 77

Fig. 6 Schematic to show

variation in bend angle along
the irradiation line

and mechanical constraints from start to end of the irradiation line affect the plastic
deformation. Other thermal properties like convection coefficient and absorptivity
also affect the distribution temperature into the worksheet (Bao and Yao 2001; Shen
et al. 2010). The variation in thermal and mechanical constraints results in gener-
ation of non-uniform bend angle from one end to the other of the irradiation line as
shown in Fig. 6. This variation in bend angle along the irradiation line is called as
edge effect. In general, the edge effect is not desirable, but in some cases it can be
utilized to generate complex shapes.
Literature reports a number of methods to reduce the edge effect. Shen et al.
(2010) showed that scanning speed is important parameter to control the edge effect
and the combination of acceleration and deceleration scanning scheme can mini-
mize the edge effects. Hu et al. (2013) proposed two methodologies to reduce the
edge effect; first, to maintain a constant peak temperature along the irradiation path
and the second, to put external mechanical constraint in the form of clamping at
both ends of the irradiation path. These methodologies significantly reduced the
edge effect. Zahrani and Marasi (2013) showed that number of irradiations,
worksheet thickness, scanning speed and laser power in order of their significance
directly affect the edge effect. They found that edge effect decreases with increase in
number of irradiations, sheet thickness, scanning speed and decrease in beam
diameter.

4 Curvilinear Laser Bending

Straight line irradiation is used to produce uniform bending of simple parts about
the irradiation path. However in many cases, work parts with complex or spatially
curved geometries like spherical dome or ship hulls are required. Manufacturing of
such complex geometries by using straight line irradiations is quite difficult. In such
78 R. Kant et al.

cases, instead of straight line, curvilinear irradiations are found to be more con-
venient and efficient (Zhang et al. 2007). The laser bending with curvilinear irra-
diation paths is called as curvilinear laser bending process. Hennige (2000)
investigated the differences in the forming behavior of sheet metal parts using
straight and curved irradiations. Various irradiation strategies were studied to
generate the spherical dome shapes. It was suggested that the combination of radial
and concentric irradiation lines can be used to produce spherical structures. The
concentric lines were used for stabilizing the initial flat plate against wrinkling.
Chen et al. (2004) studied the deformation behavior of laser curve bending of sheet
and found that the deformation occurs only on one side of the scanning path along
which the rigid constraint is relatively lower. Zhang et al. (2007) presented a finite
element model of sheet metal forming using B-spline curve scanning of laser beam.
The results showed that the peak temperature increases with increase in scanning
path curvature and the laser curve bending produces a significant change of dis-
tortion under the same set of process conditions. The warping was found to be
increased with scanning path curvature. Venkadeshwaran et al. (2010) studied the
deformation of a circular plate subjected to a circular irradiation path with shifting
of starting point. It was observed that discrete section heating in symmetry with
shifting in starting point of irradiation in subsequent passes reduced the undesired
waviness. Kant and Joshi (2014) found that the bending occurs outside of the
scanning path curvature during circular irradiation of laser beam as shown in Fig. 7.
They carried out numerical investigation on curvilinear laser bending of magnesium
alloy using finite element method (FEM). The bending was offset near the edges
while it was on the irradiation path at the middle of the scanning path. This behavior
was found to be different from the straight line laser bending process where bending
occurs on the irradiation line. In curvilinear irradiation, the bending offset was
found to be increased with increase in beam diameter and laser power. It was also
noted that the bend angle increases with increase in scanning path curvature. It may
be due to absorption of more energy along the longer scanning path with higher
scanning path curvature. Based on these initial numerical investigations, it was

Fig. 7 Bending behavior in curvilinear laser bending process (Kant and Joshi 2014, Copyright
with authors)
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 79

noted that a need exists for a detail experimental investigation on the effect of
variation in the shape of laser path during TGM as well as BM based laser bending
process. The next sections present the work carried out in this direction.

5 Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Curvilinear

Laser Bending of Aluminum Alloy

5.1 Experimental Details

In this section, the details of experiments carried out on curvilinear laser bending of
aluminum alloy thin and thick worksheets are presented. The experimental studies
were performed on commercially available aluminum alloy worksheet. The com-
position of material is shown in Table 1. The experiments were performed for TGM
and BM dominated process conditions. In general, the TGM occurs in thick sheet
and BM occurs in the thin sheets. Therefore, the specimen of two thicknesses i.e.
1.45 and 0.5 mm were used during the experiments. The specimen of thickness
1.45 mm was used for TGM laser bending while the specimen of 0.5 mm thickness
was used for BM dominated laser bending process. The specimens of size 80 mm
length and 50 mm width were cut by using CO2 laser cutting machine. The laser
cutting was preferred over shear cutting as the former process provides dimen-
sionally accurate specimen without pre-bending. Most of the metals have high
reflectivity (low absorptivity). The absorptivity varies non-uniformly along the laser
scanning path. This may be due to the presence of rust and other foreign particles on
the surface of metal work-sheets. To increase the absorptivity, the specimens were
coated with graphite spray prior to laser beam irradiation. The graphite spray
coating increases the absorptivity and also helps to achieve uniform absorptivity
along the laser scanning path. The coated specimens were allowed to dry for 1 h
under normal room conditions.
The parabolic shaped curvilinear path was chosen for the experiments. The
parametric equations of the parabola are given as:

x ¼ 2at ð3Þ

y ¼ 2at  t ð4Þ

where t is the controlling parameter. Figure 8 shows a parabolic curve with point
A as the vertex and S as the Focus. Distance AS is denoted as a. It can be seen that
the radius of curvature increases with increase in the value of a. For an infinite

Table 1 Composition of commercially available aluminum

Elements Mg Al Si Ti Mn Cu Zn
Weight (%) 0.03 97.22 1.65 0.33 0.38 0.35 0.6
80 R. Kant et al.

Fig. 8 Parabolic irradiation

path

Fig. 9 Scheme of parabolic

irradiations

value of a, the parabolic curve tends to be a straight line. As shown in Fig. 9, seven
different values of a were considered to study the effect of scanning path curvature.
The laser heating was performed by using LVD Orion 3015 2.5 kW continuous
wave CO2 laser machine. Figure 10 shows the Laser unit and the experimental set-
up. The specimen was clamped over the laser machine bed using a fixture as shown
in Fig. 10b. The laser beam was irradiated along the predefined path. Process (laser)
parameters viz. laser power (P), scanning speed (V) and beam diameter (D) were
varied to control the operation. The heated specimens were allowed to cool natu-
rally after the laser beam irradiation. Each experiment was repeated thrice to study
the repeatability. The bent specimen and the damaged coating are shown in Fig. 11.
The bend angle produced due to laser beam irradiation was measured by using
Zeiss make coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The bent specimen was kept on
the anvil as shown in Fig. 12 and touch probe was moved in x, y and z direction to
collect the data points on either side of the laser scanning path. The bend angle was
computed at seven positions by recording coordinates of total twenty eight data
points as shown in Fig. 13. Two points form a line. The bend angle was calculated
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 81

Fig. 10 Details of experimental setup a laser machine, b worksheet holding

between the two respective lines recorded on either sides of the laser beam irra-
diation. For a set of process conditions, the average of three trials was considered as
the experimental value. The edge effect is computed as the relative variation in bend
angle (RVBA) along the laser scanning path as (Zahrani and Marasi 2013):

hmax  hmin
RVBA ¼  100 ð5Þ
haverage
82 R. Kant et al.

Fig. 11 Laser irradiated

specimens

Fig. 12 Touch probe of

CMM used to measure bend
angle of laser bent specimen

Fig. 13 Bend angle

measurements at various
positions
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 83

where hmax ; hmin and haverage are the maximum, minimum and average bend angles
along the scan line respectively. The edge effect is more when the value of RVBA is
higher.

5.2 Results and Discussion

This section deals with the discussion on the results obtained during parabolic
irradiations of laser over the aluminum work sheets. Effects of process parameters
on bend angle and deformation behavior are presented for both TGM and BM
process conditions in the following sections.

5.2.1 Laser Bending Using TGM

The laser bending of aluminum sheet of 1.45 mm thickness is carried out with TGM
process conditions. The effects of scanning speed, laser power and scanning path
curvature on bend angle are discussed as below.
Figure 14 shows the effect of scanning speed on bend angle for the sheet
thickness of 1.45 mm. It can be observed that for low laser power (300 W), the bend
angle decreases with increase in scanning speed. The scanning speed controls the
energy input into the specimen and the temperature gradient along the specimen
thickness. For low power, at lower scan speed the effects of temperature gradient
and energy input are almost in balanced condition. Therefore there is not much
significant effect of scanning speed on the bend angle. For medium to higher scan

Fig. 14 Effect of laser scanning speed on bend angle for 1.45 mm thick sheet
84 R. Kant et al.

speed, the bend angle decreases. It is due to less absorption of energy at higher
scanning speed which reduces the peak temperature. This results in less plastic
deformation in the heated region.
For higher laser power of 500 and 700 W, the bend angle increases with increase
in scanning speed. It is because at higher laser power at higher scan speeds, the
peak temperature at top surface is high enough to generate the required temperature
gradient for the plastic deformation. At higher speeds, the time for energy
absorption is less; therefore the temperature at the bottom surface is also less. This
results in higher bend angles.
The laser power directly controls the energy input into the worksheet surface. The
effect of laser power on bend angle for 1.45 mm thick sheet is shown in Fig. 15. It
can be observed that the bend angle increases with increase in laser power when
scanning speed is 4000 mm/min. It is due to more energy input at higher laser power
and higher temperature gradient in the thickness direction at high scanning speed.
At lower scanning speeds (1000–2000 mm/min), bend angle decreases with
increase in laser power. It is due to high thermal conductivity of aluminum, sig-
nificant temperature gradient cannot be maintained at lower scanning speed. This
results in high temperature and more plastic deformation at bottom surface. As the
laser power increases, the plastic deformation at bottom surface also increases
which results in the decrease of bend angle with increase in laser power. The
scanning speed 3000 mm/min has the intermediate effect. The bend angle first
increases and then becomes constant with the increase in power.
In curvilinear laser bending process, the scanning path curvature is an important
parameter which affects the laser bending process. In the present work, the laser
beam has been irradiated in parabolic curved path. The details are presented in
Sect. 5.1. The scanning path curvature was controlled by parameter a. Path

Fig. 15 Effect of laser power on bend angle for parabolic irradiation for 1.45 mm thick aluminum
sheet
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 85

Fig. 16 Effect of scanning path curvature on bend angle for 1.45 mm thick aluminum sheet with
parabolic irradiation

curvature increases with increase in value of a (Fig. 9). For sheet thickness of
1.45 mm, the effect of increase in scanning path curvature on bend angle is shown
in Fig. 16. It can be observed that the bend angle increases with increase in
scanning path curvature. This may be due to the fact that for lower path curvature,
the scanning length is more. Thus the proceeding material gets more preheated
when the curvature of path is less. This result in lower temperature gradients and
less bend angles. Also, for higher scanning lengths, more energy will be absorbed
into the workpiece which may lead to more plastic deformation at bottom surface.
For 1.45 mm sheet thickness, variation in bend angle along the laser scanning
path for various scanning path curvatures is shown in Fig. 17. The bend angle was

Fig. 17 Variation in bend angle along the laser scanning path for 1.45 mm thick aluminum sheet
86 R. Kant et al.

measured at seven different locations along the scanning path as shown in Fig. 13.
From Fig. 17, no uniform pattern or trend can be noticed. For a = 15, the profile has
been noted as wavy, however for a = 25 and 30, the profiles are almost flat. In most
of the cases, higher bend angle was noted near the edges. The edge effect is
calculated along the laser scanning path by using Eq. (5). It is observed that the
edge effect (RVBA) is highest (32.05 %) for a = 15 and lowest (8.27 %) for the case
of a = 30. The edge effect for straight line laser bending is found to be 24.8 %. This
can be attributed to the probable change in bending mechanism from the start to the
end of the laser scanning path. Initially when laser irradiation starts, the temperature
gradient is high and when laser moves in the forward direction, the temperature
gradient decreases due to the preheating of the material. Thus the process leads to
the BM dominated process condition. After reaching the highest (peak) position of
the scanning path curvature, laser starts moving to its end position. During this
period of movement from the peak of curvature to the end-point of scanning path,
the temperature gradient increases due to availability of less material for heat
conduction. Thus the bend angle increases near the edges.

5.2.2 Laser Bending of Thin Sheets Using BM

The laser bending of aluminum sheet of 0.5 mm thickness is carried out with BM
dominated process conditions. The effects of scanning speed, laser power, and
scanning path curvature are discussed as below.
Figure 18 shows the effect of scanning speed on bend angle for the sheet
thickness of 0.5 mm. It can be observed that the bend angle decreases with increase

Fig. 18 Effect of laser scanning speed on 0.5 mm thin sheet

Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 87

in scanning speed. It may be due to the combined effect of lesser energy input and
high temperature gradient at higher scan speeds. In BM, bending occurs when the
temperature gradient is negligible. The bend angle increases with increase in
temperature isotherm along the worksheet thickness. It means the bend angle is
more when the temperature gradient along the worksheet thickness is less. The
increase in scanning speed increases temperature gradient along the thickness
direction which further leads to the decrease in bend angle at higher scanning speed.
In BM, the laser power is an important parameter which controls the bending of
the worksheet. Figure 19 shows the effect of laser power on bend angle for sheet
thickness of 0.5 mm. The bend angle increases with increase in laser power. For
higher values of laser power, the temperature gradient along the thickness direction
decreases due to quick flow of heat into the worksheets. The reduction in tem-
perature gradient leads to increase in bend angle.
Figure 20 shows the variation of bend angle with respect to scanning path
curvature for sheet thickness of 0.5 mm. Figure 20 shows that for sheet thickness of
0.5 mm, the bend angle is almost constant with respect to the change in scanning
path curvature. However, for a = 15, the bend angle it was found to be slightly less.
Figure 21 shows the variation in bend angle along the laser scanning path for
various values of path curvature. It can be seen that for straight line heating the
bend angle increases from the start to the end in laser pass. It may be due to the fact
that the temperature gradient is highest when laser irradiation starts and as laser
beam proceeds, the temperature gradient reduces due to the intense preheating of
work sheet. This leads to increase in bend angle along the scanning path. In cur-
vilinear laser bending, the bend angle increases from laser start position, attains a
peak and then decreases towards the laser end position. The similar trend is

Fig. 19 Effect of laser power on bend angle on 0.5 mm thick aluminum sheet with parabolic
irradiation
88 R. Kant et al.

Fig. 20 Effect of curvature on bend angle for 0.5 mm thick aluminum sheet with parabolic
irradiation

Fig. 21 Variation of bend angle along laser scanning path for 0.5 mm thick aluminum sheet

observed for all the scanning path curvatures (Fig. 21). It may be due to the bending
offset phenomenon shown in Fig. 22.
In straight line laser bending, the workpiece bends about the irradiation line as
shown in Fig. 22a. The deformation behavior of curvilinear laser bending process
was found to be quite different than that of the straight line laser bending process. In
curvilinear laser bending, the bending did not occur over the scanning path. It
occurred at the outside of the scanning path curvature as shown in Fig. 22b. It may be
due to peak temperature offset and tendency of the sheet to bend outside of the
scanning path curvature. Similar observations were noted by Kant and Joshi (2013)
Experimental Studies on TGM and BM Dominated Curvilinear Laser … 89

Fig. 22 a Bending behavior in straight line laser bending process with laser power = 150 W,
scanning speed = 200 mm/min, beam diameter = 6.77 mm; b Bending behavior in curvilinear
laser bending process with laser power = 250 W, scanning speed = 300 mm/min, beam
diameter = 6.77 mm

during the numerical investigations on curvilinear laser bending (Sect. 4). However,
at the middle of the scanning path, the bending was occurred over the irradiation
path. For this study, the edge effect was calculated along the laser scanning path by
using Eq. (5). It was observed that the edge effect (RVBA) is highest (51.24 %) for the
straight line laser bending and lowest (25.43 %) for the case of a = 30. It was also
observed that the edge effect in TGM is comparatively less with that of with BM.

6 Conclusions

Laser bending is an important manufacturing process which is gaining importance

as it is evident from a large number of papers appearing in journals. In this chapter,
basics of laser bending process, various bending mechanisms and the edge effect
during laser bending process have been presented. Advantages and limitations of
the laser bending process are discussed. In this work, experimental studies on
curvilinear laser bending of aluminum alloy sheets have been carried out. For
parabolic irradiation, the effects of various process parameters viz. laser power,
scanning speed and scanning path curvature on bend angle have been studied. Edge
effects for two different mechanisms i.e. temperature gradient mechanism (TGM)
and buckling mechanism (BM) are studied.
90 R. Kant et al.

The experimental study revealed that a combination of high scanning speed and
high laser power produces higher bend angle in TGM dominated laser bending
process. However in BM, a combination of low scanning speed and high laser
power was found to be generating larger bend angle. The scanning path curvature
was found to an influencing parameter in the laser bending process. The defor-
mation behavior of curvilinear laser bending was found to be different from that of
straight line laser bending process. The workpiece was found to be bent outside of
the scanning path curvature. These observations validated the findings reported by
Kant and Joshi (2014) based on their numerical work. The presented results may be
useful to the engineers and scientists working in the area of Laser forming.

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Mathematical Formulation
for Development of Compound Curve
Surface by Laser Line Heating

Biplab Das and Pankaj Biswas

Abstract Line heating assisted with laser as a heat source is a flexible forming
process that forms sheet metal by means of stresses induced by external heat instead
of by means of external force. The process has the potential to be applied as a
primary forming method for forming accurate shapes. However successful appli-
cation of this process in industry is limited due to high equipment costs and safety
requirements. The production of complex shapes requires the understanding of
laser-material interaction. The chapter presents the mathematical formulation of
development of smooth continuous curved surface. It is developed by deformation
of sheet under plane stress condition by taking into account the strain distribution
and the coefficient of first fundamental form of curve surface. Surface development
is carried out along principal curvature direction along with the procedure for
suitable determination of heating line pattern for the desired engineering surfaces.

Keywords Line heating
Strain field
Doubly curve surface
Scanning path

1 Introduction

Line heating is a suitable technique for obtaining desired shape under the influence
of a suitable thermal load on a given metallic plate. The thermal load can be
induced with the use of suitable heat source which includes: oxy-acetylene gas
flame, high frequency induction heating or laser beam either one depending on the
suitability. The process is controlled by the intensity of heat source, its speed of
movement over the plate and the pattern of lines where the heat is to be applied.

B. Das
P. Biswas (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: pankaj.biswas@iitg.ernet.in
B. Das
e-mail: das.biplab@iitg.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 93

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_6
94 B. Das and P. Biswas

Keeping all these conditions in account laser beam has been considered to be most
suitable heat source as it provides ease for precision and effective control over the
process. As the process is a non-contact type forming and does not require any
external force of contact it reduces the hard tooling cost. As the process is rec-
ommendable for the development of complex shapes, using laser as a heat source in
this technique is quiet justifiable for obtaining large volume production with in a
quick period of time. It has a significant value to the industries that previously relied
on expensive stamping processes. For past few years many approaches were taken
into account in process design. Design based on Genetic algorithm (Shimizu 1997;
Cheng and Yao 2001) and based on response surface methodology (Liu and Yao
2002) were reported. Ueda et al. (1994) addresses the issue of determination of the
scanning path was done on the basis of FEM by determining the in-plane strain. A
suitable algorithm was developed by Jang and Moon (1998) for the determination
of heating lines by calculating the line of curvature and principal curvature of the
desired surface. But this method is limited to simple surfaces only. Edwardson et al.
(2001) have developed certain rules for the positioning and sequencing of scanning
path which are required for the development of 3-D curved surface, but the work
has been found to be solely dependent on the prior experience for the development
of the pattern and it is found to be minimum effective when the shapes are to be
formed of more complex shapes. For implementing the technique of laser line
heating effectively a suitable mathematical approach for the development of com-
pound curve surface by evaluating strains from the surface to its planar develop-
ment corresponds to forming from planar shape to curved surface by the process of
line heating has been dealt with detail.

2 Basics of Differential Geometry of Surfaces

2.1 Surfaces

We need to formulate mathematically the notion of a surface; it is defined to be a

subset S of R3 is a surface if, for every point P 2 S, there is an open set U in R2 and
an open set W in R3 containing P such that S \ W is homeomorphic (Pressley
2001).

2.2 Regular Surfaces

A regular surface can be analysed in R3 , such that A subset S  R3 is a regular

surface if, for each P 2 S, there exists a neighbourhood V in R3 and a map x:U !
V \ S of an open set U  R2 onto V \ S  R3 such that, x is differentiable,
homeomorphism and obeys the regularity condition (do Carmo 1976).
Mathematical Formulation for Development … 95

Fig. 1 Definition of regular surface

Fig. 2 Flow chart for Desired Shape

obtaining curved surface by
the process of line heating
Calculations for obtaining surface coefficients

Determination of Gaussian Curvature

Determination of Strain field

Determination of planar shape

Determination of heating path

The mapping x is called a parameterization or a system of (local) coordinates in

(a neighbourhood of) P as shown in Fig. 1. The neighbourhood V \ S of P in S is
called a coordinate neighbourhood. For formulating the line heating process the
following algorithm has been developed as shown in Fig. 2.
96 B. Das and P. Biswas

2.2.1 The First Fundamental Form

The first thing while working with a surface is to find the distance between the two
points on a surface. The action to be conducted is usually be different from the
distance between the points to be measured in three dimensional space, as the
straight line segment which is covering the shortest path between the points in R3
will generally be not present on the surface, the specified action which allows for
computation of length, area is the first fundamental form of a surface.

Curve Length on a Surface

Considering cðtÞ is a curve in a surface patch (Pressley 2001) σ such that

cðtÞ ¼ rðuðtÞ; vðtÞÞ, its arc length starts at a point cðt0 Þ is given by

Zt
s ¼ c_ ðuÞdu: ð1Þ
t0

By chain rule, c_ ¼ ru u_ þ rv v_ so;

 2
c_  ¼ ðru u_ þ rv v_ Þ
ðru u_ þ rv v_ Þ
¼ ðru
ru Þu_ 2 þ ðru
rv Þu_
_ v þ ðrv
ru Þ_vu_ þ ðrv
rv Þ_v2
ð2Þ
¼ ðru
ru Þu_ 2 þ 2ðru
rv Þu_
_ v þ ðrv
rv Þ_v2
¼ E u_ 2 þ 2F u_
_ v þ G_v2
   
where, E ¼ r2u ; F ¼ ru
rv ; G ¼ r2v 

Z t pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
So; s ¼ ðE u_ 2 þ 2F u_ _ v þ G_v2 dt: ð3Þ
t0

2 2
So by bringing dt inside the square root and write ðdu
dt Þ ðdtÞ ¼ du , etc. we see that
2

s is the integral of the square root of the expression:

Edu2 þ 2Fdudv þ Gdv2 ð4Þ

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
This is called the first fundamental form of r
s ¼ R ds2 . From Eqs. (3) and (4)
we can also write as:

ds2 ¼ Edu2 þ 2Fdudv þ Gdv2 :

Mathematical Formulation for Development … 97

Surface Area

The area of the part σ(R) of surface patch r:U ! R3 corresponding to a region
R ⊂ U is
ZZ
kru  rv kdudv:

For finding the value of kru  rv k we have used vector algebra. Considering a,
b, c and d are vectors in R3 , then ða  bÞ
ðc  d Þ ¼ ða
cÞðb
d Þ  ða
d Þðb
cÞ:
Applying it to

kru  rv k2 ¼ ðru  rv Þ
ðru  rv Þ

¼ ðru
ru Þðrv
rv Þ  ðru
rv Þ2
¼ EG  F 2 ð5Þ

For regular surface, EG  F 2 [ 0 everywhere, as for regular surface ru  rv is not

RR pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
zero. From the definition of area it can be written as: EG  F 2 dudv.

2.2.2 Second Fundamental Forms

For introduction of the measurement of “Curvedness” of a surface “Second fun-

damental form” of surfaces need to be taken into consideration. For defining the
curvatures of a surface S, considering a curve C on S passing through a point P as
shown in Fig. 3, where t is the unit tangent vector, n. n is the unit normal vector and
K. K is the curvature vector of the curve C at point P (Yu et al. 2000).

Fig. 3 Normal curvature

98 B. Das and P. Biswas

dt
K¼ ¼ Kn ¼ Kn þ Kg ð6Þ
ds

The unit normal vector at each point is given by

ru  rv
N¼ ð7Þ
kru  rv k

Normal Curvature and Principal Curvature

The normal curvature vector Kn can be expressed as

Kn ¼ kn N ð8Þ

The scalars Kn and Kg are called the normal curvature and the geodesic curvature
respectively.
For an unit speed curve on a surface patch, its normal curvature is given by

Kn ¼ Lðu0 Þ2 þ 2Mu0 v0 þ Nðv0 Þ2 ð9Þ

where L ¼ hru ; Nu i; M ¼ hru ; Nv i ¼ hrv ; Nu i; N ¼ hrv ; Nv i.

These are the coefficients of the second fundamental form.
The normal curvature can also be expressed as

L þ 2Mk þ Nk2
Kn ¼ ð10Þ
E þ 2Fk þ Gk2

where k ¼ du dv
.
The principle curvatures at a point of a surface are basically the maximum and
minimum values of the normal curvature of all curves on the surface that passes
through the point. Moreover, the principal vectors are the tangent vectors of the
curves providing the maximum and minimum values. The basic geometric inter-
pretation of the principal curvature is that it provides us information about the shape
of the surface near a particular point on the surface. The principal curvatures of a
surface can be evaluated by solving the quadratic equation:
 
 L  kE M  kF 
 
 M  kF N  kG  ¼ 0 ð11Þ

This will produce two roots k1 and k2 which are the principal curvatures at a point
on a surface and are found to be real numbers.
Mathematical Formulation for Development … 99

2.2.3 Gaussian and Mean Curvatures

Gaussian and mean curvature together gives the same information as the two
principal curvature gives. They have a greater significance towards the geometrical
aspects of the surface. The Gaussian curvature has a remarkable property that it
does not change when the surface is bent without stretching, which is not shared by
principal curvatures. The knowledge of Gaussian curvature and mean curvature
implies about the geometry of the surface.
From Eq. (10) the extreme values of Kn can be obtained by evaluating dk dk ¼ 0,
n

which gives after several algebraic manipulations:

kn2  2Hkn þ K ¼ 0: ð12Þ

Here K and H are called Gauss (Gaussian) and mean curvature respectively. The
values can be evaluated from the Eq. (11) of the principal curvature. Equation (11)
can be solved as follows:
 
 L  kE M  kF 
 ¼0
 M  kF N  kG 
ð13Þ
) ðL  kE ÞðN  kGÞ  ðM  kF Þ2 ¼ 0
 
) EG  F 2 k2  ðLG  2MF þ NE Þk þ LN  M 2 ¼ 0

Equation (13) is in the form of a quadratic equation which is of the form

ak 2 þ bk þ c ¼ 0, where sum of the roots is b=a and the product of the root is
c=a. So K ¼ k1 k2 and H ¼ 12 ðk1 þ k2 Þ.
The values of K and H are found to be as follows:

LN  M 2
K¼ ð14Þ
EG  F 2
EN þ GL  2FM
H¼ ð15Þ
2ðEG  F 2 Þ

Alternatively, the Gaussian curvature K can be expressed as a function of E, F,

G and their derivatives.
 
4ðEG  F 2 Þ2 K ¼ E Ev Gv  2Fu Gv þ G2u
þ F ðEu Gv  Ev Gu  2Ev Fv þ 4Eu Fv  2Fu Gu Þ
 
þ G Eu Gu  2Eu Fv þ Ev2  2ðEG  F 2 ÞðEvv  2Fuv þ Guu Þ
ð16Þ
100 B. Das and P. Biswas

3 Surface Development

Basically surface development can be done in two ways:

(i) It can be developed along iso parametric direction.
(ii) It can be developed along principal curvature direction.
Here surface developments based on strains along principal curvature directions
are presented. As the principal curvature directions are independent of parameter-
ization of surfaces and are unique except at umbilic points.

3.1 Determination of Strain Field

3.1.1 Formulation

Considering a surface r, which can be represented I parametric form i.e. r ðu; vÞ,
where u; v basically indicates the unit vector along u and v direction. The coeffi-
cients of the first fundamental form of the curved surface are given by:

E ¼ ru
ru ; F ¼ ru
rv ; G ¼ rv
rv ð17Þ

The strains due to development from curved surface to its plane development are
es ðu; vÞ  0 and et  0 along the maximum and minimum principal curvature
directions respectively.
Therefore the small change in length jrs dsj changes to ð1 þ es Þjrs dsj and small
length jrt dtj changes to ð1 þ et Þjrt dtj, according to the definition of strain. So,

jRs j ¼ ð1 þ es Þjrs j; jRt j ¼ ð1 þ et Þjrt j ð18Þ

where R (u, v) is the planar development. R (u, v) can also be considered as a

parametric surface with its first fundamental form coefficients defined by:

e ¼ Ru
Ru ; f ¼ Ru
Rv ; g ¼ Rv
Rv ð19Þ

Since,

Rs
Rs ¼ ðRu us þ Rv vs Þ:ðRu us þ Rv vs Þ ¼ eu2s þ 2fus vs þ gv2s ð20Þ

and

rs
rs ¼ ðru us þ rv vs Þ:ðru us þ rv vs Þ
¼ Eu2s þ 2Fus vs þ Gv2s ð21Þ
Mathematical Formulation for Development … 101

Using the relations (18)–(21), we obtain

eu2s þ 2fus vs þ gv2s ¼ ð1 þ es Þ2 ðEu2s þ 2Fus vs þ Gv2s Þ ð22Þ

Similarly, along minimum principal curvature direction, we have

eu2t þ 2fut vt þ gv2t ¼ ð1 þ et Þ2 ðEu2t þ 2Fut vt þ Gv2t Þ ð23Þ

Assuming that after development the principal curvature directions remain

orthogonal, this gives,

Rs
Rt ¼ ðRu us þ Rv vs Þ
ðRu ut þ Rv vt Þ ¼ 0 ð24Þ

(As the two vectors make an angle of 90° to each other, their dot product is zero)
e, f and g are already defined in expression (19), so by simplifying Eq. (24) we get

eus ut þ f ðus vt þ ut vs Þ þ gvs vt ¼ 0 ð25Þ

The three linear equations (22), (23) and (25) and the solution is given by

v2t ½Eu2s þ 2Fus vs þ Gv2s ð1 þ es Þ2 v2s ½Eu2t þ 2Fut vt þ Gv2t ð1 þ et Þ2
e¼ þ ð26Þ
ðvs ut  us vt Þ2 ðvs ut  us vt Þ2

ut vt ½Eu2s þ 2Fus vs þ Gv2s ð1 þ es Þ2 us vs ½Eu2t þ 2Fut vt þ Gv2t ð1 þ et Þ2

f ¼ 
ðvs ut  us vt Þ2 ðvs ut  us vt Þ2
ð27Þ

u2t ½Eu2s þ 2Fus vs þ Gv2s ð1 þ es Þ2 u2s ½Eu2t þ 2Fut vt þ Gv2t ð1 þ et Þ2
g ¼ þ ð28Þ
ðvs ut  us vt Þ2 ðvs ut  us vt Þ2

We minimize the strains es ðu; vÞ and et ðu; vÞ satisfying the condition that after
adding these strains to a doubly curve surface along principal curvature directions,
the surface maps to a planar shape on which a Gaussian curvature is zero. This
results into a minimization problem. The constrained minimization problem is
discretized by using finite difference method and trapezoidal rule of integration.

3.2 Determination of the Planar Developed Shape

Solving the non-linear minimization problem, we obtain the strains es and et at all
grid points. The first fundamental form coefficient e, f, g of the planar developed
shape is then obtained from Eqs. (26)–(28). For determination of planar coordinates
102 B. Das and P. Biswas

ðXij ; Yij Þ of the grid points at the corresponding planar development. These coor-
dinates ðXij ; Yij Þ should satisfy the following equations at all grid points:

Ru
Ru ¼ e; Ru
Rv ¼ f; Rv
Rv ¼ g ð29Þ

After discretizing the Eq. (29) using finite difference method (central difference for
internal points and forward and backward difference for boundary points), we
obtain a system of non-linear polynomial equations.
From stability point of view, the strain energy needs to be in minimal range for
more stableness. So without calculating the distance directly, we can solve the
following unconstrained minimization problem:
u v
X X
Ng Ng
ððRu
Ru Þat ij  eij Þ2 þ ððRu
Rv Þat ij  f ij Þ2 þ ððRv
Rv Þat ij  gij Þ2 ð30Þ
i¼1 j¼1

The optimization problem can be solved by using quasi-newton method.

3.3 Heating Line Generation

Heating paths can be determined from information of direction of principal com-

pressive strains (Clausen 2000). Heating along a line leads to bending along a
direction perpendicular to that of the heating path. There is a combination of both
bending and shrinkage in the heated region. When the heating paths are to be
traced, the option is to be made between principal directions from either bending or
shrinkage separately. The lines for bending are to be determined first, which is to be
followed by shrinkage lines.
Heating patterns can be obtained based on the direction of principal bending of
the target surface by the use of differential geometry.

3.3.1 Bending Paths

The target surface is given as a function, the principal bending vectors,v!

1;2 , can be
obtained from the Eigen value problem, i.e.
  
 L M E F 

 M N k F G ¼0 ð31Þ

where k is the Eigen value (principal curvature) and fE; F; Gg; fL; M; Ng are the
coefficients of first and second fundamental form respectively.
Mathematical Formulation for Development … 103

Once the Eigen values were obtained, which are basically the principal curva-
ture, the corresponding Eigen vectors (principal curvature directions) can be eval-
uated from
   
L M E F v1 0
 k1 ¼ ð32Þ
M N F G v2 0

where k1 is the largest principal curvature and ~

v is the corresponding Eigen vector.
The matrix is a singular matrix as the coefficient is equal to zero. It can be written
as:

ðL  k1 E Þv1 þ ðM  k1 F Þv2 ¼ 0 ð33Þ

 
! M  k1 F
Or v1 ¼ S  ; 1 ; S 2 R: ð34Þ
L  k1 E

If for instance, the surface, ~ x, is given as a function of x and y as

~
x ¼ x~
e1 þ y~
e2 þ f ðx; yÞ~
e3
Then the coefficients of the first and second fundamental form are simply:
 2
E ¼ 1 þ f;x ð35Þ

F ¼ f;x f;y ð36Þ

 2
G ¼ 1 þ f;y ð37Þ

f;xx
L ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2ffi ð38Þ
1 þ f;x þ f;y

f;xy
M ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2ffi ð39Þ
1 þ f;x þ f;y

f;yy
N ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2ffi ð40Þ
1 þ f;x þ f;y

where, x denotes differentiation with respect to x and, y denotes differentiation with

respect to y.
When the vector field for the principal directions of curvature has been calcu-
lated, it must be traced into heating lines. Heating produces more bending per-
pendicular to heating directions than along it. Therefore bending paths can be traced
perpendicular to the field.
104 B. Das and P. Biswas

3.3.2 Shrinkage Path

The largest shrinkage direction is not necessarily perpendicular to the heating path.
Differential geometry can be used, provided that a function for the target surface is
known. From the strain field of the elastic analysis the principal direction, hp and
the principal strains e1;2 can be computed from the x and y components of the strain
field, ex ; ey and exy .
The z components of the strain are not needed as this is assumed to be zero in the
principal direction is found from the plane strain formulation.


1 exy
hp ¼ tan ð41Þ
2 ex  ey

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
1 2
e1;2 ¼ ex þ ey  ex  ey þexy 2 ð42Þ
2

Equation (39) is may be the direction of either of the two perpendicular principal
directions in the plane. As the direction for e1 is needed, e1 and e2 can be compared
with (37) for finding the principal strains based on hp . The strains belong to the
direction:

1     
etest ¼ ex þ ey þ ex  ey cos 2hp þ exy sin 2hp ð43Þ
2

If the found etest is equal to e1 the angle hp used in (41) was in fact the wanted. Else
it belongs to the other principal strain.
Previous to the tracing of strain directions into actual heating paths, requirement
of distance between the heating lines must be determined. This can be explained in
the following way: The displacement of heating line

Sy p
dL ¼ w ð44Þ
e1

where Sy ; wp ; e1 ; dL are shrinkage strain, width of the heating line, elastic analysis
strain and distance between line of interest. Thus heating line can be traced.

4 Conclusions

From the above investigation the following conclusions can be made:

(i) A mathematical model has been proposed using differential geometry as a
tool.
(ii) Detail step by step mathematical formulation have been configured for
developing a doubly curve surface from a flat plate or blank.
Mathematical Formulation for Development … 105

(iii) A suitable step has been put forwarded for finding out desired optimum
blank size.
(iv) Procedure for obtaining optimum heating line generation for the develop-
ment of doubly curve surface has been suitably incorporated.
Overall a step by step problem solving procedure has been proposed mathe-
matically, with the involvement of mechanical parameters for the process of laser
line heating.

References

Shimizu, H. (1997). A heating process algorithm for metal forming by a moving heat source.
Master’s thesis, Masachusetts Institute of Technology, MA.
Liu. C., & Yao, Y. L. (2002). Optimal and robust design of laser forming process. Journal of
Manufacturing Processes, v4(n1), 000–000.
Ueda, K., Murakawa, H., Rashwan, A. M., Okumoto, Y., & Kamichika, R. (1994a). Development
of computer-aided process planning system for plate bending by line heating (report 1)—
relation between final form of plate and inherent strain. Journal of Ship Production, v10(n1),
59–67.
Edwardson, S. P., Watkins, K. G., Dearden, G., & Magee, J. (2001). 3D laser forming of saddle
shape. In Proceedings of LANE 2001.
Pressley, A. (2001). Elementary Differential Geometry, Springer Undergraduate Mathematics
Series ISSN 1615-2085. London: Springer.
do Carmo, M. P. (1976). Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc..
Yu, G., Patrikalakis, N. M., & Takashi, M. (2000). Optimal development of doubly curved
surfaces. Computer Aided Geometric Design, 17, 545–577.
Clausen, H. B. (2000). Plate forming by line heating. PhD thesis, Department of Naval
Architecture and Offshore Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.
Cheng, J., Yao, Y. L. (2001). Cooling effects in multiscan laser forming. Journal of Manufacturing
Processes, 3(1), 60–72.
Jang, C. D., Moon, S. C. (1998). An algorithm to determine heating lines for plate forming by line
heating method. Journal of Ship Production, 14, 238–245.
Surface Alloying of Aluminum
with Copper Using CO2 Laser

Woldetinsay G. Jiru, Mamilla R. Sankar and Uday S. Dixit

Abstract Aluminium and its alloys have high demand in manufacturing and ser-
vice industries due to their high specific strength. Addition of different metals like
Cu, Mg, Ni, Cr, and Zn provides enhanced service life. In this work, commercially
available 99 % pure aluminium was alloyed with copper powder of 10 μm particles
size, which was melted by CO2 laser. Three different methods were used for uni-
form placing of 95 % copper powder and 5 % aluminium powder on the aluminium
substrate. The result was examined by Vickers hardness test. SEM and FESEM
were used for studying surface and subsurface defects. Defect free aluminium alloy
with improved microstructure and enhanced mechanical properties was obtained.

Keywords Surface alloying
CO2 laser
Copper powder
Aluminium

1 Introduction

Most applications in real world require specific surface properties of components

with good corrosion resistance, wear resistance and hardness. However, it is not
easy to get alloys with such properties since they are expensive due to the cost of
producing those parts. Investigations have been carried out to improve the prop-
erties and to reduce the cost of components made of Aluminium alloys. An
important and recent technology is the laser surface alloying, which is a cost-
effective technique to improve the surface properties of materials using laser beam

W.G. Jiru
M.R. Sankar
U.S. Dixit (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology,
Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: uday@iitg.ac.in
W.G. Jiru
e-mail: woldetinsay@iitg.ac.in
M.R. Sankar
e-mail: evmrs@iitg.ac.in

© Springer India 2015 107

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_7
108 W.G. Jiru et al.

heat (Hecht 2011). In this technique, the structure and physical characteristics at the
surface get changed. Laser surface alloying utilizes a high power density laser beam
to melt the metal coatings (alloying elements) and the surface of substrate material.
This melting takes place in a very short period of time while bulk material remains
cold and acts as heat sink for self-quenching and fast solidification phenomenon.
Laser surface alloying is similar to laser surface melting except that in the former,
alloying materials are added into the melt pool in order to impart its properties as per
requirements. It is also similar to laser surface cladding, but laser surface alloying
requires more energy compared to cladding. The surface alloying improves corrosion
resistance, oxidation and solidification resistance, wear resistance, mechanical
properties, electrical & electronic properties, thermal insulation and aesthetic
appearance. By improving the surface, it reduces the frictional energy loss.

2 Significances of Surface Alloying

Failure of engineering components due to some reasons such as mechanical,

chemical or electrochemical interaction with the surrounding environment initiates
at the surface due to the high intensity of external stress and environmental attack.
To develop the resistance of materials, laser surface alloying is one method to
modify the surface properties of a material without affecting its bulk property. The
intimate contact between the melt and the solid substrate causes a very fast heat
extraction during solidification resulting in very high cooling rates of the order of
105–108 K/s. The high cooling rates to which this surface layer is subjected result in
the formation of different microstructures from bulk metal leading to improved
surface properties (Dubourg et al. 2002).
Adding alloying elements into the melted pool makes them inter diffuse into the
substrate material. Soon the solidification begins from the liquid-solid interface
towards the direction of substrate material. It has been reported that the structure of
alloyed zone depends on many properties like the particle size of the alloying material,
power of laser irradiation and duration of irradiation time. Alloying brings changes in
surface composition and microstructure of a material to give it certain desired prop-
erties. The benefits of rapid solidification by laser power for surface modification are as
follows: fine grain structure due to fast solidification (Kannatey-Asibu 2009), reduced
micro segregation and extended solubility of alloying elements.

3 Significance of (CO2) Laser for Surface Alloying

Carbon dioxide laser is the most popular laser used in industrial material processing
because of its high energy efficiency and high average optical power output. It uses
N2 gas for facilitating the pumping and population inversion process by providing
molecule collisions with CO2 gas.
Surface Alloying of Aluminum with Copper Using CO2 Laser 109

In addition He gas is used for bringing the N2 gas to ground state by from the
lower excited state. CO2 laser can be operated both in continuous and pulsed modes
for material processing. In this work the continuous mode is used.
A CO2 laser has the following characteristics (Dahotre 1998):
• Wave length of 10.6 µm. It is in the far infra-red spectrum thus not visible.
• It can be operated in continuous wave (CW) mode where the output power is at
constant level, or pulse mode where the laser output power can be pulsed.
• The laser beam is well absorbed by organic materials and ceramics but poorly
absorbed by metallic materials.
• Mirrors rather than optical fibers are used for beam delivery since normal glass
or silica in optical fibers is opaque to the CO2 laser beam.

4 Details of Experiments

In the present work, commercially pure Aluminium of 99 % purity was alloyed with
copper powder of 10 μm particle size and melting was done by continuous CO2
laser power. During alloying 50 % overlap is provided between consequent beads.
After cooling, re-melting was carried out at orthogonal direction to alloyed layers.
Sample dimension used was 110 mm × 50 mm × 6 mm. Table 1 shows substrate
material composition tested by analytical technique used for the elemental analysis
in energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Figure 1 shows the schematic
diagram of alloying used for this experiment.
In view of the importance of Aluminium for automobile, aerospace and many
other sectors, this chapter investigates the surface alloying of aluminium by copper.
Three methods of alloying have been used. The mechanical properties and
microstructures of surface alloyed samples have been compared. Table 1 shows the
substrate material composition.

Table 1 Chemical Element Cu Si Fe Al

composition of substrate
material Composition (wt%) 0.12 0.14 0.59 Balance

Fig. 1 Schematic of laser

alloying
110 W.G. Jiru et al.

Table 2 Process parameters for surface alloying Al with Cu

S. Process parameters for alloying Process parameters for re-melting Re-melting
No. LP SOD SS LSD LP SOD SS LSD
(kW) (mm) (mm/min) (mm) (kW) (mm) (mm/min) (mm)
S1 1.7 30 600 4.05 1.6 30 600 4.05 Yes
S2 1.7 30 500 4.05 1.6 30 600 4.05
S3 1.7 30 500 4.05 1.6 40 800 5.39
S4 1.7 40 500 5.39 1.6 40 800 5.39
S5 1.7 30 400 4.05 – – – – No
S6 1.6 30 500 4.05 1.6 40 800 5.39 Yes
S7 2.0 40 400 5.39 – – – – No
S8 1.6 30 400 4.05 1.7 30 500 4.05 Yes
S9 1.8 30 400 4.05 1.6 40 800 5.39
S10 1.7 30 600 4.05 1.7 30 500 4.05
S11 1.8 30 500 4.05 1.5 40 400 5.39
S12 1.7 40 600 5.39 – – – – No
S13 1.8 40 600 5.39 1.5 40 800 5.39 Yes
S14 1.6 30 600 4.05 1.6 40 800 5.39
S15 1.7 30 400 4.05 1.7 30 500 4.05
LP Laser power, SOD Stand of distance, SS Scanning speed, LSD Laser spot diameter

Three methods used for depositing the copper powder are as follows:
(a) Stirring of metal powder with Fevicol and then painting it on substrate to
achieve 0.5 mm coating for samples 12, 13, 14, 15.
(b) First painting the substrate by Fevicol, then applying powder uniformly and
finally compacting it to achieve total coating thickness of 1 mm for samples 4,
5, 6, and 9.
(c) First painting the substrate by Fevicol, then applying powder and blowing out
excess powder to achieve total coating thickness of 0.5 mm for samples 1, 2, 3,
7, 8, 10 and 11. Table 2 shows the process parameters in different experiments.

5 Results and Discussions

5.1 Crystal Size and Lattice Strain

The crystal size and lattice strain developed due to thermal effect was examined for
Sample 4 by XRD and the result is shown in Fig. 2. Strain was calculated from
(Williamson and Hall 1953):

Kk
b cos h ¼ þ 4g sin h ð1Þ
D
Surface Alloying of Aluminum with Copper Using CO2 Laser 111

Fig. 2 X-ray diffraction

pattern of Al4Cu9

where β is the full width at half maximum, K is a constant, λ is the X-ray wave
length of Cukα radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å), D is the average crystal size and η is the
lattice strain. The strain in the sample was 0.002 as observed in the inset of Fig. 2
and average size of crystallite is 152.06 nm. The crystal is cubic in structure as
justified from the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD)#: 02-1254,
confirming the formation of Al4Cu9 phase.

5.2 Surface Roughness

Roughness plays an important role in determining how a real object will interact
with its environment. Surfaces with roughness usually wear more quickly and have
higher friction coefficients than smooth surfaces. The performance of a mechanical
component highly depends on the condition of the surface finish, since irregularities
in the surface may form nucleation sites for cracks or corrosion.
In the present work, the surfaces of the alloyed layers were tested without
polishing the surface. Taylor Hobson make CCI Light, non-contact optical profi-
lometer was used to check surface quality of alloyed samples. Figure 3a shows
Sample 2, where the area of non-uniform coating resulted in void surface with
larger peaks and valleys and Fig. 3b is Sample 9, with uniform deposited and
alloyed surface with centre average roughness value (Ra) up to 1.9 µm.

5.3 Micro Hardness Analysis

Micro-hardness test was conducted on thickness side of the samples by Vickers

hardness test using 500 gf and the results are plotted in Fig. 4. Maximum hardness
112 W.G. Jiru et al.

(a)
12.5

10

7.5

2.5

-2.5

-5

-7.5

-10

-12.5

-15
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 µm

(b)

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 µm

Fig. 3 Surface topography and corresponding line surface roughness of alloyed samples. a non
uniform coated surface, b uniform coated surface

Fig. 4 Vickers hardness variation towards the alloyed area on the specimen
Surface Alloying of Aluminum with Copper Using CO2 Laser 113

achieved is 156 HV at laser power of 1.7 kW laser beam diameter of 5.39 mm and
scanning speed of 500 mm/min. The re-melting was done in orthogonal direction to
the alloyed direction at laser power of 1.6 kW and scanning speed of 800 mm/min.
The re-melting was done after alloying improved hardness (Pinto et al. 2003).
Samples 4 and 9, surface alloyed with 1 mm deposition thickness of alloying
element, resulted in improved hardness compared to other samples.

5.4 Microstructure and Morphology Analysis

A pure metal normally solidifies at a constant temperature with the inter-face

between the solid and liquid media being planar for an alloy. Figure 5a for sample 4
and Fig. 5b for sample 9 show the morphological result at the solidified regions
analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It shows the Cu growth in
Al4Cu9 inter metallic phase with a fine microstructure region (Dubourg et al. 2002).
After initial cellular growth from the bottom of the molten pool, the solidifying area
developed lateral instability favourable for forming homogeneous structure.
Figure 6a shows uniformity of Cu growth into white Al primary grains and dark
eutectic well distributed forming inter-metallic of Al4Cu9 phase. Figure 6b shows
the grain boundary crack that contain appreciable amounts of copper, when the
cooling rate is insufficient to prevent precipitation on grain boundaries at higher
temperature and hence is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and micro-
crack initiation (van Otterloo et al. 1995).
Atoms of Cu lower their free energy when they migrate to lattice defects such as
grain boundaries, phase boundaries and dislocation. In Fig. 7a marked region ‘A’
shows un-melted region. A regular growth of binary Al4Cu9 eutectic morphology as

Fig. 5 Scanning electron microscopic for morphology test a sample 4 b sample 9

114 W.G. Jiru et al.

Fig. 6 SEM photograph of a sample 9 with laser alloying parameters P = 1.8 kW, SOD = 30 mm,
SS = 400 mm/min and re-melting P = 1.6 kW, SOD = 40 mm and SS = 800 mm/min. b sample 13
with laser alloying parameters P = 1.8 kW, SOD = 40 mm, SS = 600 mm/min, re-melting = 1.5 kW,
SOD = 40 mm, SS = 800 mm/min)

Fig. 7 SEM photograph of sample 5, P = 1.7 kW, SOD = 30 mm, SS = 400 mm, no re-melting
a normal view b expanded view of region B

a result of uniform and fast cooling time resulted in fine microstructure as shown in
Fig. 7b at higher magnification. Segregation to grain boundaries affects the mobility
of the boundary and has pronounced effects on re-crystallization, texture and grain
growth.
Surface Alloying of Aluminum with Copper Using CO2 Laser 115

5.5 Porosity Challenges in Alloying

Porosity is not a usual problem in surface alloying like in other processes such as
welding. However, if proper care is not taken it may cause material failure during
service life. Porosity is the presence of gas pores or pockets within the fusion zone
in the form of discontinuity formed by gas entrapment during solidification phe-
nomenon. It occurs when gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are
absorbed from atmosphere or developed when chemical reactions takes place
between substrate and alloying elements during melting and solidification
phenomenon.
The sources of these gases may also arises from contaminated substrate material
or wetting conditions. For example, present experiments show the existence of gas
pores or pockets within the alloyed area for samples first painted by adhesive
followed by the copper powder deposition. Figure 8a shows a photograph and
Fig. 8b a SEM photo. The voids are formed due to gas entrapment during solidi-
fication which are likely to occur when the rate of solidification is fast and there is
no adequate time for the evolved gas to escape.
The laser parameter for alloying are P = 1.8 kW, SOD = 30 mm and
SS = 500 mm/min. Re-melting laser parameters are P = 1.5 kW and stand of
distance SOD = 40 mm and scanning velocity SS = 400 mm/min.
The quality of alloyed layers should be free of any cracks which may form under
the subsurface layers due to some reasons. Powders of alloyed regions were tested
by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to check whether cracks
and defects are formed at subsurface of alloyed regions. To check for it powders
from alloyed layers were prepared and tested by the above mentioned machine for
well alloyed layers selected. Figure 9 shows fractography results. No defects were
observed.

(a) (b)

Porosity in the alloying

Fig. 8 Sample 11 a photograph, b SEM photo

116 W.G. Jiru et al.

Fig. 9 Fractography tests by FESEM from powder of alloyed areas a sample 4, b sample 9

5.6 Conclusions

Surface alloying of commercially pure Aluminium by 10 µm copper powder was

carried out. The following are the main observations:
• Uniformly deposited Cu powder by compacting method resulted in good surface
alloyed layer with average surface roughness of 1.9 µm.
• For laser alloying at 1.7 kW and scanning speed of 500 mm/min and re-melting
at lower power of 1.6 kW in orthogonal direction to alloyed layer resulted in
improved micro hardness from 60 to 156 HV.
• Formation of fine microstructure with Al4Cu9 intermetallic phase developed due
to fast solidification and uniform alloying of Cu powder on substrate material.

References

Dahotre, N. B. (Ed.). (1998). Lasers in surface engineering (Vol. 1). USA: ASM International.
Dubourg, L., Pelletier, H., Vaissiere, D., Hlawka, F., & Cornet, A. (2002). Mechanical
characterization of laser surface alloyed aluminium–copper systems. Wear, 253(9), 1077–1085.
Hecht, J. (2011). Understanding lasers: An entry-level guide (Vol. 21). New York: Wiley.
Kannatey-Asibu, E, Jr. (2009). Principles of laser materials processing (Vol. 4). New York:
Wiley.
Pinto, M. A., Cheung, N., Ierardi, M. C. F., & Garcia, A. (2003). Microstructural and hardness
investigation of an aluminum–copper alloy processed by laser surface melting. Materials
Characterization, 50(2), 249–253.
van Otterloo, J. L. D. M., Bagnoli, D., & De Hosson, J. T. M. (1995). Enhanced mechanical
properties of laser treated Al-Cu alloys: A microstructural analysis. Acta Metallurgica et
Materialia, 43(7), 2649–2656.
Williamson, G. K., & Hall, W. H. (1953). X-ray line broadening from filed aluminium and
wolfram. Acta Metallurgica, 1(1), 22–31.
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser
Parameters in Preplaced TiC Coating
on Aluminium Substrate

Chinmaya Kumar Sahoo, Jageshwar Kumar Sahu

and Manoj Masanta

Abstract In this chapter basic mechanism of laser surface modification technique

has been discussed. Based on the process mechanism laser surface modification
techniques are classified and discussed in brief. Specific advantages, disadvantages
and applications of these processes are also explained. A brief review on laser
surface modification of Aluminium substrate using different coating materials,
surface modification of various engineering materials with TiC and surface modi-
fication of metallic substrate by utilizing pulse type low power laser have been
presented. Finally, experimental details of TiC coating on pure Aluminium sub-
strate using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser has been discussed. Effect of laser peak power
and pulse overlapping on the Aluminium substrate by pre-placing TiC powder has
been analyzed experimentally. Optical images of the cross-sectional view of the
laser irradiated samples show successful formation of coating. Experimental results
also show that, increase in laser peak power and pulse overlapping increases the
coating thickness. High peak power results in removal of coating material but
produces TiC mixed Aluminium layer at the top surface of substrate. Micro-
hardness profile on the coating shows improvement in hardness up to 20 times than
that of as received Aluminium substrate.

Keywords Pulsed Nd:YAG laser
TiC coating
Aluminium
Laser surface

modification

C.K. Sahoo
J.K. Sahu
M. Masanta (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT, Rourkela, Rourkela 769008, India
e-mail: manoj.masanta@gmail.com
C.K. Sahoo
e-mail: chinmaya.cks@gmail.com
J.K. Sahu
e-mail: jageshwarkumarsahu@gmail.com

© Springer India 2015 117

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_8
118 C.K. Sahoo et al.

1 Introduction

Laser coating is an advance process in which surface properties of metallic com-

ponents are improved by depositing materials with superior metallurgical properties
i.e. higher hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance as compared to the
base material, by using the heat source of laser beam. Laser coatings usually
possess uniform composition, coating thickness and exhibit superior metallurgical
bonding to the base material (Kadolkar and Dahotre 2003). In order to maintain the
original properties of the coating materials, dilution of coating into the substrate
should be minimum. Components coated with laser coating process produce
extremely dense, crack-free and non-porous surfaces with high resistance against
wear and corrosion (Vilar 1999). In addition to manufacturing of new component,
laser coating or cladding process also used for repairing of various engineering
component. Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of a typical laser surface
modification system which mainly consist of a laser source, beam delivery system
with mirror and lens arrangement, CNC controlled 3-axis motion table and
shielding gas supply.

2 Various Types of Laser Surface Modification Techniques

Laser surface modification is a broad area of laser material processing, basically

used to change either microstructure or composition of substrate surface with or
without addition of some new materials, to provide certain desired properties such
as high hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. Based on the working
mechanism laser surface modification techniques are classified as follows:

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of

a laser surface modification
system
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 119

2.1 Laser Surface Modification Without Use of External

Material

In this method of laser surface modification, no external material is used for

changing the surface properties. By changing the microstructure of the surface
through rapid heating and cooling or by melting a thin layer and subsequent rapid
self-quenching, surface layer with enhanced mechanical properties are formed,
which is harder than base material. Laser surface modification without use of any
external material can be done by following ways.

2.1.1 Laser Surface Heat Treatment

In laser surface heat treatment, surface of base material is exposed to thermal cycle
of rapid heating and cooling in such a way that, surface layers induce phase
transformation. Due to laser heating and subsequent rapid cooling, structure of steel
surface changes from austenitic to martensitic structure, which is harder than base
material and possesses higher wear resistance. In laser surface heat treatment
process material does not melt, transformation occur in the solid state only. Figure 2
shows the schematic of laser surface heat treatment process.

2.1.2 Laser Surface Melting and Re-solidification

In laser surface melting and re-solidification, a thin surface layer of base material is
melted by high intensity laser beam, which subsequently solidifies due to mass
effect of the bulk material (self-quenching), to form non-equilibrium structures.
Figure 3 shows the schematic diagram of laser melting process, where temperature
rise due to laser irradiation should be higher than the melting temperature of the
material. Depending on the cooling rate, that is again depends on the laser power,
interaction time of laser beam with material and its thermal properties, solidification
of molten layer produces some metastable phases. These phase change in

Fig. 2 Schematic of the laser

surface heat treatment
120 C.K. Sahoo et al.

Fig. 3 Schematic of the laser

surface melting and re-
solidification

microstructure causes modified properties such as improved hardness, wear resis-

tance and corrosion resistance of the base material surface.

2.1.3 Laser Shock Peening

Similar to peening by high velocity shots, laser beam can also be used to produce
compressive stresses on the surface of base material for increasing its fatigue life
and to improve the crack resistance property. Laser shock peening technique
involves generation of tamped plasmas at the surface of component. High laser
intensities (200 J/cm2) with low pulse duration (30 ns) can generate shock pressure
up to 105 atmospheres on the metal surface. The process is capable to produce
compressive residual stress at a greater depth than that of conventional peening
process without any significant change in surface finish. This deep residual stress is
important for safety of critical items such as compressor and turbine blades. Fig-
ure 4 shows the schematic of laser shock peening process.

2.2 Laser Surface Modification by Using External Material

These processes can be distinguished either on the basis of ‘degree of mixing’ of

coating material with substrate surface or based on the mode of supply of coating
material to the substrate surface before or during the laser processing.

Fig. 4 Schematic of the laser

shock peening process
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 121

Fig. 5 Schematic representation of laser alloying, dispersing and cladding process

2.2.1 Based on Degree of Mixing of Coating Material with Substrate

Surface

Laser alloying, laser dispersing and laser cladding are used as surface modification
technique to form a coating layer by addition of external material with improved
surface properties than the base material. Figure 5 shows the degree of mixing of
coating material and the substrate for laser alloying, dispersing and cladding
process.

Laser Alloying

In this process, melting of the substrate surface takes place due to scanning of laser
beam while added elements (in the form of powder or pre-deposited layer) mix up
with molten layer of substrate, to form an alloyed layer over the substrate surface.
The alloyed layer shows improved mechanical properties in terms of hardness and
wear resistance.

Laser Dispersing

In laser dispersing, hard ceramic particles are dispersed non-homogeneously in the

matrix of base material. Here, coating material is non-soluble in the base material.
Laser beam scan over the substrate to melt surface layer and simultaneously hard
particles are blown towards the molten substrate, so that a layer of hard ceramic
particle reinforced metal matrix composite can produces over the substrate surface.

Laser Cladding

In laser cladding a layer of different or same material is deposited over the substrate
surface. Strong metallurgical bond between clad layer and substrate obtained due to
slight dilution of the cladding into the substrate surface. The properties of the
produced clad layer depend on the applied coating material and laser processing
parameters. In comparison to conventional cladding process, in laser cladding
122 C.K. Sahoo et al.

overall heat input can be precisely controlled to make a layer with minimum
dilution and low heat affected zone. Due to high cooling rate, resulting micro-
structures are fine and non-equilibrium, which shows high hardness and wear
resistance of coated surface.
In case of laser alloying homogeneous mixing of the additional material with
base material takes place and produces alloyed layer which contain properties of
both the coating and substrate material or sometimes surface with improved
properties. In laser dispersing process additional material (mainly ceramic particles)
is dispersed non-uniformly in the matrix of base material which exhibit properties
of both metal and ceramic particles. In case of laser cladding, layer of additional
material at the top surface of the substrate takes place with better surface property as
compared to the base material.

2.2.2 Based on the Mode of Supply of Coating Material

Preplaced Powder Method

This is considered to be a two-stage laser coating process. In first stage, substrate

surface is covered with pre-placed powder to be coated. In next stage, laser beam
scan over the pre-deposited coating layer, so that heat transfer takes place through
the powder and melt the substrate surface along with powder and provide a met-
allurgical bond between coating and substrate surface. Uniform layer of the coating
material on the substrate is achieved, which results homogeneous and crack-free
coating with a strong metallurgical bond to the base material. This method is not
suitable for complex geometric shape and also time consuming than the powder
blowing/injection method. Figure 6 shows the schematic of laser coating process by
preplaced powder method.

Fig. 6 Laser coating by

preplaced powder method
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 123

Powder Injection Method

In this method, powder is injected into the path of laser beam through a nozzle with
the help of an inert gas. The blown powder particles are partially melted by the laser
beam. Again, the laser beam creates a small melt pool on the substrate surface that
fully melts the blown powder. The melt pool after solidification produces a clad
layer, which bonded with substrate by a minimum dilution. Powder can be injected
towards the melt pool either by coaxial nozzle or by lateral ejection. By using
coaxial nozzle, powder particles are rendered to the substrate through a coaxial
system, where the laser beam and powder particles are feeding towards the substrate
simultaneously. In lateral injection method, feed nozzle is positioned to the side of
the laser beam. Figure 7 shows the schematic of laser coating by powder injection
method (lateral injection).

Wire Feeding Method

Figure 8 shows the schematic of laser coating by wire feeding. In this method, clad
material is supplied to the melt pool as a wire. It is a one-step process and efficiency

Fig. 7 Laser coating by

powder injection method

Fig. 8 Laser cladding by

wire feeding method
124 C.K. Sahoo et al.

of material usage is high compared to powder blown/injection method. However,

major disadvantage of this process is that, laser energy is poorly absorbed by wire
causes heat loss. The process is more efficient than the powder blown method, but
extremely accurate alignment of the laser beam with the feed wire is required.
Among all these processes, preplaced powder method has advantages of con-
trolling coating thickness properly and less amount of powder is required for
depositing a predefined coating layer (Farnia et al. 2013).

3 Advantages, Limitations and Applications of Laser

Coating Process

3.1 Advantages

High power lasers are emerging as efficient tools for the deposition of wear-resistant
coatings. Laser surface coating technique is applicable on many engineering
components with some simple arrangement. High cooling rates attainable in laser
processing gives rise to extremely fine-grained structures and improved mechanical
properties. Laser coating, in most cases ensures strong metallurgical bonding
between coating and substrate material (Masanta et al. 2009).
Specific advantages of laser coating process are as follows:
(i) Low dilution between the coating and base material.
(ii) Excellent surface properties like high hardness, wear resistance and corrosion
resistance due to refinement of microstructure.
(iii) Changes in properties of base material are minimum due to overall low heat
input.
(iv) Controlled coating thickness could be possible.
(v) High productivity as the process is very fast.

3.2 Limitations

Although Laser coating process has several advantages, the process is limited in
industrial application due to the following restrictions:
(i) High cost of laser setup and high running cost make the process very
expensive.
(ii) Non-homogeneous energy distribution in the laser beam depending on the
beam quality.
(iii) Poor absorptivity of the laser beam by metal surface reduces efficiency of the
process.
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 125

3.3 Applications

Industrial components with high hardness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance
properties are largely manufactured by deposition of hard layer using laser surface
modification or coating process. Laser coating could be useful in the processes
those require high productivity combined with high flexibility, without compro-
mising the quality of the product. Uniform quality with a low heat input makes this
process suitable for a broad range of applications in which minimum distortion is
desirable.
Laser coating applications include spare part manufacturing, production of new
components and maintenance and repairing of worn equipment and parts. Laser
coatings are applied to produce surfaces resistant against adhesive, corrosive and
abrasive wear, high temperature oxidation and wet corrosion. Typical applications
of laser assisted surface engineering include: (Masanta 2010).
Automotive industry:
• Hardening and cladding of engine cam shafts and valve seats
• Hardening of cutting and bending edges on press tools involved in manufacture
of automotive parts
• Surface modification for various tribo-components
Aerospace industry:
• Repairing of turbine blades by laser cladding
• Hardening of bearing surfaces on rotating shafts
Mining, power generation, oil and gas industry:
• Wear protection of drilling tools or hydraulic cylinders in mining industry
• Hardening of various parts of pumps, valves and tubular components
• Hard-facing of steam turbine blades
• Coating of long drilling tools for oil rigs by laser cladding
Other applications:
• Building up complex 3D geometries
• Coating of cutting tools and blades to protect them from wear

4 TiC Coating on Al Substrate Using Pulse Nd:YAG Laser

4.1 Laser Coating on Al Substrate

Aluminium has excellent property i.e. low specific weight, high corrosion resistance
and thermal conductivity, which is desirable for component in aerospace and
automobile industries. However, due to its low hardness and wear resistance
126 C.K. Sahoo et al.

Table 1 Typical properties

of aluminium Property Value
Density 2.70 g/cm3
Melting point 660.32 °C
Boiling point 2470 °C
Thermal conductivity 237 W/m K
Thermal expansion coefficient (25 °C) 23.1 × 10−6 K−1
Modulus of elasticity 70 GPa
Hardness *50 HV

application of Aluminium is sometimes restricted in specific application (Ravnikar

et al. 2013). Table 1 shows the typical physical and mechanical properties of
Aluminium. Improvement of surface properties of Aluminium is a big challenge by
conventional heat treatment or alloying methods. Since, Aluminium does not show
any allotropic transformation, conventional heat treatment process has fewer roles
in increasing the hardness by forming harder phase like martensite (Fu and
Batchelor 1998). Hence, alternate surface treatment like coating of harder material
is necessary for improvement of the surface properties of Aluminium.
Several works have been done by various research groups to improve surface
properties of Aluminium by laser surface modification technique. Das (1994)
studied the effect of Ni alloying with pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the pure Aluminium
by defocusing the beam diameter. Selvan et al. (2000) produced coating on Alu-
minium by alloying with an electrodeposited nickel layer by using a continuous
wave (CW) CO2 laser. A uniform coating was created on Aluminium by laser
alloying process without any cavitation and porosity. This coating increases the
hardness 20–27 times of base Aluminium. Uenishi and Kobayashi (1999) formed
cladding of intermetallic compound Al3Ti and its matrix composite layers on
Aluminium surface by using continuous type CO2 laser beam. During laser clad-
ding, addition of TiB2, TiC and SiC improved the wear property of Al substrate
compare to Al3Ti clad layer. Vreeling et al. (2001) investigated the formation of Al/
SiC MMC layer on Aluminium substrate using a Nd:YAG laser by injection of SiC
particles. Dubourg et al. (2005) studied the effect of Si and TiC reinforcement on
the pure Aluminium by laser cladding of MMC layer. With SiC, TiC particle
reinforcement both hardness and wear resistance of the coating improve signifi-
cantly than Al/Si matrix. Majumdar et al. (2006a, b) studied development of a hard
SiC dispersed composite layer and in situ TiB2 dispersed Al matrix composite on Al
substrate using a CW CO2 laser. These composite layers improve the micro-
hardness of the surface up to three times and wear-resistance of the composite
surface significantly. Nath et al. (2012) studied laser surface alloying of Aluminium
with WC + Co + NiCr through a continuous type Nd:YAG laser. Alloyed zone
shows significant improvement in micro-hardness (up to 650 VHN) compared to
Aluminium substrate (22 VHN). Improvement in fretting wear resistance was also
observed due to presence of carbide particles in grain refined Aluminium substrate.
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 127

Table 2 Typical properties of TiC powder

Property TiC
Density (g/cc) 4.93
Melting point (°C) 3067
Modulus of elasticity (GPa) 439
Heat conductivity (W/m °C) 28.9
Electrical resistivity (µΩ cm) 100
Thermal expansion coefficient (K−1) 8.15–9.45 × 10−6 (25–1500 °C)
Hardness (HV) 3000

4.2 Laser Coating with TiC

TiC is a promising coating material due to its high hardness, high melting point,
thermal stability, wear resistance, low coefficient of friction (Katipelli et al. 2000).
Therefore, TiC can be used as a suitable coating material for improving surface
property of any metallic substrate. Table 2 shows the physical and mechanical
properties of TiC.
Considerable numbers of works have been conducted by various research groups
to improve the hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistances of different
structural materials with TiC or TiC reinforced metal matrix composite coating by
laser surface engineering. Laser alloying of AISI 1045 steel were performed by TiC
powder and TiC + Ni-alloy (Ariely et al. 1991; Ouyang et al. 1995). Both the
coatings exhibit significant improvement in surface hardness (up to 1300 HV0.2). It
was also observed that, dissolution of TiC in the molten Fe produces dendrites upon
re-solidification of the coating. To improve the wear resistance of tool steel laser
surface alloying with 50 % TiC particles was performed which enhanced the
hardness value of the coating layer up to 6 times than that of substrate material
(Axén and Gahr 1992). A powder mixture of Ni alloy, titanium and crystalline
graphite was used as the coating material on substrate of 5CrMnMo steel to produce
a TiC reinforced composite coating which increased its hardness up to 1250 HV0.2
(Wu 1999). Katipelli et al. (2000) studied the microstructure and wear behaviour of
TiC on the 6061 Al alloy with high power continuous wave laser and found
improvement in microhardness and dry sliding wear resistance compared to the
substrate. Hardness values of H-13 steel increases up to 30 % by laser glazing and
alloying with TiC (Jiang and Molian 2001). Tomida et al. (2001) shows that,
hardness of Al–Mg alloy substrate was increased up to 500 HV by laser coating
with TiC particle. The wear resistance of the produced coating was also improved
up to six times than that of base material. Micro-hardness values of the laser clad
layer with different pre-mixed composition of Mo/TiC are found 5–10 times higher
than that of the as-received AA6061 Al-alloy (Chong et al. 2002). By using a
mixture of TiC powder and 431 stainless steel, which undergo laser treatment, 65 %
increase (724 HV) in hardness value compared to the deposit made with only 431
stainless steel powders (438 HV) was observed (Babu et al. 2006). Laser coating
128 C.K. Sahoo et al.

layer of TiC reinforced-H13 tool steel on AISI 4140 steel substrate exhibit hardness
value in the range of 600–860 HV, which is much higher than that of substrate
hardness (200–250 HV) (Jiang and Kovacevic 2007). Hardness of TiC reinforced
iron based MMC coating was found 4 times greater than AISI 1030 steel substrate,
when a preplaced layer of Ti, graphite and iron powder mixture was treated under
laser beam (Emamian et al. 2010).

4.3 Laser Coating Using Pulsed Laser

Although laser surface modification normally done with continuous wave high
power laser, due to specific advantages of pulse laser beam, low power pulse type
lasers are also promising tools for laser surface modification. Pulsed laser offers
overall low heat input and higher cooling rate due to its intermediate irradiation of
laser beam, which causes less thermal distortion in the base metal compared to
continuous wave laser (Sun et al. 2005). During pulse laser operation, energy is
supplied through intermittent pulses which can be controlled by altering the pulse
duration, pulse frequency and pulse energy. Such control of pulse parameters
allows more precise regulation applied laser energy, which in turn create different
thermal conditions to alter the microstructures and phase features of the laser
processed zone (Farnia et al. 2013). Work of previous researchers show the
improvement in surface property of the Aluminium alloy by adding suitable
alloying elements using pulsed Nd:YAG laser (Das 1994; Gordani et al. 2008;
Vaziri et al. 2009). Further, Fu et al. (1998) and Wendt et al. (2003) studied laser
alloying of Aluminium alloy with Ni-Cr and Ti wire with the help of pulsed Nd:
YAG laser. The alloyed zone shows high hardness and wear resistance compared to
the substrate material. Maximum hardness was found at relatively low laser power,
since higher power leads to dilution of the hard phases inside the Aluminium
substrate. Yan et al. (2012, 2013) applied laser surface cladding technique to
deposit (Ti, W) C reinforced composite coating on copper and Co-alloy/TiC/CaF2
self-lubricating composite coatings on Cr-Zr-Cu alloy using a pulsed Nd:YAG
laser. The reinforced MMC type coating exhibits higher wear resistance and lower
friction coefficient than the substrate material.
From the study of these literatures, it is revealed that, considerable amount of
work has been done in the field of laser surface modification on Aluminium using
different coating materials. Again, TiC has been also used to improve surface
properties of various substrate materials. However, there is a lack of study in the
laser surface modification of pure Aluminium substrate with hard carbide material
using pulse type laser. In this work, TiC layer deposited on pure Aluminium
substrate with the help of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Objective of this work is to study
the effect of peak power and pulse overlapping on the quality of deposited TiC
coating on Aluminium substrate.
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 129

5 Experimental Planning Procedures

Aluminium plates of 30 × 50 × 3 mm3 were used as substrate material for present

experiment. At first, the plates were polished with 220 SiC emery paper to remove
the oxide layer and unwanted material present in the surface. Samples were then
cleaned and degreased with ethyl alcohol and acetone respectively. Specific amount
of TiC powder were then mixed with acetone and organic binder to make a semi-
solid solution. The semi-solid solution was then dispersed over the substrate surface
to make a layer of TiC and dried in room temperature. In this way approximately
150 ± 10 μm thickness uniform powder layer was formed on Aluminium substrate.
A pulsed Nd:YAG laser (ALT-200) with maximum average power of 200 W,
pulse duration of 0.5–20 ms and frequency of 20 Hz was used for laser irradiation.
Pre-deposited samples were placed on a three-axis CNC table. Laser beam was
focused on the sample surface by adjusting the height of the table. Laser beam
diameter and pulse duration were fixed at 1.5 mm and 12 ms respectively prior to
laser scanning. Experiments were conducted to identify the effect of peak power
and pulse overlapping (OL). Laser pulse frequency was selected in such way that,
the average power does not cross the laser machine limit (200 W). The average
power (Pavg) was calculated considering the three parameters (Ppeak, Ton and f) as
shown in Eq. 1:

Pavg ¼ Ppeak  Ton  f ð1Þ

where,
Ppeak = Peak power (W);
Ton = pulse duration (ms);
f = Frequency (Hz).
Table 3 shows the laser processing parameters used for this experiment.
Gaussian shape pulse mode laser beam was used to scan the TiC pre-placed

Table 3 Experimental condition with variable laser-processing parameters

Expt. Peak Pulse Frequency Pulse Scan Average
No. power energy (Hz) overlapping speed power (W)
(kW) (J) (%) (mm/s)
1 1 12 14 60 8.4 168.00
2 1 12 14 70 6.3 168.00
3 1 12 14 80 4.2 168.00
4 1.5 18 9 60 5.4 162.00
5 1.5 18 9 70 4.05 162.00
6 1.5 18 9 80 2.7 162.00
7 2 24 7 60 4.2 168.00
8 2 24 7 70 3.15 168.00
9 2 24 7 80 2.1 168.00
130 C.K. Sahoo et al.

Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of

pulsed laser coating process

Aluminium specimen by moving CNC table. Velocity of the workpiece was fixed
to achieve a required pulse overlapping. Relation between laser scan velocity (v)
beam diameter (d) and pulse overlapping (OL) is shown in Eq. 2, as described by
Samant and Dahotre (2010).

v ¼ f  d  ð1  OL=100Þ ð2Þ

Single track laser scanning was done to study the actual effect of each pulse and
laser peak power. Distance between two tracks kept 3 mm to avoid heating effect of
previous tracks. Argon protective atmosphere was used to avoid oxidation of
substrate layer during laser processing of samples. Figure 9 shows schematic dia-
gram of pulsed laser coating process.
After performing the laser scanning as per the parameters shown in Table 3,
these laser-processed samples were cut perpendicularly to the laser scan direction
with the help of wire-EDM and mounted with resin for metallurgical polishing.
These mounted specimens were then polished with 600 and 1200 grade SiC pol-
ishing paper. Final polishing was done in diamond paste suspended polishing cloth.
Optical microscope (AXIOCAM ERc 5s) images of the polished samples were used
for study of the coating layer. Micro-hardness of the coating was taken at the cross-
section of the coating layer and near surface region of the samples using a LECO
micro-hardness tester (LM248AT) with 50 g load and 10 s time dwell.

6 Results and Discussion

6.1 Micro-hardness

Micro-hardness values of the coatings were measured at the polished cross section
along a line from the top surface of the coating towards the depth of the substrate at
an interval of 30 µm. Figure 10a–c shows the hardness profiles against depth of the
coating from the top surface for the samples processed with different laser peak
power i.e. 1, 1.5 and 2 kW respectively. From these graphs, variation in coating
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 131

(a) (b)
3000
OL = 60% 3000 OL = 60%
2500 OL = 70% OL = 70%
OL = 80% OL = 80%
2500
Peak power = 1 kW Peak power= 1.5 kW
2000
2000

HV0.05
HV0.05

1500
1500

1000
1000

500 500

0 0

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390
Distance from the coating surface (microns) Distance from coating surface (microns)

(c)
3000
OL = 60%
OL = 70%
2500
OL = 80%
Peak power= 2 kW
2000
HV0.05

1500

1000

500

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360

Distance from coating surface (microns)

Fig. 10 Variation of hardness with distance from the coating surface, for samples treated with
laser peak power a 1 kW b 1.5 kW and c 2 kW

thickness can also be observed due to difference of hardness value in Al substrate

and TiC coating layer.
Figure 10a shows hardness profile for the laser processed sample with peak
power 1 kW and different pulse overlapping (OL). High hardness value (2200 HV)
observed near the coating layer and beyond a depth of 90 µm from surface of
coating shows low hardness (35 HV) due to appearance of Aluminium surface. As
the pulse overlapping (OL) increases from 60 to 70 % and 80 %, thickness of
coating also increases. However, no specific trend on the increase of coating
thickness at higher pulse overlapping (OL) condition i.e. 70 and 80 % has been
observed.
Figure 10b shows the hardness value of coating with 1.5 kW peak power and
different pulse overlapping condition. The profile shows that, for 60 % OL hardness
value of the coating near the surface region is reasonably high (*2500 HV) and
then this hardness value reduces to 35 HV, as the distance from the surface
approaches to 120 µm. For 70 % OL, hardness value of coating gradually reduces
132 C.K. Sahoo et al.

from 2600 HV to a range of 600 HV at coating depth around 120–180 µm and then
drops to approximately 35 HV at around 210 µm depth from the surface. Pulse
overlapping of 80 % shows variation of hardness value from 2200 to 1000 HV for a
coating depth around 240 µm and then drop drastically. Thus, it can be said that,
thickness of carbide coating increases for increase in OL from 60 to 80 %. At higher
OL, as the number of pulse per unit length increases, overall energy input and
corresponding temperature of melt pool also increases. Due to low melting tem-
perature, Al melted and dragged by capillary force to fill up void between the TiC
particles (Chong et al. 2002), that results in better mixing of the preplaced powder
with substrate material to form a uniform and thick coating.
Samples processed with 2 kW peak power, 60 and 70 % OL show high value of
hardness near the surface of coating and this hardness value decreases toward the
substrate surface as observed in Fig. 10c. It may be due to presence of deposited
TiC at the upper portion of coating and TiC reinforced Aluminium matrix at the
bottom portion of the coating. Laser processed sample with 80 % OL and 2 kW
peak power shows a lower hardness value (250 HV) near coating surface compare
to the 60 and 70 % OL. At higher peak power and overlapping condition better
mixing of TiC with Aluminium took place and a diluted TiC-Al composite layer
produced on Aluminium surface. Again at higher energy input, partially vapori-
zation of preplaced TiC reduces percentage of TiC in coated surface and accord-
ingly reduces the overall hardness. This phenomenon is further discussed in the
next sub-section.
Figure 11 shows the effect of laser peak power with 80 % OL on variation of
hardness from the top surface of the coating. From the graph, it is observed that,
samples processed with 1 and 1.5 kW show higher hardness value than the sample
processed with 2 kW laser power. At low peak power condition, TiC melted and
deposited over the Al substrate, which exhibit relatively high hardness. In case of
high peak power due to high energy density, possibility of evaporation of preplaced

Fig. 11 Comparison of 3000

hardness variation with Peak power = 1 kW
distance from the coating Peak power = 1.5 kW
2500
Peak power = 2 kW
surface for sample processed
at different laser peak power Pulse Duration = 12ms
2000
OL = 80%

1500
HV0.05

1000

500

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420
Distance from the coating surface (micron)
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 133

TiC powder layer is more and at higher temperature remaining TiC mix with molten
Aluminium substrate and produces a diluted composite layer, which shows lower
hardness value than the TiC layer deposited at lower peak power condition.

6.2 Microstructure Analysis

Optical images of laser processed samples show the successful formation of TiC
coating on Aluminium substrate. Figure 12a–c show the effect of laser processing
parameter on the formation of TiC coating layer on Al substrate. Figure 12a, b show
the formation of TiC coating on the Al substrate which is not uniform in centre area
and near the edges. This may be due to Gaussian heat distribution of laser irradi-
ation during scanning with pulse Nd:YAG laser. Sample processed with 1 kW peak
power and 80 % OL (Fig. 12a) shows relatively lower coating thickness than the
sample processed with 1.5 kW peak power and 80 % OL. At low peak power heat
input in the processed area is relatively low, which melted lower amount of pre-
deposited TiC layer, as well as dilution of TiC with Aluminium substrate is less
compared to the coating deposited at higher peak power (1.5 kW) and pulse

Fig. 12 Optical images of the cross-section of coatings processed with a laser power = 1.0 kW,
overlapping = 80 % b laser power = 1.5 kW, overlapping = 80 % c laser power = 2 kW,
overlapping = 80 %
134 C.K. Sahoo et al.

Fig. 13 High magnified optical images of the a upper portion of coating corresponding to mark ‘i’
b lower portion of coating corresponding to marked ‘ii’ for Fig. 12b

overlapping condition. For the samples processed with 2 kW peak power and 80 %
OL (Fig. 12c) no separate layer of TiC is observed, however at the surface layer of
the substrate a different shaded zone can be visible. Higher energy input due to high
peak power may remove the maximum amount of preplaced TiC powder along with
some amount of base material as vapour. Again, due to mixing of remaining
amount of TiC powder with Aluminium substrate, at relatively higher temperature,
a mixture of Al and TiC layer produced on the substrate surface.
Figure 13 shows the high magnified view of marked portions corresponding to
Fig. 12b i.e. coating processed with 1.5 kW, 80 % overlapping. From this image it
is observed that, at the upper portion of the coating (Fig. 13a corresponding to zone
(i) in Fig. 12b) some bulk and partially melted TiC deposited after laser processing
and less amount of Al matrix is present. However, at the lower portion of the
coating (Fig. 13b corresponding to zone (ii) in Fig. 12b), amount of TiC is relatively
less and present in the form of reinforcement in Aluminium matrix. Here, TiC
melted and re-solidified after laser processing. As melting temperature of TiC
(3067 °C) is higher than the vaporization temperature of Aluminium substrate
(2470 °C), some un-melted carbide is visible in the coating.

7 Conclusion

TiC coating has been successfully deposited on Aluminium substrate by using

pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The deposited coating shows significant improvement in
hardness value compared to the Aluminium substrate. Effect of peak power and
overlapping factor on the produced coating can be observed clearly. From the
experimental results following conclusion can be drawn:
Effect of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Parameters … 135

1. Higher hardness and low coating thickness have been observed for coating
deposited with low peak power and low pulse overlapping condition (1 kW and
60 % OL).
2. Thickness of TiC coating increases for increase in overlapping from 60 to 80 %.
At higher pulse overlapping, overall energy input and corresponding tempera-
ture of melt pool increases, which cause better mixing of the preplaced TiC
powder with Al substrate to form a thicker coating.
3. At high peak power (2 kW) and higher overlapping (80 %), no separate layer of
TiC is observed; however, mixed zone of TiC and Aluminium has been formed
at the substrate surface.
With the possibility of further improvement of the coating following works
could be done in future as extension of the present study:
1. Wear test for the coated samples can be done by ball on disc or adhesive type
wear testing.
2. Continuous type high power lasers can be use to produce the same coating on
Aluminium alloy.
3. As TiC individually is not a suitable coating material on Al substrate due to
mismatch in properties, addition of some binder materials like Ni, Cr with TiC
coating on Al substrate can be performed to improve the quality of the coating.

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Finite Element Simulation of Laser
Cladding for Tool Steel Repair

Santanu Paul, Ramesh Singh and Wenyi Yan

Abstract Laser cladding is a coating technique, wherein several layers of clad

materials are deposited over a substrate so as to enhance the physical properties of
the work-piece such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance etc. Strong interfacial
bond with minimum dilution between the material layers is a pre-requisite of the
process. This technique also finds widespread applications in repair and restoration
of aerospace, naval, automobile components. A thermomechanical finite element
models is developed wherein the Gaussian moving heat source is modelled along
with element birth and death technique to simulate powder injection laser cladding
of CPM9V over H13 tool steel, which is extensively used for repair of dies. The
present work focuses on predicting the clad geometry and other clad characteristics
such as the heat affected zone, dilution region and the subsequent residual stress
evolution. It is expected that this knowledge can be used for repair of structures
subjected to cyclic thermomechanical loads.

Keywords Finite element model
Gaussian laser heat source
Element birth


technique Laser cladding

S. Paul (&)
IIT B-Monash Research Academy, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: santanupaul@iitb.ac.in
R. Singh
Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: ramesh@me.iitb.ac.in
W. Yan
Monash University, Clayton VIC3800, Australia
e-mail: wenyi.yan@monash.edu

© Springer India 2015 139

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_9
140 S. Paul et al.

1 Introduction

The high cost components used in the automobile/aerospace industry are sometimes
operated beyond their original design life during, which they are subjected to cyclic/
repeated thermomechanical loading thereby causing fatigue, corrosion and wear
(Liu et al. 2011). Such age-related problems during service are common initiators of
failures that cause high-performance and high-value components to be rendered
useless (Pinkerton et al. 2008). Therefore, repair/restoration of such worn out or
damaged high cost components used in the automobile/aerospace industry becomes
beneficial as it can drastically reduce the overall cost multiple times by further
extending the service life of these components (Wang et al. 2002).
Alternatively, the introduction of new forming materials like High Strength
Steels (HSS), such as H13 tool steels (used mainly in the automotive sector) have
introduced new challenges in tool manufacturing and repair of dies/moulds to the
cold and hot shaping industry. These HSS are extremely aggressive for tools and
dies thereby forcing the die sector to use new powder metallurgical tool steels, with
an excellent combination of toughness, hardness and wear resistance for cutting,
deep-drawing and bending dies (Leunda and Soriano 2011). A group of high
vanadium-containing tool steels (such as CPM9, 10 and 15V), produced via powder
metallurgy have proven to be successful in achieving high yield strength with high
elongation and considerable work hardening along with excellent wear resistance
during forming of HSS (Wang et al. 2006).
The moulds and dies used in hot and cold working industry are subjected to
cyclic/repeated thermomechanical loading and thereby undergo wear and other
localized damage. This calls for a repair process that does not induce tensile
residual stresses. Traditional thermal spraying, Tungsten Inert Gas, Gas Metal Arc
welding (GMAW) or High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) techniques cannot be
used effectively for powder metallurgical steels due to thermal damage and the
process inaccuracies. On the other hand, these dies have very complex 3-D shape
and very precise contoured deposition is required for the repair of such components.
Moreover, repair being a localized process requires smaller beam size and preci-
sion. Therefore, it is imperative that the substrate properties should not deteriorate
due to the heat affected zone and/or dilution. In this regard, a laser-based deposition
technology such as laser cladding is a promising technique, in the remanufacturing
industry, as it is characterized by localized and rapid fusion of materials. As a result,
a relatively narrow Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) is generated.
Laser cladding is a material deposition technique in which the metallic materials
in powdered form are supplied into a laser generated heat spot, by means of a
carrier gas, where the material melts and forms a melt pool, which quickly solidifies
into metal layers. As the metal powder passes through the laser beam, it is melted
and deposited in the melt pool created by the laser beam on the metal substrate. By
completely fusing the feedstock material, metal powders are directly transformed
into fully dense solid objects composed of metallurgical bonded tracks of material
that require no final finishing. In addition, laser cladded material exhibits
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 141

mechanical properties equivalent to those of similar alloys in the wrought condition.

Partial overlapping of individual tracks in a suitable pattern produces a continuous
layer of material. By overlapping such layers, fully dense and metallurgically sound
3D objects are generated (Costa and Vilar 2009).
The aim of laser surface cladding is to deposit a coating material, with required
properties, on to different metallic substrates in such a way as to produce a good
metallurgical bonding with the substrate to improve surface properties such as wear
resistance, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature oxidation resistance. It is
considered as a strategic technique, since it can yield surface layers that, compared
to other hard facing techniques, have superior properties in terms of homogeneity,
hardness and microstructure. Compared to the conventional repair methods, laser
cladding process yields minimum dilution of the cladded layer by the elements from
the substrate or vice versa thereby resulting in a very small HAZ (Hu et al. 1998a,
b; Mc Daniels et al. 2008). The relatively small HAZ therefore results in tiny
deformation and stress along with high dimensional accuracy and integrity of the
final products (Wang et al. 2002; Mc Daniels et al. 2008).
Conventional methods such as TIG/GMAW though relatively easy to apply,
produce a lot of heat, thereby causing high residual stresses, resulting in distortion
heat-related effects in the base metal (Tusek and Ivancic 2004). On the other hand
alternative techniques such as plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding (Su et al. 1997)
and electron beam (EB) welding (Henderson et al. 2004), although gives very
precise heat flux, require complex and expensive apparatus. The high velocity oxy-
fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying technique (Tan et al. 1999) procedure which finds
widespread applications in many industries produces less component distortion than
with TIG welding and it has many advantages over plasma spraying, including
deposition of a thicker and lower-porosity coating. However, tight control of depth
and spread of deposited material is not possible, which necessitates machining for
finishing stage. In comparison, laser cladding due to its localized heat affected zone,
flexibility and precise control over the deposition area, produces lower residual
stress than from TIG welding based repair. The process can induce desirable
compressive residual stresses at the surface (Grum and Slabe 2003; Moat et al.
2007). The physical and corrosion properties of the clad material can be difficult to
predict because it undergoes a repeated heating–cooling cycle (Pinkerton et al.
2006), but in many cases clad properties are superior to those of the parent material
(Majumdar et al. 2005).
In addition to the surface coating applications, due to a localized heat affected
zone, flexibility and precision, powder deposition by laser cladding has a vast scope
in repair of worn out aerospace structures, gears and dies/moulds for various
manufacturing operations with little distortion and intermixing as compared with
plasma powder/TIG build-up welding and thermal spraying techniques (Steen
2003). Repair of power station turbine blades (Brandt et al. 2009), engine valve
seats (Kawasaki et al. 1992) and other components using LC have been reported in
literature (Liu et al. 2011). For laser cladding of high-alloy tool steels such as H13
tool steels, cracking often occurs in the coating as a result of thermal and/or phase-
transformation stresses thereby restricting the applications of these tool steels in
142 S. Paul et al.

laser cladding. Pre-heating of the matrix has been used to eliminate cracking of the
coating (Zhang et al. 2001). However, this reduces the cooling rate and, thereby,
affecting the microstructure of the cladding. On the other hand, a group of high
vanadium-containing tool steels (such as CPM9, 10 and 15V), produced for powder
metallurgy application, capable of producing high yield strength with high elon-
gation and considerable work hardening along with excellent wear resistance
(Wang et al. 2006) can be used as cladding materials for anti-wear applications. In
fact, studies have been reported on laser cladding with CPM10V (Hu et al. 1998a,
b) and other high vanadium tool steels (Zhang et al. 1999).
Residual stresses are produced in the parts produced by laser powder deposition
techniques such as laser cladding due to the thermal history dependence phenomena
in such processes. Residual stresses in clad material could affect the component’s
resistance to corrosion and fatigue cracks due to high thermal stress concentration
(Sun et al. 2012). Therefore, the control of residual stresses plays a significant role
in determining the mechanical performance of the fabricated parts which can be
conveniently analysed by using modelling techniques. Although the interaction
between certain phase transformations and the stress field are known and have been
studied and modelled by researchers working on other heat treatment processes,
such interaction has only been analysed briefly in the context of laser powder
deposition (Griffith et al. 1998; Ghosh and Choi 2005, 2006, 2007).
One of the pre-requisites of laser cladding process is to keep dilution to a
minimum to minimize the mixing between the clad layer and the substrate in order
to maintain the properties of the baseline material (Steen 2003). However, high
dilution allows stronger bonding between the clad and base material and in some
case may have beneficial properties (Schneider 1998). Therefore the weakest point
in a laser cladded component is the clad/HAZ interface due to inconsistent dilution/
fusion (Mc Daniels 2008; Schneider 1998; Pinkerton et al. 2008). In the HAZ, the
substrate material is heated to a temperature below the melting temperature and
cooled at a lower rate than the coating surface. This trend can lead to microstruc-
tural changes in the HAZ that are difficult to control and could have a detrimental
effect on the mechanical properties of the part (Mc Daniels et al. 2008). Cracks in
laser-welded, high-strength, low-alloy steels formed near the borderline of the
fusion line and the HAZ have been reported by Onoro and Ranninger (1997) with
fatigue resistance minimum in the HAZ near the fusion line (Lee et al. 2000).
Finite element modelling is an appropriate tool to predict the temperature field,
heat affected zone (HAZ), dilution zone and residual stress developed, so as to
predict the clad quality and to develop optimum and successful cladding conditions.
Previous efforts in developing sequential thermomechanical models provide tem-
perature profile and cooling rate to predict the microstructure of the substrate (Wang
et al. 2006; Picasso et al. 1994; Huan et al. 2006). In addition to this a few studies
reported in the literature have also considered molten metal flow and phase tran-
sition (Wang et al. 2006). However, the finite elements models to evaluate the
temperature profile for powder injection technique have been developed with
constant convection co-efficient which may introduce errors (Liu et al. 2011; Wang
et al. 2002; Shi and Qianchu).
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 143

Most modelling efforts focus their attention on phenomena occurring during the
deposition of a single track of material or the build-up of thin wall geometry by
overlapping several single pass layers. Not only does the thin wall geometry rep-
resent the simplest case of multilayer laser powder deposition, it is also the one that
requires least effort to create a numerical representation of the problem (Amon et al.
1998) and the one that (potentially) requires less computation time and disk storage
space.
Sequential thermomechanical analysis of laser cladding process in ANSYS® has
been performed to obtain temperature profile for both planar and curved mesh of
clad profile (Chen and Xue 2010; Deus and Mazumder 2006; Zhang et al. 2008,
2011; Plati et al. 2006). The temperature values obtained from transient thermal
analysis are used as input for obtaining longitudinal and shear residual stresses for
the thermomechanical analysis (Chen and Xue 2010; Deus and Mazumder 2006;
Zhang et al. 2008, 2011; Plati et al. 2006) for various material systems, such as,
copper on aluminium (Crespo et al.), Stellite on austenitic stainless steel AISI 304
(Suarez et al. 2010) and Monel on Ni-based alloys (Chunhua et al. 2012).
As noted previously, most of the laser cladding work reported is for non-powder
metallurgical materials which are not very applicable for die repairs. However,
thermomechanical model to investigate the HAZ, dilution zone and residual stress
developed and thereby predict the clad quality have been reported in literature
(Chunhua et al. 2012) for deposition of CPM9V on H13 tool steel. As a whole the
finite element models available in literature (Plati et al. 2006; Paul et al. 2014)
simulate the addition of new clad elements to the substrate using the element birth
technique with the clad elements being deposited at the solidus temperature of the
substrate, and therefore lack the ability to predict the clad geometry for the process.
Consequently, this work is focused on the development of a 3-D coupled ther-
momechanical finite element modelling in ABAQUS® for laser cladding of
CPM9V (crucible steel) on H13 tool steel. The addition of new elements to the
substrate is simulated by using the element birth technique and the heat load
addition is simulated by writing a user defined subroutine DFLUX in ABAQUS®.
The clad geometry, clad dilution, heat affected zone and the residual stresses have
been predicted from the model and compared with the experimental results (Paul
et al. 2014).

2 Process Modelling

2.1 Physical Description of Process

In this work, the powder injection mode of laser cladding is considered. In this
technique of laser cladding the powdered material is injected from a nozzle and is
deposited over the base material in the presence of a laser beam. The description of
the process is elaborated schematically in Fig. 1.
144 S. Paul et al.

Fig. 1 Schematic of powder

injection laser cladding
technique

Table 1 Chemical
C Cr Mn Mo Si S V
composition of H13 tool steel
(wt%) 0.39 5.2 0.4 1.4 1.1 0.003 0.95
Data source Chen and Xue (2010)

Table 2 Chemical
C Cr Fe Mo V
composition of CPM9V
(wt%) 1.2 5.250 82.54 1.3 9.10
Data source Chen and Xue (2010)

In this work the substrate employed is H13 tool steel and clad material is
vanadium carbide steel, CPM9V, extensively used for repair of damaged/worn out
dies. Chemical composition of H13 tool steel is provided in Table 1 and the
chemical composition of CPM9V is listed out in Table 2.
The actual cladding with dimension of substrate as 125 mm × 105 mm × 15 mm
over which clad was deposited at length of 40 mm has been obtained from literature
(Crespo et al.). Gaussian laser heat source is employed with beam diameter of 3 mm
and power of 2000–3800 W. Powder particles was spherical in shape with size of
44–104 µm. In the current work a coupled thermomechanical finite element models
of powder injection technique of laser cladding with Gaussian moving heat source
is developed. The coupled thermomechanical model developed predicts the clad
quality for laser power of 1700 W, feed rate of 5 g/min, scanning speed of 200 mm/
min and beam diameter of 3 mm.
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 145

2.2 Model Assumptions

The following assumptions are made about the process for developing the coupled
thermomechanical model:
• Stationary frame of reference has been attached with the laser beam, considering
that the dimensions of the work-piece are large compared to those of the molten
pool.
• Heat transfer in the process is assumed to occur without any internal heat
generation and the variation of heat transfer co-efficient with temperature is
neglected.
• Gaussian moving heat source with linear decrease of heat input with penetration
depth is assumed.
• Fluid flow in the melt pool and its subsequent effect on the heat transfer co-
efficient is neglected.
• Body force and surface traction are neglected in thermomechanical analysis and
only the loading due to transient thermal field (Gaussian moving heat source) on
the body is considered.
• For residual stress analysis elastic perfectly plastic behaviour with temperature
dependent yield stress, with no work hardening and prior strain history effects
are assumed.
• Creep (time dependent deformation) effects are also neglected.

2.3 Governing Equations

In a coupled thermomechanical finite element analysis of laser cladding the values

of nodal temperature obtained after thermal analysis of Gaussian moving heat laser
source are used as input to calculate the mechanical response in particular the
residual stresses developed. Transient heat conduction equation is used as the basic
governing equation for thermal analysis which is given as:
     
@ @T @ @T @ @T @T @T
k þ k þ k þ Q = qCp þ qU x Cp ð1Þ
@x @x @y @y @z @z @t @x

where q, Cp and k refers to density, specific heat and thermal conductivity

respectively of material; T and t refer to the temperature and time variables
respectively.The thermal stresses in a clad-substrate system are developed due to
the presence of relatively high thermal gradients between dissimilar materials. The
relatively high thermal gradient between dissimilar materials in general develops
due to the fact that, the clad and substrate materials have different coefficients of
thermal expansion and different reference temperatures. As laser cladding is a much
localized process therefore, during a short interval of time, a thin layer of the
146 S. Paul et al.

substrate is heated up to the melting point, and a molten layer of the clad material is
deposited on it. Thereafter, the heat is conducted into the substrate and the clad
solidifies and starts shrinking due to thermal contraction, whereas the substrate first
expands and later contracts according to the local thermal cycle. Hence, the residual
stresses are evaluated as a function of time, when after heating the work-piece is left
to cool under normal conditions and stress is analysed after infinite time period.
Therefore, in the thermomechanical analysis of the process the only loading on the
system due to the transient thermal field is considered, as any external loading, body
force and surface traction are neglected. Thus, the strain–displacement relation is
given by:

dui duj
2ij ¼ þ ð2Þ
dxj dxi

where rij is stress tensor, nij is exterior normal to surface, u1 is displacement and 2ij
is total strain tensor, where the total strain 2ij is given by:

2ij ¼ 2elij þ 2pij þ 2th

ij ð3Þ

where 2elij represents elastic strain, 2pij represents plastic strain and 2th
ij is the thermal
strain. The stress and elastic strains are connected through elastic moduli or stiffness
tensor Cijkl. For isotropic material stiffness tensor is function of Young’s modulus,
E and Poisson’s ratio, υ given by:
 
p
rij ¼ Cijkl 2ij  2th
ij  2 ij ð4Þ

The thermal strains are given by:

ij ðT Þ ¼ aT ðT Þ T  Tref  aT ðT0 Þ T0  Tref
2th ð5Þ

where aT is coefficient of thermal expansion, Tref is reference temperature (i.e.,

starting temperature from which coefficient of thermal expansion is obtained) and
T0 is initial temperature.
Besides these the following initial and boundary conditions are also satisfied:

T ðx; y; 0Þ ¼ T0 ð6Þ

T ðx; y; 1Þ ¼ T0 ð7Þ
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 147

2.4 Numerical Formulation

For simulation a half symmetric model with dimension 6 mm × 6 mm × 6 mm has

been developed. Coupled analysis for thermal and mechanical phenomena is con-
sidered. To evaluate the effect of thermal stresses produced during the process 8-
node coupled temperature-displacements, C3D8RHT reduced integration elements
are used. Mesh size of 54 µm × 100 µm × 100 µm has been considered across the
cross-section of the clad, whereas in the substrate 46 µm × 100 µm × 100 µm.
Figure 2 presents a pictorial representation of the model geometry along with the
dimensions and meshed geometry. Total number of node is 27,510 and total
number of elements is 24,820.
In powder injection technique, the continuous addition of material or mass on to
the substrate is modelled by representing geometry of finite elements that change
over time so as to simulate the powdered nature of the material. This is achieved by
means of successive discrete activation of new set of elements into the computa-
tional domain or geometry using element birth and death feature as illustrated by
Fig. 3. Furthermore, as the heat source moves forward the elements activated in the
previous set are deactivated so as to initialize the cooling process.
Along with the element birth–death technique used to simulate the effect of
powder deposition, the Gaussian moving heat source is also modelled using the
DFLUX subroutine in ABAQUS®. The Gaussian moving heat source with linear
decrease of heat input with penetration depth is given by (Shanmugam et al. 2013):

Fig. 2 Geometry of the model and mesh design along with the loading and boundary conditions
148 S. Paul et al.

Fig. 3 Powder deposition

modelled by element birth
technique

  
Q r2  z
Qðr; zÞ ¼ 2L exp 1 2 1 ð8Þ
pr0 d r0 d

where QL is the laser power, r0 is the beam radius, d is the heat penetration depth
and r the instantaneous laser beam location given by:

r 2 þ x2 þ y2 þ z 2 ð9Þ

where x, y, z are the co-ordinates of the laser heat source at time t.

While applying this technique to the model, initial volume of powder deposited is
calculated using the feed rate. The height and width of powder thus obtained is
deposited in each time step, and value of time step is set accordingly. Thereafter as
the Gaussian moving heat source scans the surface, the clad and a thin substrate layer
is melted and a strong interfacial bond is formed. The elements then lose heat mainly
by conduction into work-piece and heat loss is also by convection and radiation.

2.5 Loading and Boundary Conditions

Gaussian distribution of laser power with linear decrease of heat input with pene-
tration depth given by Eq. (8) is considered to be emitted from the source.
Boundary conditions like convective heat transfer (with heat transfer coefficient of
15 Wm−2 K−1) and radiative heat transfer (with emissivity 0.3) results in heat losses
from surfaces.
Subsequently, the associated initial conditions for three-dimensional thermal
analysis are given by Eq. (6). The addition of clad to the substrate is modelled using
element birth-death technique as depicted in Fig. 3. The reactivation of the cladding
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 149

elements is followed by the release of latent heat during solidification of the clad.
After the activation of all the cladding elements, external heat injection is continued
as the heat source moves forward, but the thermal analysis is continued until the
system reached a steady state.
The rest of the work piece surfaces are open to atmosphere and are subjected to
convective and radiative heat losses as depicted in Fig. 2. The above boundary
condition is stated mathematically as:

dT

Kn þ hðT  T0 Þ þ r 2 T 4  T04 ¼ 0 ð10Þ
dn

where n denotes the direction normal to surface, kn refers to thermal conductivity; h,

2, r and T0 refers to surface heat transfer co-efficient, emissivity, Stefan-Boltzmann
constant and ambient temperature respectively. The first term represents heat loss
due to conduction from the surface whose unit normal is n. The second and third
term refers to convection and radiation heat losses from the surface of the work-
piece.
For the mechanical analysis external loading is not considered and to prevent the
rigid body motion the nodes on the base are fully constrained to prevent elemental
motion. The application of thermal load as Gaussian moving heat flux and the
mechanical boundary conditions showing the surfaces which are fully constrained
are illustrated in Fig. 3.

2.6 Material Properties

Temperature dependent thermo-physical properties are considered for both clad and
substrate as these properties changes with temperature. Along with thermal prop-
erties like thermal conductivity, specific heat and latent heat, mechanical properties
namely co-efficient of thermal expansion, young’s modulus, poison’s ratio and
yield strength are provided as input. Stress and strain fields are dependent on
evolution of plastic strains so kinematic hardening in addition to Von Misses yield
criteria is assumed which is valid for clad, interface and the substrate region.
The yield strength as a function of temperature, decreases exponentially with
temperature and tends to zero as the nodal temperature approaches the liquidus
temperature. Accordingly, the “anneal temperature” feature in ABAQUS® is used
which resets stress and strain values above molten temperature to zero. Also a very
low value of Young’s modulus is considered to make the melting zone a stress free
zone.
Initially zero stress is considered in the material and then analysis is performed
for residual stress by considering elastic perfectly plastic behaviour. The properties
of CPM9V (clad) are listed in Table 3 and the thermo-physical properties of H-13
(substrate) are listed in Table 4.
150 S. Paul et al.

Table 3 Thermo-physical properties of CPM9V mixture (Chen and Xue 2010)

Temperature (K) Conductivity(W m−1 K−1) Expansion (K−1) Density (kg m−3)
−5
300 20.48 1.102 × 10 7455
373 21.6 1.105 × 10−5 –
573 25.25 1.141 × 10−5 –
820 26.08 1.186 × 10−5 –
Other material properties of CPM9V used in the simulation are as follows (Chen and Xue 2010)
Melting temperature: 1773 K
Young’s modulus: 221 GPa
Poisson’s ratio: 0.28
Yield stress: 1600 MPa

Table 4 Thermo-physical properties of H13 tool steel (Chen and Xue 2010)
Temperature (K) Conductivity (W m−1 K−1) Expansion (K−1) Density (kg m−3)
−5
310 25 1.09 × 10 7600
400 – 1.1 × 10−5 –
500 26.3 1.15 × 10−5 –
810 28 1.24 × 10−5 –
900 – 1.31 × 10−5 –
1000 30 – –
1200 32 – –
1500 35 – –
Other material properties of H-13 used in the simulation are as follows (Chen and Xue 2010)
Melting temperature: 1730 K
Young’s modulus: 210 GPa
Poisson’s ratio: 0.3
Yield stress: 1400 MPa

3 Results and Discussion

The coupled thermomechanical analysis of cladding process is based on the fact

that the temperature field obtained from the thermal analysis serves as the basis for
prediction of clad geometry, the clad dilution and HAZ. Furthermore, for
mechanical analysis as no external loading is considered apart from the application
of thermal load as moving heat flux the prediction of thermal field for residual stress
analysis becomes imperative.

3.1 Temperature Field

Figure 4a shows the contour plot of nodal temperature as the clad is being
deposited. The red portion depicts the burnt away clad materials for a laser power of
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 151

Fig. 4 a Contour of nodal temperature, b Variation of nodal temperature with depth

1700 W, feed rate of 5 g/min and scanning speed of 200 mm/min. The variation of
nodal temperature along the cross-section of the clad when the laser beam is directly
over the clad surface is shown in Fig. 4b. The finite element models developed
calculates the clad height by eliminating the elements which have exceeded the
vaporization temperature of the powder (CPM9V) from the computational domain.
The comparison of the clad height as predicted by model shows a variation of 14
and 18 % variation for the prediction of clad width, from that of the experimental
data (Plati et al. 2006). Therefore it is evident that the model is able to predict the
clad geometry.

3.2 Results in Dilution and Heat Affected Zone

Dilution is the contamination of cladding with the substrate material which is

detrimental to the clad quality. Therefore it is a pre-requisite to obtain clad with
minimal dilution. However, it is very difficult to eliminate dilution but can be
significantly reduced by selecting optimum parameters. For finite element analysis
it is assumed that the part of the substrate that has melted typically results in
dilution. Therefore, the molten depth of substitute can be used as a good estimate of
dilution depth. Figure 5a compares the dilution value for the current model with that
actually obtained through experiment (Paul et al. 2014). Figure 5a also compares
the dilution as obtained for a coupled finite element models available in literature
with thermal boundary condition (Paul et al. 2014). The current model predicts
dilution with a variation of 25 % from the experimental which shows that the model
is able to capture dilution that occurs during the process.
In the present work, the region between substrate melting temperature and
1000 K is considered as the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) as illustrated by Fig. 4a.
Figure 5b compares the HAZ value for the model and that actually obtained through
152 S. Paul et al.

Fig. 5 Comparison of a dilution zone, b HAZ

experiments (Paul et al. 2014). The current model is able to predict the HAZ with a
variation of 15 %. Thus it can be concluded that through the model both dilution
and heat affected zone are being captured.

3.3 Residual Stress Analysis

As discussed in previous section in a clad-substrate system the presence of rela-

tively high thermal gradients between dissimilar materials leads to the development
of thermal stresses because of the presence of different co-efficient of thermal
expansion and different reference temperatures for the clad and substrate materials.
Due to laser cladding being a localized heating application during a short time
interval, a thin layer of substrate is heated up to the liquidus temperature and a
molten layer of the clad material is deposited on it. Thereafter, the heat is conducted
into the substrate and the clad solidifies and starts shrinking due to thermal con-
traction, whereas the substrate first expands and later contracts according to the
local thermal cycle which leads to the development of residual stresses.
The residual stress contour in the longitudinal direction, i.e., along the cladding
direction is shown in Fig. 6a. The model predicts compressive stresses on the
surface of the clad which originates to counter the tensile stresses induced at the
interface because of high thermal contraction. The interface region contracts rapidly
due to the rapid heat transfer to the relatively cooler substrate underneath whose
dimensions do not change significantly, thereby inducing tensile stresses as the
substrate.
Experimental values of longitudinal stresses were obtained through X-ray dif-
fraction (XRD) technique (Paul et al. 2014) using a X-ray beam of diameter
500 µm. Figure 6b compares the model average values which are typically the
nodal values averaged over an area of 500 µm. The model predicts a variation of
12 % in the residual stress in the longitudinal direction on the clad-substrate
Finite Element Simulation of Laser Cladding … 153

Fig. 6 a contour of residual stress along longitudinal direction, b comparison of residual stress
along the direction of clad

interface. However, the development of compressive residual stress in the clad

highlights the potential application of the process for in situ repair applications for
die and aerospace components.

4 Conclusions

A coupled thermomechanical finite element models of powder injection laser

cladding technique has been developed and the model results have been compared
with the available experimental results [43]. Following are the main conclusions
drawn from the present work:
• The thermomechanical model for powder injection laser cladding process with
moving Gaussian heat source is able to predict the clad geometry with predic-
tion errors lying between 14 and 18 %.
• Thermal analysis of the process can predict the temperature profile which can be
used to estimate the extent of dilution and heat affected zones. The prediction
errors lie between 15 and 25 %.
• The longitudinal residual stress has been characterized for clad, interface and the
substrate regions. The nodal average values for the model over an area of
500 µm qualitatively predicted similar nature with reasonable variation.
• The longitudinal stress in the interface region is tensile in nature which can be
attributed to the rapid heat transfer and higher thermal contraction at the
interface.
• The analysis of the process also highlighted the application of the technique for
repair and restoration applications of various high cost components due to
evolution of compressive stresses on the surface of the clad.
154 S. Paul et al.

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Excimer Laser Micromachining
and its Applications

James Jacob, P. Shanmugavelu, R. Balasubramaniam

and Ramesh K. Singh

Abstract Non-conventional, non-contact type advanced machining process like

laser based micro machining process is widely used in modern industries for pro-
ducing components with geometrically complex profiles. Though laser based micro
machining of polymer, by and large, is a cold ablation process, photo thermal
process associated with the laser heating may affect the surface characteristics. This
chapter starts with an introduction to various excimer laser sources and proceeds to
micromachining application areas with specific reference to polymers. The study of
excimer laser micromachining in different gaseous media, conducted by the authors
is elaborated further. This study was conducted to ascertain the impact of purging
with gases such as air, argon, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen during the laser
ablation process. A negative photo resist, E-1020 obtained from M/s Cadmosil
Chemical Pvt. Ltd, India was studied using 248 nm KrF excimer laser. The effect of
gas purging on the ablation rate and surface characteristics of the polymer was
studied. Amongst the gases used, hydrogen gas showed distinct results with respect
to ablation rate and surface characteristics. It has been observed that hydrogen gas
has enhanced both the ablation rate and the surface quality significantly. The role of
hydrogen gas in enhancing the laser ablation rate may be attributed to the possible
involvement of hydrogen gas in the laser assisted chemical reaction with polymer.
Eximer laser micromachining process is characterized by a number of process
parameters that determines efficiency, economy and quality of the whole process. In
this chapter, the details of the experiment along with the results and observations,
with areas for future study have been presented.

J. Jacob (&)
P. Shanmugavelu
R. Balasubramaniam

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
e-mail: jamesmankottil@gmail.com; jamesm@barc.gov.in
P. Shanmugavelu
e-mail: psvelu@barc.gov.in
R. Balasubramaniam
e-mail: cwsbalu@barc.gov.in
R.K. Singh
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, India
e-mail: ramesh@me.iitb.ac.in

© Springer India 2015 157

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_10
158 J. Jacob et al.

Keywords Laser micromachining
Excimer laser
Micromachining applica-

tions Photo resist Assist gas

1 Introduction

Many Non-conventional, non-contact type of advanced micro machining methods

are developed and widely being employed in modern industries for making com-
ponents with geometrically complex profile. These non-conventional, non-contact
advanced machining methods include electro discharge machining, energy beam
machining (Laser, electron, ion and plasma), electrochemical machining and
chemical machining processes. Each of these processes has its own limitations with
regard to the type of material and applications. Laser beam is a unique energy
source, which can, by and large, remove materials by photo-thermal processes. This
process is employed for the machining of variety of materials, such as metals,
ceramics, composites and glasses. The ability of Laser beam machining, to form
complex patterns with close tolerances in wide variety of materials, has opened up
brighter avenues to wider range of applications. Miniaturization is an ongoing trend
in modern technologies. Industries like semi-conductors, biotechnology, micro-
electronics, Opto-electro mechanical systems, telecommunication, entertainment,
instrumentation, optical data memory/storage, and remote sensing and imaging and
ever increasing number of medical applications require sub-micrometer features in
various materials. Material processing requirements of high precision, of the order
of micrometers or even sub micrometers, at high speed, has become the norm for
many of these high tech industries. The combination of high resolution, accuracy,
flexibility and high speed has resulted in the advancement of micro-engineering in
the recent past. For example, the ability to drill smaller holes down to *1 μm
diameter, is an important technological challenge in many industries that manu-
facture high-tech products. While high-power solid state lasers are fundamental to
large scale industrial production, excimer laser on the other hand has revolutionised
the manufacturing industry with high precision, easy 3D structuring and less
stringent production requirements. Industrial applications such as the drilling of
ink-jet printer nozzles (Rowan 1995), production of sensors (Gifford and Bartnik
1998). and the manufacture of display panels now routinely use excimer laser micro
machining in production environments. Consequent to the rapid improvement in the
speed and memory capacities of the ICs (Integrated circuits), the requirement for
enhancement in the packaging density has multiplied. The multi-layer printed cir-
cuit boards (PCBs) which consists of multi-layer sandwiches of conductor-insula-
tor-conductor, require electrical connection between layers, made possible by
drilling small holes through the dielectric layer (Gower 2000). Typically the
requirement is to drill a large number of around 100 μm diameter holes at around
500 μm pitch, which represent around 30 % of the overall cost of the PCB. The
combination of high-resolution, accuracy, speed and flexibility is allowing excimer
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 159

laser micromachining to gain acceptance in many high technology industries. A

brief outline on excimer based micromachining of different polymeric materials for
various industrial applications is briefly illustrated in this paper.

2 Types of Excimer Laser

Lasers can be classified based on a number of factors e.g. active medium (solid, liquid
and gas), output power (low, medium and high power lasers), excitation method
(electrical, optical and chemical), operating mode (continuous wave, pulsed mode and
Q-switched output mode), efficiency and applications. excimer lasers, which fall under
the category of gas lasers, are the most powerful lasers with short (of the order nano
seconds) pulse rates and durations, whose wavelengths fall in the UV or DUV range of
the electromagnetic spectrum. The word Excimer comes from, Excited dimer (the
lasing medium of this class of lasers), which refers to a class of diatomic molecules
formed by the chemical combination of two identical constituents, in their excited state.
For example, in Xe2 laser, the Xenon gas was used as the lasing medium. In fact the
word Excimer is a misnomer, as far as most of the current industrial excimer lasers are
concerned. The most commonly used excimer lasers like ArF, KrF, XeCl, XeF etc.,
should have been called ‘Exciplex’ Lasers (rather than Excimer Lasers), as they are
complexes of Rare Gas Halides (RGH) in the excited states. Excimer describes a
diatomic molecule that is chemically bound in its electronically excited upper state, but
is repulsive or only weakly bound in its lower ground state. In the normal course, rare
gas atoms won’t be able to react chemically with any other atom to form a molecule.
In that sense, Rare-gas halides are peculiar molecules that emit laser light on an unusual
type of electronic transition. The two atoms are bound only when the molecule is in an
excited state. When the molecule drops to the ground state, which is the lower laser
level, the molecule falls apart. That produces a population inversion in a rather unusual
way—there can’t be any molecules in the lower laser level because they are not bound
together. Figure 1 shows the energy levels of a typical rare gas halide as a function of
the spacing between the two atoms in the molecule. R represents the rare gas and H the
halide. The dip in the excited-state curve shows where the molecules are metastable.
The absence of a dip in the ground-state curve indicates that the molecules
fall apart. When the molecule is excited, the energy is at a minimum when the two
atoms are at a certain distance apart, trapped in a potential well. However, in the
“ground-state,” with the lowest possible energy, there is no bonding energy to hold the
two atoms together and the molecule fall apart, as shown in the lower curve. This
reflects something we know from elementary chemistry, namely, rare gases do not like
to form compounds, even with elements as highly reactive as halogens.
A simplified molecular transition in KrF excimer laser is depicted in Fig. 2. A
typical KrF excimer laser gas mixture is a Kr:F2:Ne blend with neon constituting
most of the volume. The neon acts as a third body collision partner in the formation
of the excited KrF* molecule. The voltages and currents required for excimer laser
operation test the limits of electronic technology. Consequently, excimer lasers are
160 J. Jacob et al.

Fig. 1 Internal energy of a

rare-gas halide molecule in
excited and ground states

Fig. 2 Molecular transition

in the KrF excimer laser

more complex than other types of lasers. They require more maintenance and are
more expensive to maintain.
Most excimer lasers are capable of using any of the six gas mixtures available,
but it is usually not advisable to mix fluorine and chlorine in the same laser in
industrial situations.
Each gas mixture has its own characteristic wavelength and application areas as
shown in Table 1.
Excimer lasers are excited by passing a short, intense electrical pulse through a
mixture of gases containing the desired rare gas and halogen. Normally, 90 % or
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 161

Table 1 Photon energies and application areas of various excimer laser sources
Active Wave Photon Advantages/application areas Disadvantages
medium length energy
in nm in eV
Molecular 157 7.9 Suitable for machining high The laser beam path must be
fluorine resolution features, even on isolated from the ambient O2
(F2) ceramics with very good molecules to prevent the
ablated surface quality formation of ozone by
absorption of laser energy
by O2
Argon 193 6.42 Suitable for ablating glass The beam path needs to be
fluoride and ceramic materials with either in vacuum or in an
(ArF) high machining rate and inert gas purged environment
good surface quality owing to prevent photon absorption
to the combination of lasing by oxygen
efficiency.
Krypton 248 5.0 Best candidate for polymer
fluoride ablation owing to the
(KrF) combination of average
power, lasing efficiency,
absorption characteristics and
operating cost
Xenon 308 4.02 Very long gas life in the laser Larger absorption depth in
chloride cavity. Used mostly in polymers than KrF laser,
(XeCl) marking applications leading to higher ablation
depth, but lower average
powers generate a lower
overall machining rate
Xenon 351 3.53 Useful for pulse annealing Less attractive even for
fluoride and laser assisted etching polymers owing to lower
(XeF) owing to less energy absorption
intensity
(Data source from: Tseng 2007)

more of the mixture is a buffer rare gas (typical helium or neon) that does not take
part in the reaction. The mixture also contains a small percentage of the rare gas
(argon, krypton, or xenon) that becomes part of the excimer molecule, and a smaller
fraction of the molecules that supply the needed halogen atoms. The halogen atoms
may come from halogen molecules, such as F2, Cl2, or Br2, or from molecules that
contain halogens, such as nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). The advantage of avoiding pure
halogens is that they are very reactive and hence may result in the corrosion of the
material of construction of the laser tube. Electrons in the discharge transfer energy
to the laser gas, breaking up halogen molecules and causing formation of elec-
tronically excited molecules like xenon fluoride (XeF*, the * means excited). The
reactions involved are very complex and depend on the type of gases. The molecules
remain excited for about 10 ns, then drop to the ground state and dissociate. The
molecular kinetics as well as the duration of the driving electrical pulses limit the
laser operation to pulses lasting tens or hundreds of nanoseconds. The energies
162 J. Jacob et al.

involved are large, due to the high gain of the lasing medium, and the output is at
ultraviolet wavelengths. Excimer-laser repetition rates are more dependent on the
power supply than on the gas. The principal limitation is the speed of high-voltage
switches. The highest repetition rates are around 1000 Hz, but more typical values
are tens to few hundreds of hertz. Pulse energies range from about 10 mJ to a few
joules, and differ somewhat among gases, with KrF and XeCl generally being more
energetic. Average power—the product of the pulse energy times the repetition rate
—can reach a couple of hundred watts, although lower values are more common.
Note that in general the pulse energy tends to decrease with repetition rate.
As mentioned above, excimer lasers are, generally produced by a fast electrical
discharge in a high-pressure mixture of rare gas (krypton, argon or xenon) and a
halogen gas. Since each of these binary mixtures has a characteristic emission
wavelength, the excimer laser is normally designated by the name of the mixture.
As a result, the wavelength of an excimer laser can be altered, as indicated in the
Table 1, by changing the gas mixture with associated modifications of mirrors to
obtain maximum output. The excimer plasma tube operates at a very high pressure
of the order of 3.5 times atmospheric pressure. This high pressure results in high
electrical resistance to the passage of current through the gas. The gas is therefore,
first pre-ionized to facilitate a smooth, homogeneous discharge. The main dis-
charge, up to 40 kV is applied across two parallel electrodes, which run through the
entire length of the plasma tube. The resulting plasma contains very high con-
centration of excited dimers resulting in a laser with high gain and thus high energy
per pulse of the order of 3–10 eV. As in other high-gain pulsed lasers, the discharge
in an excimer laser is perpendicular to the length of the tube. The excimer laser
tubes must resist attack by the highly corrosive halogens in the laser gas. Excimer
laser tubes are filled with the laser gas mixture then sealed and operates for a certain
number of shots until the gas needed to be replaced. The tube’s total volume is
much larger (typically 100–1000 times) than the volume where the discharge
excites laser action. Often, the gas is passed through a recycling system that helps
regenerate the proper gas mixture and extend the life of the gas fill. The laser’s
pulse energy drops with time, until the spent gas must be pumped out of the
chamber and replaced. The number of shots depend on the gas, and can be many
millions of shots for gases, such as xenon chloride. Although that number of shots
may sound impressive, a simple multiplication will show that at high repetition
rates it doesn’t amount to very long operation time. A 200-Hz laser generates
720,000 pulses an hour. Thus, gas supply is part and parcel of any excimer laser set-
up. Although other lasers such as YAG and CO2 lasers are also extensively used in
High Density Interconnection (HDI) technology, the excimer laser ablation is
indispensable when it comes to ‘fine’ finish micro- and nano-fabrications. This is
particularly true for hard and delicate materials. This is largely due to its short
wavelength, short pulse duration, and of course its pulse energy allowing for what
is generally termed as a ‘cold ablation’ process. The excimer laser also excels others
in its ability to ‘mask-project’ patterns, using stencil or metal-on quartz masks on to
a sample with a minimal Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). The minimal HAZ is due to
the short pulse duration/interaction time between the laser beam and the material.
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 163

Nevertheless, picosecond and femtosecond lasers are now available today. These
classes of lasers are designed to further reduce the HAZ. They are also characterized
by higher etch rate, strong absorption by the material, improved surface roughness
and lower ablation thresholds. These desirable features of the excimer laser have
attracted and favoured its use not only for polymers but also with other materials
such as ceramics, glasses and silicon which are often hard to machine.

3 Laser Interaction with Polymers

A laser beam striking a material can be reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. In practice,

all three occur to some degree. In order for laser micromachining to be practical, the
laser beam must be absorbed by the material. Reflected and transmitted light are lost
during processing. So only the absorbed light is able to do the material removal in the
machining process. The transmitted portion of the power will normally be absorbed
within a certain depth of the surface. As the material is heated by the absorbed portion
of the transmitted radiation, material vapor, and sputtered material can be ejected
from the surface into the oncoming beam. This causes further interaction where
coupling of the beam into the material is affected by scattering off, by the ejected
material or by shielding of the incoming laser radiation from the surface with a
plasma plume, which is created by the beam in the ejected vapor. In addition to
creating emission of the material from the surface, the absorbed energy may also
create thermal, mechanical, and phase changes which propagate into the material.
When the laser beam strikes the material, the photon energy is transferred to the
material and subsequently converted to other forms of energy depending on the
material. With metals, this is transferred to the mobile electrons which results in the
heat energy that can cause vapourisation and disintegration of the metal. However,
with non-metals, the energy can either be converted to chemical energy required for
bond-breaking or heat energy for vaporization. These two possibilities depend on the
type of material, its bond energy and the wavelength of the laser or more precisely the
photon energy. Essentially, there are two common mechanisms (Garrison and
Srinivasan 1985) for laser material interactions, which can occur at varying degrees
while processing a material.
• Thermal (photothermal or pyrolytic): This is an electronic absorption in which
the photon energy is used to heat up the material to be processed and thus part of
the material is removed as a result of molecule vaporization, such as in CO2
laser cutting.
• Athermal (photochemical or photolytic): This is a photochemical process
whereby the material is ablated by direct breaking of molecular bonds when hit
by photons (energy) of the incident beam. In principle, this is only possible if the
photon energy is equal or greater than the bond energy of the molecules of the
material to be processed. During this process, a particular area of the surface of
the material is removed with minimum (or without any, theoretically) thermal
164 J. Jacob et al.

damage to the surrounding material. This process is generally called ablation,

though photothermal processes are also referred to as ablation. Ablation is
generally used in reference to polymer and/or soft materials, but laser ablation is
also possible with other materials such as ceramic and glass. However higher
fluences are required in their case.
The etch rate—the amount of material removed per pulse—is mainly a function of
the photon energy and the material being processed. The ablation threshold is the point
at which the applied energy density is enough to cause ablation either photolytic or
pyrolytic (Fig. 3). The ablation threshold varies from polymer to polymer depending
on the nature and strength of the bonds in the polymer and also on laser wavelength
(Table 2). An ablation threshold can be obtained from a plot of etch rate against a
logarithmic scale of fluence at zero ablation rate, as indicated in the Fig. 4 below.
Table 3 shows a list of common bonds in polymers with their respective bond
energies, which need to be broken during any laser ablation, regardless of the nature
of the mechanism. For photochemical ablation, the laser wavelength has to be
carefully chosen such that the photon energy obtained from the laser is equal or
greater than the bond energy of the polymer to be processed. When working at
fluence levels below the Ablation threshold, no ablation/micromachining is
expected to occur. However, the chemical properties of the materials are subject to
certain changes. Furthermore, operating at well above the threshold may leads to
increase in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and debris deposition. The former is due to

Fig. 3 The principle of laser

ablation
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 165

Table 2 Ablation threshold fluence and depths for some selected materials
Material Excimer laser Fluence (J/cm2) Ablation
source/wavelength(nm) [nm] depth/pulse (µm)
Polycarbonate (PC) KrF/248 4.0 0.4
Polyester (PES) KrF/248 4.0 0.8
Polyethylene (PE) KrF/248 3.7 1.0
ArF/193 6.0 4.0
Polyimide (PI) XeCl/308 0.3 0.1
KrF/248 0.7 0.3
Alumina ArF/193 45 0.06
KrF/248 45 0.19
XeCl/308 25 0.17
Zirkonia KrF/248 10 0.12
Boron nitride ArF/193 20 0.15
Silicon nitride KrF/248 10 0.18
Silicon carbide KrF/248 10 0.13
Piezoelectric ceramics KrF/248 5.0 0.05
(PZT) XeCl/308 5.4 0.20
(Data source from Basting and Marowsky 2005)

high energy while the latter is, as a result of bombarding the ejected materials. It
may be noted that intense bombardment of ejected particles above the ablation zone
may result in the reduction of the micromachining rate/the ablation rate. This is
because the ejected materials might absorb fractions of the incoming beam thus
reducing the effective fluence at the zone of ablation. Wavelength is one of the
factors that determine the thresholds of ablation. For example, the ablation
threshold for PMMA (Poly Methyl Meth Acrylate) is *150 mJ/cm2 at 193 nm
and *500 mJ/cm2 at 248 nm—this is a 3-time increase in value between the two
wavelengths. The rule-of-thumb for laser ablation of polymers is to have lower
threshold fluences for ablation at shorter wavelengths. The pulse duration is another
important factor. Ultra short laser pulses can minimize a photothermal process
during the laser process so that the higher quality structures might be obtained.
Especially, melting effects (recast and debris) around the machining areas can be
minimized by ultrashort pulsed laser.
As mentioned earlier, a key concept in excimer laser machining is the fluence, F,
which is defined as the energy per area per pulse delivered onto the sample surface,
with the unit of [J/cm2]. Invariably, polymers display a threshold fluence as indi-
cated in Fig. 4, which must be exceeded for ablation to take place. The threshold
fluence is often in the order of few hundred mJ/cm2, depending on the polymer and
on the excimer wavelength. Most polymers obey Beer’s law of attenuation. From
Table 3, it is clear that, KrF laser which is the most commonly used excimer laser
source for polymer micromachining, is able to break many types of polymeric bond,
as its photon energy is 5 eV. Ideal photochemical processes are unlikely to occur,
and some thermal effects usually accompany ablation processes.
166 J. Jacob et al.

Fig. 4 Ablation rate as a

function of laser fluence

Table 3 Bond dissociation Type of bond Bond energy

energy
O–O 1.47
N–N 1.69
C–N 3.16
C–C 3.6
H–N 4.03
C–H 4.29
N=N 4.33
H–H 4.51
O–H 4.81
O=O 5.16
(Data source from Lide 2009)

4 Excimer Laser Machining Process

Excimer laser can create structures on substrate by two means either by direct
writing or by using mask patterns as shown in Fig. 5. The poor beam quality factor
of the excimer laser beam makes it unsuitable for focusing on a small area, as the
minimum spot size is directly proportional to the beam quality factor. The relatively
large beam size of *25 mm × *10 mm is able to satisfy the requirement for
projection printing. Hence, the technique of mask projection is commonly used in a
large number of applications. With a mask and de-magnifying optics, laser pro-
jection printing allows parallel production of a large array of de-magnified
microstructures simultaneously, to increase the throughput (Tseng 2007). In the
other major fabrication mode viz, direct writing, the microstructure is constructed
by direct bombardment of a series of small spots using a focused laser beam
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 167

Fig. 5 Direct writing and mask projection techniques

scanning a specific pattern over the target. Since direct writing is operated in a
series mode, its throughput is much lower than that of projection printing. Con-
sequently, excimer lasers are normally used for projection printing to machine
microstructures and are fundamentally different from most other industrial lasers,
such as the solid-state Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers, which are generally employed in
direct writing during machining.
As shown in Fig. 6, a basic laser micromachining workstation consists of an
excimer laser source, beam shutter, attenuator, a set of steering mirrors, Beam

Moving Stage

Fig. 6 Typical excimer laser micro machining setup

168 J. Jacob et al.

Shaper, Beam Homogenizer, Mask, Projection Lens, motorized stage and camera;
the whole system being mounted on an optical table. The movement of the
motorized stage is synchronized with the Laser pulse firing from the Excimer
source using the computerized control system.
Excimer lasers exhibit relatively poor beam quality, including high-order mode
structures and high divergence. Also, the beam profile is mainly determined by the
discharge conditions and the laser resonator optics. With continuous operation,
discharge conditions and gas quality, the cleanliness of the cavity windows are
subject to natural degradation or contamination. Therefore, a homogeneous beam
profile at the beam exit is difficult to achieve. For stable long-term operation, a
beam homogenizer, the function of which is schematically illustrated in Fig. 7, is
frequently used to compensate and average these influences. A typical fly’s eye
homogenizer can convert a non-uniform profile of an excimer laser beam into a
homogeneous beam with higher than 95 % uniformity in the energy density.
After the homogenizer the laser beam is passed through a projection mask and
projected onto the target surface by a de-magnifying objective/projection lens. As
indicated in Tables 1 and 3, the photon energies of F2 and ArF lasers are higher than
the oxygen binding energy, 5.1 eV. As a result, the F2 and ArF beams can be
absorbed by O2 in the air, generating ozone. To prevent the generation of hazardous
ozone gases and to have efficient propagation without unnecessary energy
absorption, the laser beam passage should be encapsulated, and flushed by an inert
gas or drawn into a vacuum. In projection printing, the mask is one of the most
critical components. In basic excimer laser micromachining, two types of binary
masks, stencil and chrome-on quartz (or more generally, metal-on-quartz), are
normally used to define the regions to be patterned. In stencil masks, patterns are
etched on metal foils. This type of mask has a long lifetime with excellent contrast

Fig. 7 Ray diagram of typical beam homogenizer

Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 169

because it not only exhibits high resolution or small feature sizes, but also with-
stands high-energy laser irradiation.
Successive laser pulses cause material ablation/removal, thus the controlled local
micromachining of the part, without any adverse thermal effect associated with
continuous wave, high power laser applications. Because of the short pulse dura-
tion, of the order of just nanoseconds, there is not much time for the heat to diffuse
out of the irradiated or micromachining-area into the bulk material of the work
piece, resulting in very good surface characteristics, without the adverse heat
affected zone. Excimer lasers allow high-intensity energy to be absorbed in a very
thin surface layer, for the effective removal of material from irradiated target area.
The machining mechanism of polymers, by excimer lasers is usually referred to as
ablation as mentioned above. Here, the material explodes into vapour and is ejected
in the form of species such as atoms, molecules, ions, and clusters due to the
interaction of the intense laser pulse with the material. To ablate a high precision
and high-quality structure at micrometer scales, the interaction between the laser
and material must be well understood and controlled.
The complex microstructure is created through movement of the work piece or
mask or both. The type of laser used, the selection of polymeric material, envi-
ronment under which the ablation is carried out, parameters of the laser beam etc.
are some of the vital inputs to be considered to have optimal laser ablation for
manufacturing micro features with excimer laser. The mask projection method
offers great flexibility and there are numerous features which can be utilized when
considering micro-machining applications. Few of them are listed below.
Mask dimensions: The projection lens usually de-magnifies the mask pattern onto
the work piece and so the features on the mask need not be as small as the micro-
structures to be produced. Typically, de-magnifications of ×4, ×10, ×12, ×16 or ×20
are used so the mask does not have to be made of ultra-high resolution features,
thereby reducing its complexity and cost of manufacture.
Mask Damage: Due to the de-magnification used, the energy density of the laser
beam is much lower at the mask than at the sample mounted on the work stage. This
reduces the risk of damage to the mask with intense laser radiation, and increases
the mask lifetime as well.
Separation of Mask and Work-piece: Because the mask and work piece are not in
close proximity, the mask does not get exposed to any debris or get deteriorated due
to particulate damage from the sample ablation.
Independent Control: Mask projection allows independent control of the motion of
the mask and workpiece and this allows many different processing techniques to be
used depending on the desired micro-engineering application.
Resolution and Depth of Focus: The smallest feature resolution R which can be
obtained is fundamentally governed by the projection lens being used and can be
expressed as R ∝ k1λ/NA, where λ is the laser wavelength and NA is the numerical
aperture of the optical system and k1 is a constant which depends on the sample
material and processing conditions. The depth of focus (DoF) is similarly given by
DoF ∝ k2λ/NA2 where k2 is another optical/process-related constant.
170 J. Jacob et al.

5 Different Polymers Used for Industrial Micromachining

Nearly all engineering materials, including plastics, glass, metals, semiconductors,

composites, and biological materials can be processed by excimer lasers. Polymers
with high absorption (See Table 4 below) at 248 nm, such as PET and PI are better
suited for machining than materials of low (PS, PMMA) or negligible (PTFE, PE,
PP) absorption. Generally, the machining depth for high-absorption polymers is
smaller than for low-absorption polymers, because the penetration of the photons is
limited to a smaller interaction volume. Even polymers which show negligible
absorption such as PE, PP and Teflon (PTFE) can be machined to some extent. This
is due to nonlinear absorption (multi-photon processes), but the structures invari-
ably display poor machining quality.
The high intensity of the laser will not only cause ablation, but also the for-
mation of a plume of plasma above the interaction zone. The plasma plume has at
least two important effects on the ablation process. The plume is formed on a
timescale comparable to that of the laser pulse itself. Thus, some of the incoming
radiation may interact with the early stages of the plume, before reaching the job
surface. The extent of the plume may be several mm, depending on the fluence and
the material, often orders of magnitude more than the size of the structure that is
ablated. When the plume is extinguished, the material in it could be re-deposited
along the ablated structure, often as visible debris. For some applications this is not
a concern, whereas particular contaminants may be detrimental in some other cases.
Consequently, excimer laser machining may often be followed by a cleaning
procedure to remove the debris. Some control is offered by carrying out the ablation
in inert atmospheres, such as He or N2. Debris is often found in the form of carbon
dust, which is readily wiped off, from the surface.
The etching process of polymeric material with a pulsed UV Laser is named as
Ablative Photo Decomposition (APD) by Srinivasan and Mayne-Banton (1982).
The ablation process is characterized by pulse-by-pulse removal of small amount of
material at submicron thickness, with minimal damage to the surrounding areas. A
photon of short-wavelength laser has energy ranging from 4 to 10 eV, which covers
the bond energy of most of the organic polymeric materials. The bonding energies
of different types of covalent bonds of organic polymeric materials are shown in
Table 3.

Table 4 Absorption Polymer Absorption, α (µm−l) Penetration depth (nm)

coefficients and penetration
depths of selected polymers at PMMA 0.0063 158 × 103
248 nm PI 22 45
PET 16 62.5
PC 1 1 × 103
(Data Source from: Chen et al. 2005; Jackson et al. 1995; Meijer
2004; Pfleging 2006; Yung et al. 2000; Zakariyah 2010; Zeng
et al., 2003)
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 171

Numerous models have been proposed to explain the observed etching behav-
iour of various polymeric materials by Garrison and Srinivasan (1985). These
models invariably assume the ablation to be either photochemical or photo-thermal
process. In photochemical process, the material absorbs photons, leading to bond
breaking. In photo- thermal process, the deposited energy is converted to heat,
leading to thermal decomposition. It has been generally accepted that ablation
proceeds by a combination of these two mechanisms. Experimental work by
Garrison and Srinivasan (1985) showed that photochemistry plays a less role for
wavelengths greater than 193 nm. A photon of short-wavelength laser has energy
ranging from 4 to 10 eV, which covers the bond energy of most of the organic
polymeric materials. The bonding energies of different types of covalent bonds of
organic polymeric materials are shown in Table 3. It is evident that a photon of
248 nm KrF excimer laser having energy of 5.0 eV, is sufficient to break most of the
covalent bonds of organic polymeric materials. As a result, Excimer lasers are used
in the first step of pre-process pattern printing method for metals. Even though the
photochemical action dominates over the photo thermal process, photo thermal
process still has a significant role in the whole polymeric ablation process, which
may have detrimental effects on the ablated surface characteristics. Similar to the
case of conventional mechanical machining process, where liquid coolant is used to
reduce tool wear out resulting in improved surface finish of the work piece, the
effect of using coolants during the process of laser ablation were extensively studied
by researchers. The thermal effect was also extensively studied by researchers on
metals and ceramic materials during the machining process using high energy
pulsed Nd:YAG laser (Li and Achara 2004). Formation of recast layer in metals due
to thermal effect was reported in such cases. Use of inert gases to minimize the
thermal effect was also reported (Rao et al. 2005). Researchers have also studied
(Issa et al. 2008; Sinkovics et al. 2010) a thermal model based on transient heat
conduction model, using finite element methods by irradiating CO2 laser to create
micro channels on the surface of soda-lime glass.

6 Applications of Excimer Laser

There are a lot of applications using laser machining introduced because of its own
advantages. Few of the important area of applications are cited here.

6.1 Fabrication of Microfluidic System

A microchannel is a tiny channel to deliver liquid for certain functionality in

microsystems. It may be used in various applications, ranging from applications in
manufacturing industries, such as micromolding and printer nozzles, to biomedical
172 J. Jacob et al.

devices for medical diagnostics, such as LOC (lab-on-a-chip) or µTAS (micro total
analysis system). Microchannels are mainly classified as either open channels or
closed channels. An open channel, in general, has an open top part; a closed
channel does not have any open parts. The closed microchannel demands more
complicated serial fabrication strategy. A microchannel is generally created by
micro/nano fabrication. However, other methods such as micromilling are also
used, according to the size of the system. Currently, wet/dry etching is the most
popular method to fabricate microchannels; in particular, deep reactive ion etching
(DRIE) can be used to create the channels, giving a high aspect ratio compared to
other methods, and various materials, ranging from silicon to glass, are etched using
this method. However, DRIE requires additional masking processes using organic
layers, photoresists or metals. Additionally, it is very hard to create channels with
different depths on the same system. Soft lithography, including micro contact
printing (µCP) and a few different micro molding methods, can also be used to
fabricate the micro channel (Rosqvist and Johansson 2002). It creates micro-
structures by replicating prefabricated mold structures using certain materials, such
as a molten polymer. Thus, it is relatively low-cost and suitable for mass produc-
tion. However, the range of materials that can be used for soft lithography processes
are limited because of the nature of the process. The methods introduced above
need serial fabrication steps, not a single process. Meanwhile, excimer laser mi-
cromachining can create micro channels directly on various substrates (Shah et al.
2008; Zheng et al. 2006). The resolution of structures created by laser microma-
chining is mainly dependent upon the wavelength of laser. It offers several
advantages compared to other fabrication methods. First, it is easy to implement by
controlling a few parameters. Second, it does not require complicated serial pro-
cesses and a restricted working environment such as masking and coating processes
in a clean room facility. In Laser Micromachining process to fabricate micro
channels, the geometry of a structure can be easily controlled with simple tool path
codes, which are essentially the ones used for traditional CNC machining. It enables
the change of geometries of micro channels with ease, based on the design, simply
by using a different tool path. In addition to above benefits, it can prevent con-
tamination during the process as it is a non-contact process. Although the laser
method demands a long machining time to fabricate a structure with a high aspect
ratio and a large area (however, it can be controlled by laser specifications such as
laser energy and frequency), it is a good method to create a microstructure.
Kim (2010) has successfully developed excimer laser micromachining
process for fabrication of micro channel, using three different materials such as
silicon, PE and PMMA Their primary objective was to apply excimer laser mi-
cromachining to fabricate microfluidic devices. By optimizing machining param-
eters, the simple reservoir and micro channels were fabricated by these researchers
and microfluidic experiments were performed using three different liquids (water,
ethanol and glycerine) on the created microchannels.
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 173

6.2 Fabrication of Micro Lens Array

Micro-lens and micro-lens array are important elements for many applications on
optical data storage, digital display, and optical communication. Although many
conventional methods are widely used for fabrication of micro-lens array, a com-
mon problem shared by all these methods is that the micro-lens surface profile is not
accurately controllable. Chiu and Lee (2011) demonstrated a unique method for
fabricating aspheric micro-lens array based on a KrF 248 nm excimer laser mi-
cromachining with precise surface profile control. They have developed a planetary
scanning method which can fabricate axially symmetric 3D microstructures with an
arbitrary profile based on the sample rotation and revolution approaches. In this
planetary contour scanning method, a metal mask screen was combined with x–y
movable stage to solve the problem of outskirt laser machining. Their result of SEM
image of single aspheric micro-lens fabricated by planetary scanning machining
shows a very smooth surface profile. Detailed comparison between the machined
surface profiles with their designed and desired counterparts showed that the
machined surface is smooth and well matched to the desired surface profile. This
method demonstrated superior results over other currently existing micromachining
or micro fabrication methods in terms of profile flexibility, versatility, and profile
accuracy.

7 Excimer Laser Micromachining Under Gaseous

Environment

Though laser based micro machining of polymer, by and large, is a cold ablation
process, photo thermal process associated with the laser heating may affect the
surface characteristics. Limited information is available on the use of gaseous
coolants during laser ablation of polymeric materials. The authors have conducted a
study on establishing the effect of certain gaseous environment on the ablation rate of
polymer during excimer laser ablation. Attempts have been made by the authors to
study whether the usage of gaseous cooling media in the laser ablation process has
any meaningful bearing on the surface characteristics of the work piece. Five dif-
ferent gaseous media viz, hydrogen, helium, argon, nitrogen and air were selected for
the study. Among these gases, hydrogen and helium possess higher thermal con-
ductivity than the other three gaseous media used in the experiment. The details of the
experiments along with the results and observations are presented here.
A circular mask is used to get a final beam size of 5 mm on the polymeric
surface to be ablated.
A gas handling setup was fabricated for admitting gas at a predefined flow rate
over the surface of polymer during the laser ablation process. This set up consists of
a cylindrical steel chamber made up of Stainless Steel 304 grade material having a
volume of about 100 ml with a gas inlet and outlet for gas admittance at predefined
174 J. Jacob et al.

flow rates. A calcium fluoride window of 2 in. dia. is fixed over ablation chamber,
normal to laser beam axis Stainless steel coupons (2 in. dia × 2 mm thick) are used as
metal substrate, over which negative photo resist (E-1020 obtained from M/s Cad-
mosil Chemical Pvt. Ltd, India) was coated to about 100 micron thickness by stan-
dard spin coating technique. The coating was air dried and subsequently cured at
110 °C for about 1 h under vacuum at 10−2 mbar absolute pressure. This is done to
achieve uniform coating thickness of the polymer which is free from entrapped gases
in the polymeric material. The coated coupon was placed inside the steel chamber and
mounted on the X-Y translation stage of laser ablation system. The photo-resist was
exposed to 2000 pulses of the laser under various experimental conditions. Under a
pre-set condition where the laser pulse energy, number of pulses and pulse repetition
rate are fixed to a value, the ablation process was performed under continuous flow of
the gases. The gases used for study include hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, argon and air.
In all cases, the laser fluence is set to a value which is above the threshold value for
the polymeric material. The mass ablated (the amount of polymeric material removed
for a fixed no. of pulses) was computed as a function of gas flow rate at different laser
power levels. Gas flow rate was varied in the range of 0.2–2 l/min. See Fig. 8, which
shows the variation of Ablated mass with gas flow rate, under different gaseous
blanketing environment. Though there is no drastic change in ablation rate with
change in flow rate for each of the gases, the variation is significant among the gases
as shown in Fig. 9. The variation in ablation rate follows a trend of Air ≈ Niro-
gen < Argon < Helium <<Hydrogen. With respect to air, hydrogen gas showed 5.2
times higher ablation rate, while helium showed 2.4 times higher values. Our
observations could be well explained as detailed below. Laser ablation rate, in
general, is sum of the rates attributed to photochemical and photo-thermal process.
Depending upon the conditions in which the ablation process is conducted, the extent
of contribution by photo chemical (PC) and photo-thermal (PT) process may vary.
Above the threshold limit of laser energy, photo-thermal process could be contrib-
uting significantly to the net ablation rate.

Fig. 8 Variation of mass

ablated in different gaseous
environment for a laser
energy of 20 mJ
Excimer Laser Micromachining and its Applications 175

Fig. 9 Variation of mean

mass ablated for different gas
environment

Table 5 Thermal Gas Thermal conductivity at 300 K (W/mK × 10−3)

conductivity of gases
Argon 17.9
Nitrogen 26
Air 26.2
Oxygen 26.6
Helium 156.7
Hydrogen 186.9
(Data source from: Lide 2009)

Based on the thermal conductivity values of gases shown in Table 5, hydrogen

and helium gases should act as a better coolant compared to other gases to minimize
the thermal effects associated with laser ablation process. It is observed that laser
ablation of polymeric material using excimer laser under the cover of air, nitrogen,
argon and helium, produced similar surface characteristics with insignificant impact
on ablation rate. Owing to its higher thermal conductivity, helium gas showed
higher thermal quenching effect compared to Argon, Nitrogen and air media. On the
contrary, hydrogen showed different behaviour compared to other gaseous media
studied. Despite its higher thermal conductivity compared to helium, hydrogen gas
showed remarkable increase in ablation rate, thus suggesting to be an assisting-
chemical agent during the laser ablation of polymeric material. Its involvement in
the chemical assisted laser ablation of polymeric materials provides many beneficial
effects. It increases the ablation rate. It improves the quality of etched surface,
which is desirable for laser micro machining. It surprisingly suppresses the thermo
chemical burning of the polymer with oxygen, thereby eliminating the deposit of
black colored carbonaceous soot over ablated surface. Work is in progress to
examine its reaction kinetics, characterization of machined surface with different
polymeric materials and optimize the ablation parameters to derive the desirable
surface characteristics.
176 J. Jacob et al.

8 Conclusions

Excimer laser based micro machining methods have been under continuous
development for the last few decades. Now it is possible to create extremely tiny
and advanced structures for various applications. It has realized a lot of things
beyond imagination. It has been developed in various applications, ranging from
medical surgery to semiconductor industry due to its unique advantages. It provides
several advantages compared to other micro fabrication methods. Excimer laser
micromachining process is characterized by a number of process parameters that
determines efficiency, economy and quality of the whole process. Researchers are
trying to optimize the process through experimental and modelling techniques. The
two extreme application areas such as machining of thick materials and machining
of micro-parts need considerable research work.

Acknowledgments The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Mr. Abhishek Singh and
Mr. Rajashekara Biradar, for their assistance in carrying out the experiments.

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Laser Induced Micromachining
and Preliminary Experiments
on Manufacturing of Micro-channel
on Mild Steel

Sanasam Sunderlal Singh, S.N. Joshi and Alika Khare

Abstract Laser-Induced Micromachining (LIMM) is a non-conventional machin-

ing process in which a high power laser beam is focused over the work surface in
order to remove the material selectively. The material is removed through melting,
evaporation and plasma formation. LIMM offers better machining efficiency than
other non-conventional machining processes in terms of the machining rate, effi-
cient debris removal, better surface morphology and capability to machine wide
range of materials irrespective of its hardness and electrical conductivity. Further
precision can be obtained by confining the laser induced plasma plume from the
surface using an external magnetic field or electric field. This chapter deals with a
brief introduction and basic principle of laser induced micromachining. This is
followed by a discussion on various configurations of LIMM. Further, a review on
numerical and experimental studies of the laser induced micromachining is pre-
sented. At the end of the chapter, preliminary experimental work on laser induced
micromachining of mild steel has been reported.

Keywords Laser induced micromachining Micro channel Numerical modeling
of LIMM

1 Introduction

To fulfill the need and requirement of modern society in terms of MEMS devices,
the demand for miniaturized features like fuel injection nozzles in automobiles,
micro holes in electrical printed circuit board and textile industries, nano level

S.S. Singh
S.N. Joshi (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, Assam, India
e-mail: snj@iitg.ernet.in
A. Khare
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati 781039, Assam, India

© Springer India 2015 179

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_11
180 S.S. Singh et al.

surface finish on complex geometry, micro fluidic channels have been tremen-
dously increasing. This has lead to the development of micromachining such as
laser micromachining, ultrasonic micromachining, micro electrical discharge
machining, electrochemical micromachining, etc. Micromachining indicates
machining in the range of 1–999 µm. In recent years, laser beam micromachining
(LIMM) has emerged as one of the dominant non-contact processing tools in the
fabrication of micro-components. LIMM can remove material in very small amount
(in micron range), while traditional machining removes material in macro scale.
Application of lasers have advantages such as narrow cut, minimum heat affected
zone (HAZ), better accuracy, smooth and flat edges, minimal deformation of the
workpiece and fast cutting of intricate profile cut and fast adaptation to changes in
manufacturing programs.

1.1 Laser Induced Micromachining

Laser, an acronym of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, is a

device that emits light through the process of stimulated emission. It comprises of
three main components namely the lasing medium (active medium), pump (means
of exciting the lasing medium into its appropriate higher energy states) and optical
feedback system or optical cavity comprising of two mirrors as shown in Fig. 1
(Silfvest 2004). One of the mirrors is made partially reflecting making the laser
beam to come out of the cavity for useful purpose.
One can classify laser based on the lasing medium: Gas laser, Liquid laser, Solid
state laser, Semiconductor, Free electron laser etc. Laser can be operated either in
continuous wave (CW) mode or in pulsed mode. The main properties of laser are:
high brightness, monochromatic, low divergence and high spatial and temporal
coherence.
Laser Induced Micromachining (LIMM) can be applied to any material while
traditional machining processes have to choose compatible tools for materials with
different strength or hardness. It is difficult to machine hard material or brittle
material such as ceramics by traditional machining processes. However, laser

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of laser system

Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 181

machining can easily machine such materials with high precision. In LIMM, laser
beam is focused by a lens on the work surface, removing a small portion of the
material by melting and vaporization. The process of removing the material is
known as ablation. It is generally accepted that two phenomena happen during the
ablation process i.e. photochemical ablation and photo-thermal ablation. Photo-
chemical ablation involves the absorption of photons leading directly to bond
breaking in the material without any intermediate heat dissipation. It uses UV
photons having energies 3–7 eV (Johan 2004), which is used to break the chemical
bonds directly. Alternatively, multi-photon process can be utilized with the longer
wavelength laser. This phenomenon is generally used for machining of polymers. In
photo-thermal ablation, deposited energy is converted into heat and decomposes the
material surface in the focal volume. The processes involved are: heating, melting,
ablation of the surfaces etc. The focal intensity of laser influences the vaporization
rate and high vaporization rate causes a shockwave that can reach pressure of more
than 50 kbars (Fabbro et al. 1990). The high pressure created during the melting and
superheating of liquid at the end of laser pulse ejects the material within the focal
volume at high speed.
Laser can also be utilized to cut the work piece of any material in desired
geometrical shapes. It can even cut the work pieces which are normally difficult to
cut by other machining processes. CO2 laser and Nd:YAG laser are the most
commonly used in cutting as these can deliver the required high powers for high
speed cutting. UV lasers are mostly used for thin layer cuttings or organic material
cutting. Plastics, polymers, composites, wood, rubber, papers, stones and crystals
have been successfully machined by infrared lasers (Caiazzo et al. 2005; Lau et al.
1990). Some materials such as composites and gemstones can be readily cut with
high quality using lasers, while they may be difficult to cut using other techniques.
UV lasers can even cut polymers with negligible heat affected zone, because the
photon energy is comparable to the bonding energy of the material dominated by
photochemical process over photo-thermal (Znotins et al. 1987).
Drilling is one of the simplest and successful applications of industrial lasers.
Drilling of holes in ceramic, silicon and polymer substrates is widely utilized in
electronics industry. While, laser drilling of metals is used for fabrication of cooling
channels in air turbine blades, tiny orifices for nozzles, etc. Holes less than 0.25 mm
diameter can be drilled using laser with ease; especially for hard and brittle
materials such as ceramics and gemstones (Forget et al. 1988). Large holes can be
drilled by trepanning, i.e., by scanning the beam around the circumference of a
circle.
Laser marking, scribing and texturing are important applications of laser mi-
cromachining besides cutting and drilling. In these applications, a very thin layer of
material is ablated and a mark or pattern is formed (Qi et al. 2003). Permanent laser
markings of almost all materials with high precision have considerable advantages
over other techniques. It doesn’t require any sample preparation or post treatment.
Applications of laser markings range from shallow to deep-marking of hard and
corrosion-resistant materials.
182 S.S. Singh et al.

The general parameters which control laser machining are laser wavelength,
beam shape, focal intensity of the laser on to the surface, pulse width, pulse rep-
etition rate and working environment (vacuum/inert/air/liquid). Laser intensity is
the main input process parameter that directly influences machining features such as
material removal or HAZ. Generally, longer the wavelength, lower the absorption,
hence decrease in material removal (Johan 2004). The output parameters are
Material Removal Rate (MRR), machining geometry (kerf width, hole diameter,
taper), surface quality (surface roughness, surface morphology), metallurgical
characteristics (recast layer, heat affected zone, dross inclusion) and mechanical
properties (hardness, strength).

1.1.1 Process Mechanism of Laser Induced Micromachining

When laser beam is focused on the target material, fraction of the energy is reflected
and part of it is absorbed, the absorbed energy directly ablates the material by local
heating in the focal region as depicted in Fig. 2.
The fraction of the incident power that is reflected from the surface depends on
the polarization and angle of incidence of the laser as well as the reflectivity of the
working medium (William and Mazumder 2010). Further, part of the incident
power that is being absorbed by the work material propagates through the electron
subsystem and then gets transferred to the lattice there by transferring to the
ambient target material within the focal volume and its surrounding.
Based on the intensity of the laser, the surface undergoes melting, vaporization,
plasma formation etc. At very high intensity, surface starts to vaporize before a
significant melting depth of molten material is formed. The material gets removed
through laser ablation. For laser pulse durations longer than microseconds,
hydrodynamic ablation is the dominating phenomenon over the direct ablation.
During laser cutting and drilling operations, there exists a time scale which allows
the surface to heat to the vaporization temperature and remain there for some time.
During the initial phase, the ablated particle surrounding the medium expands. This
leads to the formation of recoil pressure which thereby helps in expulsion of the

Fig. 2 Laser irradiation

showing different phenomena
involved
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 183

molten material from the irradiated region. In addition to this, there exist strong
temperature gradients in the radial direction in the molten material due to the beam
profile i.e. the center of the molten material is usually hotter than the outer. Thus,
recoil pressure and temperature gradient drive the molten material out in the form of
liquid droplets. The combination of vaporization and hydrodynamic ablation results
into drilling or cutting the material in the focal region.
When the laser intensity is higher than that required to vaporize the work
material, the vaporized material gets ionized. This leads to the formation of plasma
at the vicinity of the work surface. With the formation of plasma, laser energy
transmitted to the material depends on the density of the plasma. Below a certain
critical value of the plasma density, laser energy is transmitted to the work material.
When the critical value of the plasma density is reached, further transmission of
laser energy onto the work material is cut off due to the absorption or reflection of
the incident laser beam by laser induced plasma. Shock waves are generated when
the above formed plasma expands, which is the basis for laser shock processing to
improve residual stress of metal components (Sano et al. 1997). The sequence of
processes in material removing via high power laser is depicted in Fig. 3.
Laser-induced micromachining can be performed under vacuum, in presence of
low-high pressure gases and in liquid. The process of LIMM can be improved by
placing the work piece in presence of magnetic field which controls the expansion
of plasma. Figure 4a shows the schematic of LIMM under vacuum. Figure 4b that
of in presence of liquid/air and Fig. 4c depicts the laser Induced Micromachining in
presence of magnetic field. The process in LIMM can be improved using these
careful choices of surrounding environment (Fabbro et al. 1990).

HIGH INTENSITY LASER BEAM

REFLECTION LOSS TRANSMISSION TO SUBSTRATE

ABSORPTION BY THE SURFACE

MELTING ABLATION / VAPORIZATION PLASMA FORMATION

HIGH PRESSURE PLASMA

GENERATION/ SHIELDING
SHOCK WAVE

MATERIAL REMOVAL

Fig. 3 Principle of LIMM

184 S.S. Singh et al.

Fig. 4 a Laser induced micromachining in vacuum. b Laser induced micromachining in liquid/

gas. c Laser induced micromachining process in magnetic field

1.2 Laser Induced Plasma Micromachining

Laser induced plasma (LIP) takes place when the energy of the incident laser
exceeds the ablation threshold of the solid (Ali et al. 2014). Laser induced plasma
micromachining (LIPMM) utilizes the ultra-short laser beam generated plasma in
liquid medium to machine a component. The sequence of operations occurring in
LIPMM is depicted in Fig. 5. It comprises of spot plasma based LIPMM process (S-
LIPMM), Line-LIPMM process (L-LIPMM) and magnetically controlled LIPMM
process (MC-LIPMM). In LIPMM, a high power laser is focused in a transparent
liquid or air medium (shown in Fig. 5), there is a formation of laser induced plasma.
The removal of material takes place when the generated plasma interacts with the
substrate placed in the vicinity of LIP (Pallav et al. 2014). The duration of plasma,
its size and density depend on the pulse duration, focal spot and the incident laser
intensity.
Expansion of LIP replaces the medium and generates a large pressure on the
workpiece surface. This exerted pressure by the plasma holds back the molten
material. Eventually, plasma collapses after the termination of the laser beam,
leading to the rushing of the surrounding medium back to fill the void. This results
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 185

HIGH INTENSITY LASER BEAM

TRANSPARENT DIELECTRIC MEDIUM

(AIR / LIQUID)

IONISATION

PLASMA FORMATION

ABSORPTION OF ENERGY IN PLASMA

THERMAL ENERGY MECHANICAL ENERGY

WORKPIECE WORKPIECE

MELTING AND EVAPORATION LIQUID GAS PHASE CHANGE

PLASMA EXPANSION CAVITATION AND SHOCK WAVE

MATERIAL REMOVAL

Fig. 5 Laser induced plasma micromachining

in an instantaneous expulsion of the material from the workpiece surface. Thus a

crater is generated on the workpiece surface corresponding to every shot of LIP.
Micro-channel can be fabricated if the workpiece is moved with respect to the
plasma in the focal region of the surface at a certain feed-rate in a preprogrammed
motion. Overlapping of the craters in succession writes the micro channel (Pallav
et al. 2014).

1.3 Laser Induced Plasma Assisted Ablation (LIPAA)

It utilizes the laser generated plasma as a by-product during laser ablation of a

metallic target placed below a transparent workpiece (Hanada et al. 2006; Kadan
et al. 2005; Zhang et al. 1999) as shown in the schematic of Fig. 6. In this process,
laser beam is made to pass through a glass substrate which is transparent. Then the
transmitted beam is focused on a solid target (typically a metal) placed behind the
substrate so that the target is ablated resulting in plasma generation. The generated
186 S.S. Singh et al.

Fig. 6 Laser induced plasma

assisted ablation

plasma is then used to machine the transparent material. This process has been
widely applied for micromachining of various transparent hard and soft materials.

1.4 Advantages of LIMM

LIMM offers better machining efficiency and has various advantages over other
micromachining processes. Some of the advantages are:
• Laser induced micromachining offers wide range of machining capabilities
irrespective of the properties of the material.
• The issues of tool related problems such as tool wear, manufacturing of tool and
cutting force are not required in laser induced micromachining.
• Greater process flexibility can be achieved by automation of laser system such
as CNC incorporated laser system.
• The material removal rate is comparatively higher as compared to EDM, USM,
EBM, etc.
• There is reduction in Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) due to very thin re-solidified
layer.
• Machining can be performed with high precision in any geometry.

1.5 Limitations of LIMM

In spite of the various advantages of LIMM, it also has some unavoidable

limitations.
• The machining depth is limited by the Rayleigh length.
• Heat affected Zone cannot be avoided completely in laser induced microma-
chining since the main material removal mechanism is thermal in nature.
• It is difficult to machine material possessing high reflectivity.
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 187

2 Literature Review on Laser Induced Micromachining

In view of the importance of laser induced micromachining (LIMM) in manufac-

turing of MEMS devices, micro-fluidic devices, relevant literatures on LIMM have
been referred in this section. The following subsections deal with the papers related
to modeling of temperature profile, HAZ and geometric features such as groove
shape, width and depth of cut. Further, experimental findings towards the
enhancement of laser induced micromachining are also discussed.

2.1 Numerical Studies of LIMM

Literature reports various numerical studies on LIMM mainly using finite element
method (FEM) and finite difference method (FDM). Un-Chul and Francis (1972)
developed a 1-D laser machining model that uses continuous, distributed and
moving heat source for describing the temperature profile and thermal stress
propagation for laser drilled holes in high purity fired-alumina ceramic substrate.
Roy and Modest (1993) used moving CW gaussian beam profile to model evap-
orative laser machining of silicon nitride by incorporating temperature dependent
properties such as specific heat and absorption coefficient using finite difference
method. Pietro and Yao (1995) have developed a 3-D transient heat transfer model
for the prediction of kerf geometry. Yu (1997) carried out a numerical study on the
laser drilling and cutting process of copper plate using Ansys 5.0/ED which had
incorporated with Ansys Parametric Design Language (APDL) to monitor and
impose the changing boundary and loading conditions. The laser beam was mod-
eled as a heat source moving on the workpiece in a prescribed manner.
Prusa et al. (1999) had developed a numerical model for the calculation of heat
conduction losses, cutting speed and temperature distribution in HAZ in CO2 laser
cutting of thick materials. Meung and Jingwei (2001) introduced a finite element
method for simulation of pulsed laser-cutting process in air to study amount of
material removed and smoothness of groove shape with the gaussian pulsed laser
beam, model in two dimensional unsteady heat conduction. Numerical simulation
of LIMM was derived considering only the solid-liquid phase change using finite
element method by Khalil and Sreenivasan (2005). Here, the enthalpy formulation
was implemented in the Finite Element Method (FEM) based model.
Effect of multiple reflection, recoil pressure were incorporated in the numerical
simulation of 1-D laser machining for alumina in addition to consideration of
temperature dependent thermal conductivity and specific heat by using COMSOL
multi-physics software (Samant and Dahotre 2009). Numerical simulation was also
reported on laser machining of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic composite material
by Negarestani et al. (2009). A 3D finite element model was developed for pre-
dicting the transient temperature field, cut profile and heat affected zone. For the
first time, the model employed the heterogeneous mesh for the composite with
anisotropic material properties.
188 S.S. Singh et al.

The thermal and optical properties of the target material change during the process
of laser ablation. These temperature dependent material properties of the target
material were taken into consideration for FEM model to predict the ablation depth
and temperature distribution in pulsed laser ablation (Nikhil et al. 2010). The effect of
plasma shielding on the incident laser flux was also considered in the model.
Moscicki et al. (2011) developed a model which describes both the target heating,
formation of the plasma and expansion. The model employed conservation of mass,
momentum and energy which are solved by using Fluent™ software package.
Finite element modeling technique was employed to study the laser machining in
air and water, in order to understand the underlying mechanism of underwater crack
free machining. In this investigation, FEM based ANSYS™ software was
employed to study the temperature distribution. The difference in heat convection
coefficient was considered as the varying parameter in numerical simulation for
laser machining in air and water (Yan et al. 2011).

2.2 Experimental Studies on LIMM

Investigations have been carried out on machining of glass matrix composite

comprising SiC fibres in a borosilicate glass matrix. It has been reported that the
material removal primarily depends on the pulse energy rather than the pulse
duration (Ian et al. 1998). The effect of cutting parameters on the cut quality of ultra
low carbon steel thin sheets has also been studied considering heat affected zone
(HAZ) as the output parameter. It was found that HAZ increases with the increase
in laser power and decreases with increase in scanning speed and gas pressure
(Hanadi et al. 2008). Rajaram et al. (2003) reported that laser power plays a major
role on the kerf width while feed rate played a minor role for experiments con-
ducted on 4130 steel using CO2 laser. Decreasing power and increasing feed rate
generally led to a decrease in kerf width and HAZ. An increasing feed rate generally
increases surface roughness and striation frequency. Comparison of CO2 laser
cutting with Continuous Wave (CW) and pulsed mode laser operation in presence
of different gases namely argon, helium and nitrogen were carried out on titanium
sheet (Rao et al. 2005). Use of helium as shear gas results in narrow HAZ and low
dross as compared to that of Ar owing to high heat convection and shear stress
provided by He gas. However, the laser cut edge produced in presence of He gas
results in waviness of the cut. During the pulsed mode laser cutting of austenitic
stainless steel sheet, rough surface and incomplete cutting has been observed on
increasing the speed due to pulse separation and insufficient overlapping. While
with continuous wave mode using Nd:YAG laser, increasing the speed with
increase in power results in smoother surface, better quality and smaller kerf width
(Ghany and Newishy 2005).
The cutting quality of laser machining depends on many input process param-
eters such as wavelength, pulse energy, pulse duration, optical and thermal prop-
erties of the material, composition, pressure of assist gas etc. Therefore,
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 189

optimization of these process parameters is required to obtain desired process

performance. Sharma et al. (2010) employed Taguchi L27 orthogonal array to
optimize the input parameters for both straight and curved cut profile using Nd:
YAG laser for cutting of Nickel based super alloy thin sheet. It was observed that
the optimum input parameter levels for curved cut profiles are entirely different
from straight cut profiles except kerf width. Optimization of the multi performance
for Nd:YAG laser cutting of nickel based superalloys has been carried out using
grey relational analysis for quality characteristics of average kerf taper and average
surface roughness (Sharma and Yadava 2011). It was observed that cutting speed
was the most significant cutting parameter for minimizing the value of average kerf
taper and average surface roughness. However the repetition rate, pulse width and
back ground oxygen pressure were found to be less significant parameters.
The cross section of a drilled silicon nitride in air and water as reported by
Noboru et al. (1988) using an Nd:YAG pulsed laser is shown in Fig. 7. In the air

Fig. 7 Cross section of a

silicon nitride ceramics drilled
in a air b water with Q-
switched power (pulse
duration of 100 ns, laser
energy of 5 mJ/pulse, Q-
switching frequency of 1 kHz,
processing time of 60 s, laser
power density of 7.1 × 107 W/
cm2) (Noboru et al. (1988),
with permission)
190 S.S. Singh et al.

Fig. 8 a Profile of the ablated region of Si after 1000 pulse irradiation in air. b Profile of the
ablated region of Si after 1000 pulse irradiation in water. c Laser ablation versus incident laser
fluence of Si in air and water (Zhu et al. (2001), with permission)

ambient, a recast layer of about 20 µm thickness and micro-cracks were observed

while these were absent in presence of water as back ground medium.
Ohara et al. (1997) did a study on infrared laser etching of micro coil pattern of
Al bulk sample in water and air. The sample etched in air showed debris along the
scanned line. The sample etched under water was devoid of any such debris. The
sample etched in water showed deeper grooves compared to that of air. Probably
the bubbles formed due to LIP in water helps in removing the debris.
Zhu et al. (2001) also reported that the laser ablation rate was enhanced in
presence of water film above the workpiece. A KrF excimer laser with a wavelength
of 248 nm and pulse duration around 23 ns was used for ablation of silicon sample.
Figure 8 shows the profile of the ablated region in air and water. It shows that
ablation rate in air in around 30 μm (Fig. 8a), whereas that of under water was
70 μm (Fig. 8b). It was also demonstrated that the ablation rate increases with the
laser fluence for both the cases.
Kruusing et al. (1999) reported that machining in water of NdFeB magnet by
short-pulsed laser provides clean grooves while machining in air results in grooves
filled with molten material using Nd:YAG laser of 180 ns, 1.8 mJ, 1 kHz with
varying feed rate.
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 191

Fig. 9 a In the ambient atmosphere only. b With the addition of the argon gaseous cover. c With
the addition of a water film on the treated surface (Dupont et al. (1995), with permission)

Dupont et al. (1995) carried out an experimental study on pulsed laser pro-
cessing of stainless-steel alloy in ambient air, argon gas and also under a flowing
water film on the material surface at atmospheric pressure. Figure 9 shows the
variation of the etch depth per pulse as a function of number of pulses at the 532 nm
laser wavelength. Figure 9a shows the effect of increase in number of pulses on the
etch depth for different laser fluences, and that of in presence of argon in Fig. 9b.
Figure 9c shows the effect in presence of water film on the treated surface. The etch
depth was found to be maximum in presence of water film and decreases with the
number of pulses at higher fluence.
Yuan-Jen et al. (2012) demonstrated the use of magnetic field in laser mi-
cromachining on highly reflective material Al6061 for drilling of micro hole. With
the use of static magnetic field, the machining process could be enhanced by many
folds in depth and the inlet diameter is reduced by 42 %. It was also observed that
the roundness of the inlet was improved. The second harmonic of Nd:YAG laser at
192 S.S. Singh et al.

532 nm wavelength, pulsed mode with maximum energy of 270 mJ, pulsed width
of around 6 ns and frequency of 50 Hz were used in the experiments. The NdFeB
permanent magnets with different arrangements were also tried in this work.
Zhang et al. (1999) performed micro-grating operation on workpieces of opti-
cally transparent materials: fused quartz and Pyrex glass using LIPAA. Kadan et al.
(2005) also performed LIPAA for micro-marking and relieve grating in sapphire,
silica and glass work material. Further, Hanada et al. (2006) demonstrated that
crack free marking and color marking of glass material is possible using LIPAA.
Pallav and Ehmann (2010) introduced a new process, Laser Induced Plasma
Micromachining (LIPMM) in which plasma generated in a transparent working
medium is directly used to perform micromachining. Rajiv et al. (2013) extended
this work, and observed that it can machine a wider variety of materials as com-
pared to direct laser ablation. It was demonstrated that Line-LIPMM can be used for
machining a line instead of a spot by optically manipulating the shape of the
plasma. L-LIPMM can reduce the time for machining micro-textures over large
areas by about six times, while retaining the multi-materials capability of Spot-
LIPMM. Further, magnetic control-LIPMM (MC-LIPMM) was developed to
manipulate the shape of the plasma. Additionally, MC-LIPMM can increase the
length and reduce the width of the channel machinable with line plasma as well.
Since no additional optics are required in MC-LIPMM the results showed that in-
process manipulation of the shape and dimensions of the machined feature might be
possible in MC-LIPMM, something which is not possible in laser ablation as the
optics is required to be changed in the middle of a machining cycle.
Sarah and Ishan (2014) carried out an experimental study to show the feasibility
of manipulating or controlling the plasma plume during laser machining using the
magnetic field around the plasma plume in order to maximize the aspect ratio of the
machined spot. Ultra short pulsed laser of Nd-YVO4 solid state, 8 ps pulse duration
at 532 nm wavelength and having Gaussian profile is used for the study. Polyamide
(PA66) and aluminium alloy (A 5052) were used as substrates. Kerosene and
distilled water was used as dielectric media.
Comparison of the different variation of LIPMM based on working parameters,
dielectric and workpiece is tabulated in Table 1.
During laser ablation, formation of plasma occurs which comprises of electrons,
ions and neutrals. This laser induced plasma absorbed the laser energy further. The
energy is absorbed by means of photo-ionization and inverse Bremsstrahlung
leading to increase in temperature and pressure. This can block laser radiation
completely on the work piece (Moscicki et al. 2011). However, many researchers
have been working on this aspect to machine different work materials including
transparent and highly reflective materials by utilizing the generated plasma.
Table 1 Summary for variation of LIPMM
Sl. Variation of Working Dielectric Workpiece Comparison Remarks
No. LIPMM parameters
1 S-LIPMM Nd-YVO4 Distilled Semitransparent Same condition followed for Transparent alumina could not be
Rajiv et. al. pulsed laser, water polycarbonate, opaque ABS direct ablation machined while sialon was
(2013) 8 ps pulse polymer sheets, transparent machinable with depth of 6 µm in
duration, alumina ceramic, polished direct ablation while 18 µm was
0.12 W, 10 kHz silicon wafer, opaque sialon obtained using S-LIPMM
L-LIPMM Kerosene, AA5052 Same experimental conditions Kerosene—deposition on the
Rajiv et. al. distilled with varying dielectric sides and insides of the channel
(2013) water, due to carbonization; Distilled
EDM oil, water—no carbonization and
mineral oil comparable machined depth to
kerosene EDM oil and mineral oil
—no deposition, much lower
machined depth; L-LIPMM has
higher productivity than S-
LIPMM and has 84% improved
machining time
MC-LIPMM Distilled AA5052 MC-LIPMM compared with MC-LIPMM results in longer
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments …

Rajiv et. al. water S-LIPMM and L-LIPMM channel with more uniform depth
(2013) and width across the length of the
channel; 200% increase in
channel length
(continued)
193
Table 1 (continued)
194

Sl. Variation of Working Dielectric Workpiece Comparison Remarks

No. LIPMM parameters
2 MC-LIPMM Nd-YVO4 Kerosene, PA 66; AA5052 Experiments conducted with Difference in aspect ratio
Sarah and Ishan pulsed laser, distilled varying magnetic observed; Only HAZ and no
(2014) 8 ps pulse water configuration (8, 12, 1 machining with LIPMM at same
duration, neodymium magnet with 4400 setting and focal point; Increase
0.13 W, 10 kHz Gauss surface field) and its in aspect ratio upto 6 using
location external magnetic field
3 LIPMM Nd-YVO4 NaCl AA5052 Influence of the presence of 100% increase in depth at an
Saxena et al. pulsed laser, solution in salinity in dielectric optimum salinity of 2–4 g/100 ml
(2014) 8 ps pulse distilled
duration, 10– water,
50 kHz, pulse Fresh
energy 6 µJ water
S.S. Singh et al.
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 195

3 Preliminary Experimentation on Laser Induced

Micromachining

In order to observe the effect of the sample scan speed on the surface roughness,
laser micro channels were fabricated by focusing a second harmonic (532 nm) of a
Q-switched Nd:YAG laser having pulse duration of a 10 ns, repetition rate of
10 Hz, focused to a size of 8.31 × 10−3 cm2 on to a work sample in ambient
environment. The work sample used for the experimentation is mild steel of
dimension 30 × 10 × 3 mm. The sample is finely polished by mounting on a double
disc rotating polishing machine. The polished work sample is then irradiated with
second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser over a scanning length of 15 mm.
The LIMM was performed at two different scan speeds. The experimental details
are as listed in Table 2.
After irradiation with nanosecond laser in a single pass, formation of micro-
channel has been observed. Figure 10 shows the pictorial view and profilometer
image of the microchannel formed as observed by non-contact high precision

Table 2 Experimentation details

Experimental conditions
Parameters Sample 1 Sample 2
Energy per pulse 30 mJ 30 mJ
Focal length of the lens 150 mm 150 mm
Length of traverse 15 mm 15 mm
Speed 1800 step/s (540 µm/s) 900 step/s (270 µm/s)

(a) (b)

12
8
µm 4
00
0.1 8
0.
7
0.2 0.
6
0.3 0.
5
0.4 0.
4
0.
m

0.5 mm
m

3
0.6 0.
2
0.7 0.
1
0.8 0.
0

Fig. 10 a Pictorial view b Profilometer image of the microchannel for sample 1

196 S.S. Singh et al.

profilometer for sample 1. It is observed from the figure that the formed channel is
uniform throughout the traversed length. The width and the depth of the channel
were being measured from the generated profilometer. For this, channel width and
the depth of the cut were measured at four different sections along the channel
length viz. section A-A, B-B, C-C and D-D as shown in Fig. 11. The sections were
taken at equal intervals.
Figures 12 and 13 show the scan profile of the microchannel at scan speed of 540
and 270 μm/s respectively recorded by Profilometer.
The experimental results are listed in Table 3. The average value of the channel
width was 114.7 and 146.5 μm for scan speed of 540 and 270 µm/s respectively.
The average value of channel depth was 4.4 and 3.2 μm respectively. The decrease
in the channel width with increase in scan speed is due to the reduction in

Fig. 11 Scanned area and roughness measured at different sections of the microchannel for
sample1

µm
0 1
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 µm

0-1
Horizontal distance 104 µm
Height difference 0.835 µm

Fig. 12 Scan profile of the microchannel at scanning speed of 540 µm/s showing the width of the
microchannel for sample 1
Laser Induced Micromachining and Preliminary Experiments … 197

µm
0 1
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 µm
0-1
Horizontal distance 156 µm
Height difference 0.183 µm

Fig. 13 Scan profile of the microchannel at scanning speed of 270 µm/s showing the width of the
microchannel for sample 2

Table 3 Experimental results

Sample Traverse speed (µm/s) Section Width (µm) Depth (µm)
Sample 1 540 A-A 134 3.93
B-B 121 4.6
C-C 104 3.04
D-D 100 5.94
Sample 2 270 A-A 141 3.51
B-B 156 2.81
C-C 121 4.01
D-D 168 2.46

interaction time of the laser beam with the work sample at a given location. The
decrease in the depth at lower scan speed could be due to the formation of recast
layer in the channel.

4 Summary

After an in-depth study of the available literature related to LIMM, it has been
observed that many attempts have been made in modeling of LIMM towards
complete phenomenon. Initially, modeling of LIMM has been developed consid-
ering only the direct vaporization of the substrates. Later, modeling of the phe-
nomenon considering multiphase viz. liquid, gas and plasma has also been carried
out. Simultaneously, various time dependent physical properties of the material and
the process are being incorporated in the trend. Above all of these, it is found that a
very scant amount of work has been done on modeling of LIMM in liquid medium
and in presence of magnetic field and electric field. Therefore, this area of research
198 S.S. Singh et al.

is still open for further advancement and to improve the understanding of the
process and modeling so as to match the experimental observations and improve the
precision.
The quality of laser machined component depends on many input process
parameters viz; wavelength, repetition rate, pulse energy, pulse duration, optical
and thermal properties of the material, composition and pressure of assist gas etc.
Therefore, optimization of these process parameters is required to obtain the desired
performance. Varying the machining medium has a major impact on the quality of
the machined component. Various theories have been reported to study this effect.
The performance of LIMM can further be enhanced with the application of the
magnetic field.

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Fabrication of Micro Lens Array
by Excimer Laser Micromachining

Syed Nadeem Akhtar, Shashank Sharma and J. Ramkumar

Abstract Micro Lens arrays are widely used in optical devices such as photo-sen-
sors, digital projectors, photovoltaic cells, 3D imaging etc. These have traditionally
been fabricated by photolithography, moulding and embossing, reactive ion etching
and electroforming. These processes are wet processes and require expensive setup
and running cost. A novel method is presented in this work that allows fabrication of
micro lens array using excimer laser micromachining. The fabrication has been done
using mask projection with work piece scanning. A KrF excimer laser has been used
to micro machine lenses on a poly (methyl methacrylate) substrate. The surface
profile of the lens array is measured and then related to the laser-material coupling and
the energy of the laser pulses. Using this method, it is possible to fabricate micro
lenses down to a diameter of 5 µm over a considerably large area.

Keywords Excimer laser
Lens array
Ablation rate
Micromachining

1 Introduction

Researchers had begun to investigate the mechanism of laser ablation in the early
1960s with tools like high speed photography and atomic force microscopy. Ready
(1965), for example had put in efforts to study, both experimentally and analyti-
cally, the laser ablation using classical heat transfer and thermodynamic principles.
The observations started out with basic measurements of depth of ablation and
understanding its correspondence with analytically calculated data. Since then, the
study of laser ablation mechanisms, for various materials, has progressed to the
extent that advanced techniques like time-resolved spectroscopy and molecular
dynamics simulations are able to observe and predict the escape velocity of ablated

S.N. Akhtar (&)
S. Sharma
J. Ramkumar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Kanpur 208016, India
e-mail: snadeem@iitk.ac.in

© Springer India 2015 201

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_12
202 S.N. Akhtar et al.

fragments, their composition and time duration of ablation (Dijkkamp et al. 1987;
Srinivasan et al. 1986, 1995).
This paper reviews the observations and findings relating to the mechanism of
ablation of polymers when irradiated by nanosecond UV lasers. Excimer lasers are
a part of this category and have been considered for this review. The paper first
introduces the basic parameters of lasers that play a significant role in the ablation
process. Definition of key terminologies related to the process and properties of
materials are then discussed. This is followed by a discussion on mechanisms active
during the excimer laser ablation of polymers and the various pathways and
products as a result of this ablation.

2 Parameters of Laser Radiation

A laser radiation is characterized by certain key parameters. Concerning lasers used in

machining of materials, these parameters are the wavelength of radiation, the nature
of radiation (continuous or pulsed), the duration of the pulse and the quality of the
beam. Wavelength (λ) determines the energy carried by individual photons in the
laser beam and hence the kind of interaction these photons will have with the material.
Large wavelength lasers, like CO2 lasers (λ = 10.6 µm), mainly cause ablation by a
thermal process because the photons do not carry enough energy to cause any other
effect. Short wavelength lasers, like F2 lasers (λ = 157 nm), mainly cause ablation by a
photolytic process wherein the photons are directly involved in breaking of bonds
within the material. A description of the various types of excimer lasers, their
wavelengths and photon energies is given in Table 1. Since we are concerned with
UV lasers (λ < 400 nm), photolytic ablation process will dominate the discussion.

3 Key Terminologies in Laser Material Interactions

When a laser radiation is incident on a material most of the photons get absorbed by
the electrons present in the outermost shell of atoms in the top skin layer. The
thickness of the skin layer, also called the optical penetration depth (δ), is 2/α where

Table 1 Excimer lasers and Laser Wavelength (nm) Photon energy (eV)
the associated wavelengths
and photon energies XeF 351 3.53
XeCl 308 4.03
KrF 248 5.00
KrCl 222 5.50
ArF 193 6.42
F2 157 7.43
From Meijer (2004), reprinted with permission
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 203

‘α’ is the absorption coefficient of the material for the particular wavelength. The
optical penetration depth for polymers is about 200 nm. The time it takes for the
photons to get absorbed is called the photon absorption time (ta) and is of the order
of 1 fs. These photons cause the electrons to get excited. The time it takes for the
excited electrons to relax to their previous state is called the electron relaxation time
(or electron cooling time, te) and is of the order of 1 ps. After 1 ps of irradiation, the
electrons relax and pass on the energy to the lattice in the form of heat. This heat
diffuses into the material at the rate determined by the thermal diffusivity (κ) and
thermal conductivity (k) of the material (Meijer 2004; Choudhary 2012; Meijer
et al. 2002). The depth through which the heat diffuses into the material in a certain
time ‘t’ is called the thermal diffusion depth (d) and is given by d = √(4κt).
The pulse duration is a property of the laser radiation. However, the pulses are
classified as short or ultra short based on whether the optical penetration depth is
more or less than the thermal diffusion depth (in time ‘te’), respectively. Generally
speaking, pulses with duration less than 1 ps are called ultra short pulses. An often
used term in laser machining is ‘fluence’. Fluence is defined as the irradiated energy
per pulse per unit area of the material and its units are J/cm2. Ablation is noticeable
only above a certain value of fluence (depending on the material) and this value is
called the threshold fluence (Fth). Researchers have over time realized that instead
of fluence (that makes no reference to the time in which the energy is delivered),
intensity better describes the effect of radiation (Srinivasan et al. 1995; Jensen
2004). Intensity, then, is defined as average power per pulse per unit area and its
units are W/cm2. Several parameters affect the mechanism and extent of laser
ablation in polymers, and some of those are mentioned in Table 2 for some com-
mon polymers.

4 Mechanism of Laser Ablation of Polymers

For ablation of polymers by nanosecond UV laser, the process is a combination of

thermal (pyrolytic) and photo (photolytic) ablation. Since the pulse duration here is
much larger than that of ultra short pulses, non-linear processes like multi-photon
absorption do not occur (Srinivasan et al. 1986). Pyrolytic ablation starts with

Table 2 Some common polymers and their absorption coefficients and thermal diffusivities
Polymer Absorption coefficient (α, µm−1) at 248 nm Thermal diffusivity (κ, m2/s)
Polycarbonate 1 0.144 × 10−6
Polypropylene – 0.096 × 10−6
Polyimide 22 0.122 × 10−6
PMMA 0.0063 0.115 × 10−6
From Meijer (2004), Jensen (2004), Tsutsumi and Kiyotsukuri (1988), reprinted with permission
204 S.N. Akhtar et al.

absorption of the incident photons and electronic excitation of the material. It

however proceeds via random distribution of this energy amongst the various
degrees of freedom of the constituents (molecules) which in turn leads to heating of
the material. The heated material ablates via both melt/vaporization and thermal
degradation (bond-scission leading to fragmentation) routes. Both these processes
happen in the ground state of the constituents (Dyer 2003). This is significantly
observed for higher wavelength (low energy photons) and longer pulse lasers
(tp ≥ 1 µs). The two basic reasons for pyrolytic ablation are that, firstly, the energy
from the low energy photons is transferred to the electrons and then to the lattice in
the form of heat energy. The photons do not carry enough energy to cause any other
effect, e.g. breaking the covalent bonds in the material. Secondly, the duration of
irradiation (tp) is significantly larger than the electron relaxation time (te) and the
energy from the photons begins to travel into the material during the irradiation,
leading to heating of the vicinity of the area being irradiated. Pyrolytic ablation
often leads to a heat affected zone (HAZ) around the irradiated area, thermal
degradation and evidence of melt flow. These effects, however, are generally not
significantly observed in case of ablation of polymers with nanosecond lasers.
Photolytic ablation is a photo-chemical process that involves bond breaking and
formation with the aid of incident photons. Polymers are composed of elements
(like C, O, H, N, F, Cl etc.) joined together by covalent bonds. The incident
photons, if sufficiently energetic, can modify the bond structure within the material
leading to bond-scission or cross-linking effects. The intensity of radiation is so
high in nanosecond UV lasers that the numbers of bonds that are broken are several
orders of magnitude higher than those that are formed. This, however, requires that
the incident photons carry sufficient energy to break the covalent bonds. Typical
bond energies of some common covalent bonds are given in Table 3 that may be
compared to the energy of photons as mentioned in Table 1. Upon comparison it
can be inferred that UV lasers ablate majorly through photolytic ablation owing to
the high energy of the photons, although this will be further discussed in the
following section. The incoming photons break the covalent bonds in the long
polymer chains resulting in generation of several smaller chains present within the
same volume (Meijer 2004; Jensen 2004). This fragmentation or decomposition of
the polymer happens when the reactants are in electronically excited state (Dyer
2003). When the number of chains in a unit volume exceeds a certain value,
meaning that when the bond density in that volume decreases below a critical value,
the smaller chains explode out in the form of vapor and small particles. This
explosion leads to expelling of the material and ablation.

Table 3 Bonds and their Bonds Bond energy (eV)

bond energies
Si–Si, Cl–Cl 1.8–3.0
C–N, C–C 3.0–3.5
C–O, C–H 4.5–4.9
C=C, C=O 7.0–8.0
From Meijer (2004), reprinted with permission
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 205

5 Analysis and Observations

5.1 Nature of Ablation

Pure photolytic ablation, also called cold ablation, is unlikely with nanosecond
lasers. Several researchers have observed signatures of both pyrolytic and photo-
lytic ablation in polymers. Dijkkamp et al. (1987) observed through time resolved
reflectivity measurements that the ablation of poly-methylmethacrylate (PMMA)
and poly (3-butenyltrimethylsilane sulfone) (PBTMSS) was entirely due to pyro-
lytic ablation with KrF excimer laser. Feng et al. studied the ablation of polypro-
pylene (PP) with KrF excimer laser. They observed that even with fluence near the
ablation threshold of the polymer, ablation was observable on the surface. Although
the ablation was due to expelling of fragments generated after polymer chain
scissions, the scission was caused not directly by the photons but by the heating of
the polymer surface by the radiation. A rim of solidified polymer was observed
around the ablated crater suggesting that polymer had melted and flown out of the
surface and then resolidified around the crater (see Fig. 1). The observation that the
rim increased in size with increase in fluence and the number of pulses suggests
accumulation of heat with higher fluence and number of pulses. Dyer (2003)
observes that polymers that are thermally robust (like polyimide) have been con-
firmed to ablate by extensive fragmentation, indicating that photolytic ablation
resulting in covalent bond scission was the active mechanism.
Relative importances of the two ablation mechanisms have also been studied by
researchers. Feng et al. (2000) found that photo ablation dominates at very low or
very high fluence. For the fluence range generally used in ablation pyrolytic
ablation was found to be dominant. However, since laser ablation employs irradi-
ation with several pulses, a cumulative effect of both processes is always observed.
Jensen suggested that the relative dominance can be checked by comparing the
values of the optical and the thermal penetration depths of a material for a particular
wavelength and pulse duration.

Fig. 1 The cross sectional

micrograph of an ablated
crater in PP showing the rim
formation (from Feng et al.
(2000), reprinted with
permission)
206 S.N. Akhtar et al.

5.2 Plume Interaction During the Laser Pulse

Pulses of KrF excimer laser, for example, last for about 20 ns. Immediately after a
pulse hits the material, a high temperature plasma plume is formed that contains
gaseous components, small fragments and radicals. This plume is continuously fed
by the fragments being expelled out from the material surface during the pulse.
Since the plume is developed almost immediately after the pulse hits the material, a
significant portion of the pulse strikes the plume while on its way to the material
surface. The plume (i.e. the species present in the plume) are known to significantly
absorb the incoming radiation and letting only a small portion of it through. Then
the effective absorption coefficient of the polymer is considerably reduced and leads
to a lower extent of ablation (etch rate). For a highly absorbing plume, low fluence
results in efficient ablation of the polymer surface and vice versa. Using a high
fluence, in this case, leads to heating of the plume and hence to undesirable thermal
effects (Dyer 2003).

5.3 Ablation Rate and Threshold

Ablation rate is one of the most studied parameters in laser machining of polymers.
The ablation rate is also called the etch rate and is defined as the depth (ablated) per
pulse of laser. It is measured either in nm or in µm and is an average quantity. It has
been always observed that the threshold fluence must be exceeded in order for
ablation to set in. This is required across the entire band of wavelengths. For sub-
100 ns pulse duration lasers, the fluence threshold is independent of the pulse
duration. This, however, is not true for longer duration pulses (Dyer 2003). It is still
a matter of investigation and debate as to whether a true ablation threshold exists for
a material. The authors of this paper have measured the etch depth and ablation rate
of biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) when irradiated with KrF
excimer laser (Akhtar 2013). The measurements are shown in Fig. 2. The ablation
rate was found to increase with fluence and was constant up to a certain number of
pulses for the same fluence. Etching of polymers has been observed in the vicinity
(lower) of ablation thresholds. In their study of ablation of polyimide using excimer
lasers, Kuper et al. (1993) found smooth curves for etch rate versus fluence, sug-
gesting the absence of any kind of ablation threshold. A sharp threshold has,
however, been observed with ArF (193 nm) laser while machining polyimide. A
clearer description of polymer behaviour at high temperatures or energy densities is
difficult at this time due to the absence of experimental data regarding this process.
In the domain of photolytic ablation, if a minimum of ‘n’ bonds per unit volume of
the material need to be broken to initiate ablation, the threshold fluence, Fth, can be
expressed as
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 207

Fig. 2 Ablation depth (top)

and ablation rate (bottom)
plotted as a function of the
number of pulses for various
fluences during machining of
boPET by KrF excimer laser
[from Akhtar et al. (2013)]

nhm
Fth ¼ ð1Þ
gað1  RÞ

where η is the quantum efficiency of bond-scission, hν is the photon energy and R is

the surface reflectivity. The quantum efficiency of bond scission increases with
decrease in wavelength. Hence η for ArF laser is more than that for KrF laser. The η
for KrF, however, can be increased by increasing the temperature so that the
photochemical processes are accelerated (Srinivasan et al. 1986). In the domain of
pyrolytic ablation,

CðTth  Ts Þ
Fth ¼ ð2Þ
að1  RÞ

where ‘C’ is the volumetric specific heat capacity of the material, Tth is the mini-
mum temperature required to be reached to initiate thermal degradation of the
material, and Ts is the surface temperature of the material (Dyer 2003). The
intensity of radiation at a depth ‘y’ into the material, I(y), follows the Beer’s law of
attenuation, I(y) = I(0)e−αy, where I(0) is the intensity at the surface. The etch rate
(depth per pulse, ‘d’) shows a logarithmic dependence on the fluence and follows
the relation, d = α−1 ln(F/Fth), where α is experimentally determined. The etch
depth varies linearly with the log of fluence for values of fluence ranging between
Fth and a certain upper limit. For a constant fluence, the etch depth varies linearly
208 S.N. Akhtar et al.

with the number of pulses. Decrease of etch rate at high fluence is due to secondary
absorption of incoming photons by the expelled products (present in the plume) and
distribution of the irradiation over the walls of the ablated crater. Also, low energy
pulses do not break enough number of C–C bonds and hence lead to small etch
depths. Moderate energy pulses are able to break enough number of C–C bonds that
leads to efficient ablation and comparatively greater etch depth. High energy pulses
break a large number of C–C bonds but over the same polymer mass (albeit into
smaller polycarbon fragments that explode out) leading to almost the same etch
depth. Hence beyond a particular pulse energy (fluence) the efficiency of photolytic
ablation levels off (Dayal et al. 2013).

5.4 Mask Projection Technique

Excimer lasers are widely used with mask projection. The technique involves use of
a mask, through which the laser beam passes before hitting the work piece, as
shown in Fig. 3. A beam delivery section in the laser machine serves to shape the
beam before allowing it to reach the mask. It comprises a number of optics to shape,
collimate, homogenize and focus the beam.
A typical focusing arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. When a collimated beam
passes through a double convex lens, it is converged on to a plane, called the focal
plane of the lens. The point of convergence, also called the focal point, is in fact,
not a point, but a spot. The spot, with the minimum radius of wo, is called the beam
waist. The minimum possible spot size, to which a beam can be practically focused,
is called the diffraction limited spot size. Hence, while using mask projection, it is
generally not possible to focus a beam to a size smaller than its diffraction limited
spot size.

Fig. 3 Schematic of a mask projection setup, showing the incident laser beam, passing through a
mask with three square holes, before falling on the work piece and ablating a similar pattern on it
[Reprinted with permission, Rizvi (1999)]
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 209

Fig. 4 Schematic diagrams of a simple optical system showing the convergence of a beam onto a
focal plane, with a detailed description of the beam waist. a A focusing arrangement with a double
convex lens. ‘f’ is the focal point, lying on the optical axis ‘z’. b Enlarged view of the focal region,
showing the beam waist with a radius of ‘wo’, and Rayleigh range ‘zo’

Lasers with smaller wavelengths can be focused to smaller spots, and vice versa.
Hence, it is advantageous to use lasers with small wavelengths (typically in the
ultraviolet range) while fabricating micrometer sized features. The spot radius at the
beam waist, wo, is expressed as,

4kf
w0 ¼ ð3Þ
2py0

The Rayliegh range, zo, is the distance along the optical axis, on either side of the
beam waist, at which the beam diameter reaches 1.414 times its value at the beam
waist. It is expressed as

pw20 M
z0 ¼ ð4Þ
k

In the expressions above, λ is the wavelength of the laser, M is the beam quality
factor, and f is the focal length of the lens. In a laser machining setup with mask
projection, the workpiece is kept at the image plane of the mask, with the required
placement accuracy of the order of the Rayleigh range. If the workpiece is not
properly positioned, a blurred image of the mask features is obtained on the
workpiece.
Mask projection employs a mask, which is generally a screen with transparent and
opaque portions. The laser beam is allowed to pass through the transparent portion,
and the shape of the transparent portion is machined/imprinted on the workpiece by
virtue of its ablation. An example of a mask projection setup is shown in Fig. 5.
210 S.N. Akhtar et al.

Fig. 5 Schematic of a mask

projection system [Reprinted
with permission, Rizvi
(1999)]

The mask projection technique is a contrast to the direct write technique, and
offers several advantages over the latter. The mask and the optics, being away from
the work piece, do not suffer any damage due to ablation. Many setups allow
movement of the mask as well as the work piece. The combination of mask and
work piece scanning provides the ability to produce several complicated features,
like arrays of micro features, nested holes, micro-channels with different kinds of
cross sections etc. Since an image of the mask is used to machine micro features, it
is possible to de-magnify the image and machine features that are much smaller
than those on the mask. Demagnifications of 2X, 5X and 10X are widely used. The
demagnification allows use of much lower fluences on the mask, thereby saving the
mask from laser induced damage.
Several kinds of masks are used in the industry. Binary masks are the most
widely used and easiest to fabricate. These generally contain either opaque elements
deposited on a transparent substrate, or a pattern cut out on an opaque sheet of
polymer or metal. These are similar to lithographic masks, but are more resistant to
damage, primarily caused due to laser. Gray scale masks are another kind of masks
that have varying transmissivity over the cross section. The smoothly varying
transmissivity allows fabrication of smooth profiles on the workpiece. These are
however much more difficult to fabricate and require calibration of transmissivity to
produce desired patterns. Phase shift masks employ interference between portions
of a beam passing through two separate regions of the mask, each with a different
refractive index. Fine patterns with high contrast and resolution can be produced on
the workpiece using such masks, but the masks require complex fabrication. Since
binary masks are easy to fabricate, these are mostly used for producing micro
features on polymer surface. In the following section we shall present a method to
fabricate micro lens array with the help of a binary mask.
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 211

6 Fabrication of Micro Lens Array

In recent years the fabrication of micro lenses has gained attention of researchers.
These micro lenses have found use in a plethora of components such as CCD arrays
(Gale et al. 1997), digital projectors, 3D imaging (Hess 1912), and integral pho-
tography (Lippmann 1908). Moreover, current research indicates that array of micro
lenses has the ability to act as concentrators for high efficiency photovoltaics (Karp
et al. 2010). They are also used to couple light to optical fibres (Cohen et al. 1974).
Therefore, the use of micro lenses in compact high performance micro optical
devices has become essential. That is why, in the past decade, researchers have
emphasized on deriving novel methods to fabricate lenses with lens diameter
ranging from a few to several hundred micrometers.
Thus, there is a growing need to establish a cost effective, less complex and
efficient method to fabricate micro-lenses. For the past two decades, researchers
have been exploring various methods to fabricate refractive micro lenses. Some
research was based on glass based lenses, while the study on polymer based lenses
has opened a whole new window of opportunities. The photo-resist reflow method
(Popovic et al. 1988), ultraviolet curing of polymer (Okamoto et al. 1999), LIGA
method (Sankur et al. 1995), micro jet technique (MacFarlane et al. 1994) and
micro moulding or hot embossing method (Ong et al. 2002) are some such new
techniques which are used to fabricate micro lenses. However, these methods suffer
from poor surface quality of features that cannot be improved. Hence, the use of
these methods is restricted to some extent. Excimer laser micromachining has an
important role in the fabrication of polymer based micro lenses as it interacts via
photo-chemical mechanism or the cold ablation mechanism and therefore the sur-
face quality can be controlled accurately (Brannon 1990; Dyer et al. 1985). The
material is removed by laser ablation while the shape of the pattern is controlled by
mask projection of laser source and the motion of a micro positioning stage.
For fabricating a 3-dimensional micro structure, one can use a photo mask which
modulates the spatial laser intensity on the work piece, producing features of
varying depth (Tien et al. 2003). Another method is known as contour mask
scanning (Zimmer et al. 2000), in which contour or mask opening is synchronized
with sample movement to achieve depth variation.
Lee et al. (2005) have successfully fabricated axis symmetric micro lenses using
a new approach termed as “planetary mask contour scanning method”. In this
method the mask revolves as well as rotates at the same time. The underlying
principle is to create a probability distribution of laser intensity with the help of a
self spinning mask which revolves around the sample producing axis symmetric
feature. Authors have used 0.5 mm polycarbonate samples. According to the
principle, the motion of the sample stage and mask revolution should be syn-
chronized with laser firing sequence and before machining the mask centre should
be in alignment with the sample stage. Lee et al. (2007) used this method to
fabricate axis symmetric micro lenses of 200 µm aperture with high surface quality,
i.e. surface roughness ranged from 3 to 6 nm.
212 S.N. Akhtar et al.

Although several methods have been proposed over the years but still a sys-
tematic study and derivation of less complex and accurate method is required. In
this paper we present a systematic study of fabrication process of micro lenses via
use of a contour mask and work piece scanning.

6.1 Experimental Setup

A 248 nm KrF Excimer laser (Coherent Variolas Compex Pro 205F) is used for
machining the micro lens array. The machine can deliver pulses of energy up to
750 mJ with 20 ns pulse width. The energy of the pulse can be varied by changing
the discharge voltage or by manually tuning the attenuator. A pair of 8 × 8 fixed
array of insect eye lenses is used to create a square field of 20 mm × 20 mm with
homogeneous top hat beam profile at the mask plane. The setup for mask projection
is shown in Fig. 6. The beam transmitted across the mask is imaged on the work
piece through an imaging lens which has a demagnification of 10X. Optical
microscopes and proprietary image analysis software have been used to capture and
analyze the images. The work piece is an 8 mm thick piece of poly(methyl
methacrylate) (also known as PMMA).

Fig. 6 Schematic of the experimental setup [from Dayal et al. (2013), reprinted with permission]
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 213

Table 4 Machining Pulse energy (mJ) 176

parameters and their values
Pulse repetition rate (Hz) 5
used in the experiments
Scanning speed (µm/s) 8.3, 16.7, 25.0, 33.3

6.2 Experimental Procedure

The fabrication of micro lens array proceeds through generation of masks in two
stages, followed by the fabrication of the lenses. The first stage mask used was a
30 mm × 30 mm piece of aluminium foil inside which the desired cross-sectional
profile of the lenses was cut, at a scale of 100X. This mask was used to further
machine the same profile, albeit at a 10 times smaller scale, on a polymer sheet. The
polymer mask was finally used to fabricate the lenses on the PMMA work piece.
The work piece was kept on a micro-positioning XYZ stage, and scanned along the
X and Y axes to generate the lens array.
The machining parameters used for the experiments are mentioned in Table 4.
The pulse energy was fixed at 176 mJ and the pulse repetition rate was fixed at
5 Hz. A set of experiments was conducted by varying the scanning speed of the
work piece. The variation in scanning speed causes a variation in the number of
pulses falling at a particular spot, and thereby varies the depth to which the feature
gets machined.

7 Result and Discussion

7.1 Analysis of Masks

The first stage mask was fabricated in a piece of aluminium foil, and is shown in
Fig. 7. The profile of the mask was designed in a way that the exposed length is
largest at the center and it reduces, by second order, towards the periphery. This
allows the manufacture of two halves of a lens, with peaks at the periphery and
valley in the middle. Note that the region that has a larger exposed length sees more
number of pulses per spot, and hence experiences greater machining depth.
The maximum exposed lengths in the first and second stage masks are 18.095
and 1.579 mm respectively, which is a reduction of about 11.5X. Clearly, an
overcut of about 12.7 % is observed, which is expected in a laser machining
process. The radius of the curved profile, has been reduced 10 times, as can be seen
from Fig. 7.
214 S.N. Akhtar et al.

Fig. 7 First (top) and second

(bottom) stage masks

7.2 Analysis of Micro Lens Profiles

The cross-sectional micrographs of the various lenses are shown in Fig. 8. Arrays of
3 × 3 lenses have been fabricated and their profiles are measured and compared
with the theoretical profile expected from machining in PMMA. Note that it is easy
to extend the size of the array to 10 × 10 or 100 × 100. The dimensions shown on
the top of each figure (e.g. see Fig. 8a) show the depth to which the entire array has
been machined. This depth is compensated for when comparing these profiles with
the theoretical profile.
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 215

Fig. 8 Cross-sectional micrographs of lenses machined at various scanning speeds, a 8.3 µm/s,
b 16.7 µm/s, c 25.0 µm/s and d 33.3 µm/s, with 176 mJ pulses and at 5 Hz. The adjacent lenses
have been fabricated after indexing the work piece by 100 µm

7.2.1 Measurement of Ablation Rate of PMMA

Basic experiments were conducted on PMMA to measure the depth of ablation.

Depths were measured after machining with several pulses of laser at three different
pulse energies (120, 175 and 225 mJ). It is important that these measurements are
done with several pulses so that incubation effects of photon absorption are com-
pensated for, and the ablation depth per pulse reaches a steady value. Figure 9
shows the plot of ablation depth per pulse at the three different pulse energies, for
varying number of pulses. As is widely reported, the etch depth per pulse varies

Fig. 9 Ablation rate of

PMMA versus fluence
216 S.N. Akhtar et al.

linearly with the fluence. A value of 5.3 µm/pulse is obtained for the pulse energy
used (175 mJ). This value is used further to determine the theoretical profile of the
lenses machined on PMMA.

7.2.2 Calculation of Theoretical Profile

In order to determine the theoretical profile of the lenses, it is important to deter-

mine the number of pulses that fall at each spot on the work piece. More number of
pulses generates a greater depth. The number of pulses at a spot is determined by
the scanning speed of the workpiece (s), the repetition rate of the laser (r) and the
feature size (exposed length, l), in the direction in which the work piece is being
scanned. In Fig. 10, the origin of coordinates is fixed at the point ‘O.’ The vertical
distance to the bottom profile, from the horizontal axis, at a distance ‘X’ from ‘O,’ is
calculated (P0 P1, as shown in the figure). The exposed length, L, is then, twice of
this distance, and is expressed as
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
L ¼ 2 R  R2  X 2 ; ð5Þ

If the distance moved by the stage in 1 s is ‘s’, then ‘s’ units of length see ‘r’
pulses in a second. Hence, the number of pulses per spot will be the number of
pulses falling per ‘L’ units of length, and is expressed as Eq. 6. The ideal depth of
ablation is, then, given by,

rL
pulses per spot ¼ : ð6Þ
s
Ideal depth ¼ Pulses per spot  ablation rate: ð7Þ

The ideal depth of ablation helps to generate the theoretical profile of the lens.
The theoretical profiles for all four cases of scanning speed are shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 10 Schematic of the

procedure to calculate the
feature size (exposed length)
Fabrication of Micro Lens Array by Excimer Laser Micromachining 217

Fig. 11 Theoretical profiles

of lenses machined at
different scanning speeds

7.2.3 Micro Lens Profile—Experimental Results

Figure 12 shows the experimentally determined profiles of micro lenses in com-

parison with the theoretically predicted ones. All features show conformance to the
theoretical profile to a very high degree. It can be noted that lenses machined at
higher scanning speeds have lower machined depths. This is because lesser number
of pulses fall per spot at a higher speed. Figure 13 shows the surface profiles of the
machined lenses for the case of scanning speed of 33.3 µm/s.

Fig. 12 Experimental and theoretical profiles of micro lenses plotted for varying scanning speeds,
a 8.3 µm/s, b 16.7 µm/s, c 25.0 µm/s and d 33.3 µm/s (Solid line—experimental, dotted line—
theoretical)
218 S.N. Akhtar et al.

Fig. 13 3D Optical profilometery images of 5 × 5 array of micro lenses fabricated at the scanning
speed of 33.3 µm/s. a Side view (closeup) of the micro lenses. b Micro lens array, fabricated over
1 mm × 1mm, when viewed from the top. c Side view of the micro lens array

8 Conclusions

Excimer laser micromachining has provided a new method to fabricate micro lens
arrays. Therefore, it is important to study the various fabrication methods and their
effects on feature quality. The effect of scanning speed and mask pattern is reviewed
in this paper. At moderate scanning speeds the experimental profile agrees with the
theoretical feature accurately. The number of pulses per spot is high at low scanning
speeds. Hence, lenses are machined to a greater depth at low scanning speeds.

Acknowledgments The authors thank Dr. Nadeem Rizvi and ASME, SPIE and Elsevier for
permissions to use some figures and tables in this chapter.

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Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining
on PMMA to Fabricate Micro Channel
for Microfluidic Applications

Rishi Kant, Ankur Gupta and S. Bhattacharya

Abstract Microfluidic devices are highly commonplace in the field of biomedical

technology, point of care diagnostics and chemical analysis. The rapid and low cost
manufacturing of these devices have always been a challenge. CO2 laser mi-
cromachining has played an important role in micro-machining of devices at a scale
similar to the microfluidic devices although it renders the machined surfaces with
high surface roughness. The chapter reports an initiative to do process optimization
of laser micromachining technique for producing smooth machined surfaces in the
micro scale devices. The chapter discusses the impact of process parameters like
raster speed, laser power, print resolution etc. and its optimization using two target
functions of dimensional precision and surface roughness on micro-channels made
in PMMA (Poly methyl metha acrylate) substrates. The laser machined PMMA
samples are analyzed using 3D-profilometry and Field emission scanning electron
microscope (FESEM) for surface quality and dimensional precision. To investigate
optimum process parameters of CO2 laser for fabricating the micro-channel on
PMMA with dimensional accuracy and good surface quality, Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and regression analysis is conducted. It is found that optimum surface
roughness of this process is around 7.1 µm at the optimum value of the process
parameters 7.5 mm/s (50 % of maximum machine limit) raster speed, 17.9 W (51 %
of maximum machine limit) laser power and 1200 DPI (100 % of maximum
machine limit) printing resolution. The static contact angle of the micro-machined
surface has also been observed for analyzing the amenability of these channels to
flow of water like fluids for micro-fluidic applications. The chapter also covers a

R. Kant (&)
A. Gupta

Microsystems Fabrication Laboratory, IIT, Kanpur 208016, India
e-mail: dsrishikant@gmail.com
A. Gupta
e-mail: drankur@iitk.ac.in
R. Kant
A. Gupta
S. Bhattacharya
Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT, Kanpur 208016, India
e-mail: bhattacs@iitk.ac.in

© Springer India 2015 221

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_13
222 R. Kant et al.

review of work done by various researchers in which they developed different

methodology for successful manufacturing of microfluidic devices by employing
CO2 laser micromachining.

Keywords PMMA CO2 laser Micromachining Contact angle Microfluidics

1 Introduction

Polymeric materials are utilized for fabricating microfluidic devices as applied to

diagnostics and detection principally due to their ease in fabrication, biocompati-
bility, optical clarity and easy conformability to features of up to micro/nano-meter
scale. Microfluidic devices made in polymeric devices find wide applications in the
health care sector. The high level of interest and participation of the industry in
microfluidic research and development illustrate the commercial value of these
devices for important and diverse applications. Thus microfluidics is poised to
become one of the most dynamic segments of the MEMS/NEMS technology.
Microfluidic devices explore the envisioned applications in confined space of
several micron ranges. This micron sized space further can act as a micro-channel,
micro-mixer, micro pumps, micro valves and several other active or passive devices
which are commonly fabricated using expensive advanced lithography processes or
other processes borrowed from the microelectronic industry. Lasers are already
widely used to do laser lithography and sometimes 3-D lithography although their
efficacy in micro-machining of microfluidic devices is not very widely explored.
Laser and some other non-traditional machining processes are being increasingly
explored for a high throughput fabrication of microfluidic devices. Among all these
processes the laser machining process holds a lot of promises due to its flexibility
towards parameter selection, its applicability on a wide range of materials and its
rapidity of manufacture. We have successfully demonstrated the utility of CO2 laser
in micromachining of Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) devices. However, the
post machined surface obtained through this process is highly non-uniform and
poses a variety of restrictions on the devices regarding the flow of soft biological
matter through the devices so fabricated. For example, channels used for detection
and counting of mammalian cells may need a very low level of roughness to
prevent lysis of the analytes. Also, high level of roughness sometimes induces local
eddies and vortices very close to the rough surface leading to nonspecific adsorption
of soft biological species and hinders the process of re-usability of the devices and
very often gives out false positive signals in detection protocols. In addition cell
adhesion, non-selective protein adsorption, particle/cell aggregation, bubble gen-
eration, optical signal detection etc. is range of problems posed by rough surfaces
associated with microfluidic devices.
In earlier work Lawrence and Li (2001), Nayak et al. (2008), Heng et al. (2006),
Davim et al. (2008a, b), Snakenborg et al. (2004) and a variety of other authors
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 223

have investigated the roughness of CO2 laser machined samples of PMMA and
have been able to obtain roughness in the range of few microns (Lawrence and Li
2001). While applying such methodology to fabricate the features and structures of
micro-fluidic devices we were highly limited in efficacy of the devices to handle
soft biological fluids by virtue of the channel roughness (Kant et al. 2013). The
range of roughness that has been reported in earlier work is not enough for the
specific kind of microfluidic applications as discussed and therefore we were
enabled to look into the process optimization aspects so that we could achieve less
than 10 microns roughness and we have been quite successful and have produced 7
microns average roughness and a high level of dimensional precision by repeated
process optimization and also making a hybrid step to perform surface levelling.
In the past, to improve cutting quality (Davim et al. 2008a, b) and minimization
of bulges (Li et al. 2009) during machining has been carried out by various
researchers. Chung and Lin (2011) reported a microchannel fabrication strategy
which reduces bulges and feature size using foil assisted CO2 laser micromachin-
ing. Their technique is able to reduce the defects such as bulges formation, clog-
ging, resolidification and splashing phenomena in CO2 laser micromachining of
PMMA. They could reduce channel width up to 75 µm or less using this process. Li
et al. (2009) developed a technique “two times of laser cutting” to eliminate the
bulges near the wall of micro channel fabricated by CO2 micromachining. They
also proposed a relationship between laser process parameter and bulge height
which formed during machining. They concluded that if ratio of laser power and
scanning velocity of laser beam increases bulge formation height increases. Davim
et al. (2008a, b) studied the cutting quality of PMMA substrate during CO2 mi-
cromachining. They proposed that Heat affected zone (HAZ) increases with
increase in laser power and decreases with increase in cutting velocity while the
surface roughness increases as laser power decreases and increases of cutting
velocity. Huang et al. (2010) proposed preheating of PMMA substrate at 85 °C
during machining to reduce surface roughness of the chamber sidewall. However it
is also required to optimize process parameter for laser ablation on PMMA which is
being presented in the current work.

1.1 Theoretical Background

The first CO2 laser was developed at Bell Labs, United States by Patel in 1964
which produced a light beam with an infrared long wavelength band at around 9.4–
10.6324 µm range. We have explored the common laser heating process assuming a
circular well focussed beam on the surface and tried to infer from a commonly used
one dimensional heat equation to calculate the needed beam intensity to produce a
thermal ablation in PMMA surface.
224 R. Kant et al.

The laser power density ‘I’ varies as it propagates inside PMMA (in ‘Z’
direction) and follows the Beer–Lambert law which is as

I ¼ I0 elz ð1Þ

where I0 is initial Power density of laser beam, µ is spectral linear absorption

coefficient (cm−1) and z is depth. Figure 1 shows a figure schematic of the circular
lasing action on the PMMA substrate.
Yuan and Das (2007) reported a mathematical model for predicting the depth
and shape of micro machined channels on PMMA substrate. The depth of channel
is predicted by balancing laser irradiation energy to sum of conduction energy
within PMMA and energy required to break the polymer chain (i.e. conversion into
monomers). The model predicts the depth of melting temperature as H(y) which is
the depth of ablation of the channel at a location ‘y’. As the spot size is assumed to
be circular the ‘x’ coordinate automatically gets defined once the ‘y’ is explicitly
stated.
The mathematical model is based on following assumptions:
(i) The laser beam intensity distribution has been assumed to be Gaussian type in
three dimensional space as,

P
e½ðx þy Þ=w ðzÞ
2 2 2
I ðx; y; zÞ ¼ ð2Þ
pw ðzÞ
2

h
2 i
w2 ðzÞ ¼ R2 1 þ kz=2pR2 ð3Þ

where P is power of laser, w(z) is radius of laser beam at distance z from focal
waist, λ is wavelength and R is radius of laser beam.
Assuming kz=2pR2  1 makes Eq. (3) of constant radius laser beam

Fig. 1 CO2 laser beam travelling with velocity v in +x direction

Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 225

(ii) Energy losses due to conduction and radiation is negligible.

(iii) Converted monomers from PMMA will affect laser beam.
Heat conduction in PMMA substrate can be expressed as

@ 2 T @ 2 T @ 2 T 1 @T 1
þ þ  ¼ ð4Þ
@x2 @y2 @z2 a @t k

where α is thermal diffusivity, k is thermal conductivity and cp is the specific heat.

Since, a ¼ k=cp where T is the temperature at point (x, y, z) and at time t.
Due to high heat absorption coefficient of PMMA, Eq. (4) can be written by
considering the direction of propagation of the laser beam (Dinger et al. 1993).
Choi and Chryssolouris (1995) proposed that three dimensional micro channel
can be divided into finite surface elements which can be expressed by inclination θ
in x direction and / in y direction.
So the temperature distribution at surface can be achieved by solving Eq. (4)
which is as
rffiffiffiffi
2I at
T ðtÞjz¼0 ¼ ð5Þ
k p

If we consider energy balance for each element than input laser irradiation
energy is equal to sum of energy conducted by surface elements and energy which
make element into volatile products.
Elaser dxdy ¼ Econduction dA þ Edecompostion dxdy ð6Þ

By geometry
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
dA ¼ 1 þ tan2 h þ tan2 / dx dy ð7Þ

The laser input energy density can be expressed as

þ1
Z dx
Elaser ¼ Iðx; y; zÞ ð8Þ
1 v

Putting the value of I(x, y, z) from Eq. (2)

þ1 P
e½ðx þy Þ=w ðzÞ dx
Z 2 2 2
Elaser ¼ ð9Þ
1 pvw 2 ðzÞ

On evaluation of above integral

aP y2
Elaser ¼ pffiffiffi  eR2 ð10Þ
pRv
226 R. Kant et al.

The energy required to decompose PMMA into volatile MMA can be expressed
as

Edecomposition dxdy ¼ qLDð yÞdxdy ð11Þ

Since laser beam is moving with v velocity in x direction, for this heat transfer
can be expressed as

@ 2 T v @T
r2 T ¼ ¼ ð12Þ
@n2 a @x

Since
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ffi
@T 2  2  2 
¼ @T= @T= @T=
@n @x þ @y þ @z ð13Þ

Substituting above equation into

@2T v tan h @T
¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð14Þ
@n2 a 1 þ tan2 h þ tan2 / @n

The energy which goes into conduction can be calculated as

@T
þ1
Z dx
Econduction dA ¼ kð j dA ð15Þ
1 @n n¼0 v

Keeping the following boundary condition in Eq. (15)

T ¼ Tv at n ¼ 0
T ¼ T0 at n ¼ 1

ð16Þ
@T v tan h
jn¼0 ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ðTv  T0 Þ
@n a 1 þ tan2 h þ tan2 /

Now
" #
þ1
Z
Econduction dA ¼ q cp ðTv  T0 Þ tan hdx dxdy
1

Econduction dA ¼ q cp ðTv  T0 ÞDðyÞdxdy ð17Þ

Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 227

where
P is the power of the laser beam
R is radius of laser beam
V is velocity with which laser beam travels in x direction
a is the absorptance of PMMA at the CO2 laser wavelength of 10.6 µm
ρ is the density of PMMA
L is the latent heat of decomposition from PMMA to MMA
Tv, T0 is decomposition and room temperature respectively.
The depth of channel is predicted by balancing laser irradiation energy to sum of
conduction energy within PMMA and energy required to break the polymer chain
(i.e. conversion into monomers).
Using Eqs. (6), (10), (11) and (17) and solving we get following

1 aP y2
H ð yÞ ¼ pffiffiffi   eR2 ð18Þ
p Rvq L þ cp ðTv  T0 Þ

If H0 ¼ p1ffiffip Rvq ½LþcaP

p ðTv T0 Þ

Equation (18) gives a Gaussian profile for the depth of micro channel

y2
H ð yÞ ¼ H0 eR2 ð19Þ

Equation (19) is valid only for higher laser power at which entire underlying area
of PMMA could be ablated. For low power, laser energy will not be sufficient to
melt and vaporize underlying material so radius of beam (R) is not constant.
For this case depth of micro channel can be predicted as
2
 y2
H ð yÞ ¼ H 0 e y
th ð20Þ

where
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2P
yth ¼ R ln ð21Þ
pRvFth

where

Fth ðthreshold fluence for ablationÞ ¼ Is ts ð22Þ

where Is is given laser power density and ts is laser irradiation time.

228 R. Kant et al.

1.2 Mechanism of Material Removal During CO2 Laser

Micromachining of PMMA

The molecular structure of PMMA is shown in Fig. 2 which is a type of thermo-

plastic. The material removal takes place by heating, melting and decomposition
steps.
The decomposition of PMMA into volatile monomers (MMA) takes place at
360 °C. The decomposition reaction has been very well understood by Lippert et al.
(1999) and Fig. 3 illustrates the decomposition pathway of the PMMA.

2 Experimental Set-Up

We have performed all our Laser micromachining using EPILOG WIN32 laser
machine (M/S Epilog laser, USA) in laboratory conditions. All machining is done at
(25 °C) room temperature condition and a positive pressure environment. The laser
that we use has a maximum power of 35 W and has a total working bed size of
2 ft × 1 ft. A design of the device that needs to be laser machined is drafted using a
computer assisted drawing package (Coral Draw) which is used to drive the various
stepper motors with the lasing stage and also the working stage. The working stage
is capable of movement in the ‘z’ direction and the lasing stage can operate in the
raster (engraving) and vector (deep cutting) modes in the x-y plane. Figure 4 shows
schematic representation of laser machining set up.

2.1 Micromachining of PMMA Substrate

PMMA is highly absorptive at the infra-red region (wavelength = 10.6 µm). Laser
machining operates on the physics of photon to phonon conversion where beam
matter interaction results in rapid molecular vibrations leading to generation of
thermal energy. The local intensity posed by the laser is so intense (being in a very

Fig. 2 PMMA molecule’s

structure CH3

CH2 C

COOCH3
n
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 229

Fig. 3 Photolysis of PMMA’s ester side chain

small zone) that it results in energy that is sufficient to melt and vaporize the
PMMA material. The machining parameters for the laser are highly dependent on
the overall feature size and correct choice of parameters leads to good dimensional
accuracy. The various combinations of parameters resulting into different surface
finish levels can be easily achieved using Laser processes (Nayak et al. 2008; Heng
et al. 2006).
We have conducted around 30 trials with a combination of multiple parameters
designed by Design Expert software. Although several trials did not scribe PMMA
substrate, hence its surface roughness is not reported here and is denoted by N/A.
Table 1 shows the various combinations that are proposed and the measured.

2.2 Characterization of Micro-machined PMMA Substrate

The surface roughness characterization is performed on 3D-optical profilemeter

(NanoMap-D, AEP Technology, USA). Various channel widths varying from 10–
100 microns have been evaluated for roughness. The interferometer has optical
resolution in nanometer range. The minimum area that is scanned by the system is
0.064516 mm2. The interferogram is used to reconstruct the topology of the surface
230 R. Kant et al.

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of CO2 laser micromachining process

being scanned and the 3-D imaging is performed across the different micro-channel
widths. The average roughness ‘Ra’ is reported to vary with the combination of
different machining parameters as illustrated in Fig. 5a–j.

3 Optimization of CO2 Laser Process Parameters

for Smooth Surface

Optimization of laser machining parameters as discussed above has been performed

with design of experiments (DOE) in which a central composite design (CCD) is
used to fit a model. An optimum solution is extracted from the different machining
parameters, including raster speed, resolution and power. Optimization was first
carried out with respect to laser power and printing resolution, then with respect to
speed and printing resolution and finally for speed and power. Figure 6a–c shows
the output of this optimization process as contour plots. As can be seen in Fig. 6a
the contour corresponding to a roughness level of 7.0647 μm starts at a base power
of around 50 % and the value 7.0647 μm happens while printing at a resolution of
1200 DPI. We could not really explore a resolution more than 1200 DPI as we were
limited by the machine specifications. There are of course more precise electro-
mechanical stages particularly those used in scan jet printers which may be able to
print at a resolution of as high as 5000 DPI and it intuitively makes sense that if the
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 231

Table 1 Details of designed

Resolution Power Speed Roughness
parameters and measured
(DPI) (%) (%) (µm)
roughness values
600 50 51 11.113
75 10 100 N/A*
1200 10 10 N/A
600 50 51 11.113
75 10 10 N/A
600 10 51 N/A
600 50 51 11.113
600 50 51 11.113
75 10 10 N/A
1200 100 10 22.003
75 100 100 N/A
600 50 51 11.113
1200 100 100 8.7607
600 50 51 11.113
600 50 100 14.461
600 50 10 N/A
75 100 10 N/A
600 50 51 11.113
75 100 100 N/A
1200 10 100 N/A
600 100 51 22.014
75 10 100 N/A
1200 10 100 N/A
75 50 51 N/A
1200 50 51 7.0647
1200 10 10 N/A
75 100 10 N/A
600 50 51 11.113
1200 100 10 N/A
1200 100 100 8.7607
Where N/A* value not available, as laser did not scrib the PMMA
substrate

resolving power of the lasing head is higher than it would be able to handle higher
power values while sacrificing the roughness level not too much. Similarly from
Fig. 6b the minimum roughness attainable at 1200 DPI resolution limit of the
system is corresponding to a speed that is 50 % of the maximum limit of the system
if a similar roughness level were to be contained in Fig. 6a earlier for a combi-
natorial of the power as well. This gets further validated by Fig. 6c which reports a
contour of 7.0647 μm average roughness corresponding to a power value of 51 %
of the maximum limit of the system while maintaining the 1200 DPI level.
232 R. Kant et al.

Fig. 5 a, b Plan view of the reconstructed image of the microchannel/3-Dimensional view

(cutting parameters 1200 DPI, 17.5 W power and 7.65 mm/s rastering speed, Ra = 7.0647 μm). c,
d Plan view of the reconstructed image of the microchannel/3-Dimensional view (cutting
parameters 1200 DPI, 35 W power and 15 mm/s rastering speed, Ra = 8.7607 μm). e, f Plan view
of the reconstructed image of the microchannel/3-Dimensional view (cutting parameters 600 DPI,
17.5 W power and 7.65 mm/s rastering speed, Ra = 11.113 μm). g, h Plan view of the
reconstructed image of the microchannel/3-Dimensional view (cutting parameters 600 DPI,
17.5 W power and 15 mm/s rastering speed, Ra = 22.0114 μm). i, j Plan view of the reconstructed
image of the microchannel/3-Dimensional view (cutting parameters 600 DPI, 17.5 W power and
15 mm/s rastering speed, Ra = 14.463 μm)
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 233

Fig. 6 a Contour plot of

power and resolution for
roughness. b Contour plot of
speed and resolution for
roughness. c Contour plot of
power and speed for
roughness

Therefore, we find out the optimized average surface roughness as approximately

7.06 microns and also through analysis report the speed to be 50 % of machine limit
and power to be 51 % of the machine limit.
234 R. Kant et al.

3.1 Hybrid Micro Machining to Obtain Smooth Surface

Hybrid machining strategy has been incorporated with a first step of lasing the
PMMA surface followed by a wet etching of the Laser scribbed PMMA micro-
channel. The wet etching is carried out by using a mixture of Toluene (M/s S D
Fine-Chem limited, Mumbai, India, CAS no. 108-88-3) and Methanol (M/s Loba
Chemie Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India, CAS no. 67-56-1) in a Volume ratio of 1:4.
Further samples from laser etching step are immersed totally within this solution
and ultrasonicated at 42 kHz frequency (M/s Citizen Scale (I) Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai,
India) inside a laminar flow hood for 15 min at room temperature. There were no
significant changes in overall dimensions including depth and width of the chan-
nels/chambers while a significant reduction in the average roughness values to
almost a order of magnitude. (Ra changing from 7–22 μm to 270–860 nm) as can be
seen in Fig. 7.

3.2 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM)

Imaging of PMMA Substrate

We have also conducted field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)on a

laser micro-machined samples which was laser exposed using optimized machining
parameter i.e. 1200 (DPI, resolution), 50 (% power) and 51 (% speed). Figure 8
shows a micrograph from the same which very clearly shows the impression left by
melting and recondensation of PMMA material during machining.

Fig. 7 a Reconstructed surface image of a post laser scribbed PMMA surface using optical
profilometer (Ra value of 7 microns). b Reconstructed surface image of a post wet etched PMMA
surface (Ra value of 860 nm)
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 235

Fig. 8 FESEM image of

micromachined PMMA
substrate

4 Wettability Measurements for Microchannels

One of the main difficulties faced in working with polymeric platforms in micro-
fluidics is the inability of the polymeric devices to drain out the fluids entrapped
along embankments (Kant et al. 2013). This is more of a problem in particularly
devices which actively control microscale flows like micro-pumps or valves.
Therefore, it becomes highly desirable in applications involving devices whose one
or more dimensions are more than 100 microns to have some kind of repulsion to
water based which most of the times find useful as carrier fluids in microfluidic
biodevices, Therefore the wettability characteristics become absolutely important in
many situations and it is worthwhile to investigate the micro-machined channels in
terms of the surface wettability. On doing such characterization we have found the
surfaces whose roughness goes down to an average of 7.0647 μm owing to the
lasing process and also to the Hybrid step for leveling of the surface that the static
contact angle as measured on a Goniometer (M/S Dataphysics Instruments,

Fig. 9 a Contact angle 89.3° with water. b Contact angle 83.5° with glycerol
236 R. Kant et al.

Germany) is quite high of the order of 83–89° with fluids like water and glycerol
(see Fig. 9). Thus the micro-machined surfaces can be considered as quite hydro-
phobic and therefore would find applicability in microfluidic device realization.

Fig. 10 The counting of cells at pre and post transport stages using image-J
Studies on CO2 Laser Micromachining on PMMA … 237

4.1 Bacterial Cell Viability Studies on Surface Obtained

by Hybrid Micromachining

We have also tested the PMMA surface achieved by hybrid micromachining for
micro-organisms viability. We have developed piezo based micro pump for
transporting bacterial cell and various experiments are conducted. The initial
sample diluted to a concentration of 103 cfu/ml was plated using brain heart
infusion (BHI) agar. The culture was diluted, plated, using transilluminator (M/s
Bangalore genie) and cell counting is done using Image-J software. The initial
sample recorded a count of 402 colonies and then recorded the viable colonies to be
within 386–398 for three subsequent passes through the micro pumping architecture
using the piezo actuator to transport the sample solution as shown in Fig. 10.

5 Conclusion

PMMA micromachining using CO2 laser is presented and channel depth profile,
reaction mechanism of material removal etc. are reviewed by thorough literature
survey. We further demonstrate the basic thematic of this work by looking at the
various optimization modalities which can normally be used for such a machining
process in context of microfluidic device realization particularly in case of those
devices which are widely used for handling devices for soft biological materials,
We have optimized CO2 laser process machining parameter (raster speed, power
and resolution) to achieve smooth surface for microfluidic applications. We have
further coupled this to a hybrid leveling chemical process where the overall
roughness can be taken down to 7.04 μm average roughness at optimized lasing
parameters with a resolution of 1200 DPI an average power of 50 % of maximum
power amounting to 17.5 W and rastering speed of 51 % of machine scale
amounting to 7.65 mm/s. The wettability of optimized smoothen surface is also
measured using goniometer and found out to be 89° with water and 83.5° with
glycerol and further analysis of viability of bacterial cells are being performed to
test the claims made related to the ability of microfluidic devices to handle bio-
logical soft matter.

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Micromechanics and Microengineering, 21(06), 5023.
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Energy Based Analysis of Laser
Microchanneling Process on Polymethyl
Methacrylate (PMMA)

Shashi Prakash and Subrata Kumar

Abstract CO2 laser micromachining provides low cost machining solution for
fabrication of three dimensional microfluidic channels on poly-methyl-methacrylate
(PMMA). In this research work CO2 laser microchanneling process has been
analyzed from the first principle. Considering the Gaussian distribution of laser
beam, an energy based model has been proposed to predict the microchannel depth
and channel profile. For fabricating microfluidic devices, PMMA has emerged as a
cheap alternative to many other costly materials like silicon, quartz etc. Its material
properties like absorptivity and thermal properties have been investigated. In order
to physically verify the proposed model, experiments have been performed on a
3 mm thick PMMA sheet and actual and predicted results have been compared.
Simultaneous TGA/DSC tests have been conducted to determine various thermal
properties of PMMA. Since thermal conductivity of the PMMA is very low, the
conduction loss has been neglected while developing the model. The proposed
model successfully predicts the channel depth and profile without much loss of
accuracy. energy based analysis has been found to be simple yet powerful method
to predict the channel dimensions for low thermal conductivity materials.

Keywords CO2 laser beam machining
PMMA
Microchanneling
Energy

analysis

1 Introduction

The use of lasers in micro manufacturing is growing rapidly. The usual advantages
of using laser in micromachining are its simplicity in operation and fast production
rate. CO2 laser machining is a noncontact and heat based material removal process

S. Prakash (&)
S. Kumar

Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India
e-mail: spasthana@iitp.ac.in
S. Kumar
e-mail: subrata@iitp.ac.in

© Springer India 2015 239

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_14
240 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

where lower surface roughness and higher dimensional tolerance can be achieved
using low beam diameter and highly concentrated beam energy (Madic et al. 2012).
Laser micro-machining is a material processing technique that employs lasers to
induce managed vaporization to provide required micro scale geometrical shape and
dimensional ablation. Despite the facts that laser machining is a technically com-
plicated process, research work has allowed the fabrication of precise, smooth and
clean components at high speed. Lasers do not employ traditional tool-fixture
setups, which makes the whole process lot easier as well as less time consuming.
With different wavelength ranges of available laser systems, one can possibly
machine all kinds of materials. Moreover, apart from cutting, lasers can also do
many other jobs like welding, drilling and forming. Owing to this, modern
industries are now replacing the conventional machines with laser machining
system. This also results in getting lower cost, much higher productivity and better
surface quality (Zhou et al. 2004).
Miniaturization of analytical tools and devices has been an ongoing trend to
improve the performance of analytical tools. Microdevices make many different
types of analysis including chromatography, electrophoresis and DNA analysis
possible. Such microdevices reduce sample consumption, cost, time to results and
also yield better performance and portability. Microchannels are part of several
microfluidic devices, microelectronics based devices and micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS). Microchannels are used in various bio-analytical devices, DNA
synthesis, electrophoresis etc. The size specifications of these microchannels vary in
different types of applications. Microchannels are generally defined as channels
having any of the sizes in micron range (1–999 µm). Microchannels are generally
fabricated with non-conventional manufacturing techniques unlike channels of
higher size which can be fabricated using conventional fabrication techniques.
Microchannels with high aspect ratios are used in most of the devices (Costano-
Alvarez et al. 2008). However, microchannels with low aspect ratios are also used
in several applications like particle separation devices, DNA analysis etc. (Russom
et al. 2009).
In earlier times, silicon, glass and quartz have been the most preferred materials
for microfluidic devices because of some of the favorable properties like optical
transparency, high mechanical strength, high melting point, and well defined sur-
face characteristics. However, producing such devices on these substrates has
always been a costly affair. Producing microchannels on such substrates involve
typically longer manufacturing processes like lithography, embossing and etching
(Iliescu et al. 2012). The use of polymeric materials for microfluidic devices is a
recent trend. Polymers offer several advantages over other materials in terms of
lower cost, lighter weight and easier manufacturing. Thus they can be made por-
table and disposable (Qi et al. 2009).
In recent times, poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) has been evolved as one of
the most preferred polymer for many microfluidic devices (Prakash et al. 2014).
PMMA possesses high absorbance in mid-infrared zone which makes it particularly
suitable for CO2 laser (Malek 2006). It has low heat capacity and low heat con-
duction. Therefore, all the energy transferred to material is utilized in rapid
Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 241

vaporization (Prakash et al. 2013). PMMA also offers high degree of optical
transparency which makes it perfectly suitable for many microfluidic devices.
PMMA has been especially useful in applications where high temperature is not
involved because of its low thermal stability.
CO2 laser ablation has been investigated by various authors over the years.
Helebrant et al. (1993) developed one dimensional steady state heat conduction
equation for CO2 laser irradiation of glass. Julia et al. (1998) utilized the energy
balance method for CO2 laser ablation of biological tissues. They have also con-
sidered the effects of temperature on optical properties. Laser micromachining of
PMMA has also been studied by Klank et al. (2002). They utilized the CO2 laser for
rapid fabrication of microfluidic structures on PMMA Snakenborg et al. (2004)
analyzed the laser micro-machining process on PMMA using 1-dimensional heat
conduction equation. Xiang et al. (2006) used the three dimensional transient heat
conduction equations to model the CO2 laser cutting of PMMA. They used finite
element method to solve the model. Yuan and Das (2007) developed analytical
model for low power CO2 laser ablation of PMMA. The model included heat
conduction as well as energy loss in decomposition of PMMA. Shulepov et al.
(2010) proposed a thermo-chemical model for CO2 laser ablation of PMMA and
polymide. They studied the phenomenon of plasma generation with CO2 laser
irradiation. The model considers the plasma screening effect. They observed the
presence of plasma pipe in CO2 laser cutting at high intensities. However, most of
the models employ computer simulation based numerical analysis to determine the
channel profile and depth.
In this research work, CO2 laser based microchanneling process has been ana-
lyzed based on simple energy balance method. Energy based modeling also gives
physical insight into the laser micromachining process. Channel profile and depth
have been determined utilizing this model. Implementation of finite element anal-
ysis or other numerical analysis based modeling is difficult as well as time con-
suming when compared to energy based modeling. This energy based model is
simple in nature and can readily be applied in laser micromachining processes
without much loss of accuracy for most of the polymers. This energy based
modeling is especially suitable for materials having very low thermal conductivity.

2 Determination of Material Properties

PMMA is one of the most widely used amorphous thermoplastic materials. Because
of its high optical transparency it is widely used in place of glass. It is also known
by many other names like Plexiglass, Lucite, Perspex and Acrylite. PMMA is
generally produced by polymerization process. Most of the properties of PMMA
vary product to product because of large numbers of commercial compositions
which are copolymers with co-monomers other than methyl methacrylate. The
chemical structure of PMMA has been given in Fig. 1.
242 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

Fig. 1 Chemical structure of poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA)

PMMA behaves differently with different kinds of lasers according to their

wavelength. Transparent PMMA generally transmits a major part of laser beam of
near IR wavelength (1.06 µm). However, it shows a good absorption in ultraviolet
and mid infrared range (10.6 µm). In order to determine the absorptivity of used
PMMA specimen for CO2 laser wavelength i.e. 10.6 µm, far-infrared (FIR) spec-
troscopic analysis has been performed using Shimazdu IRAffinity-1
spectrophotometry.
In this test light beams covering infrared spectrum are produced. These are based
on the fact that the molecules of particular substance absorb specific frequencies.
Two separate tests for determining absorptivity and reflectivity have been per-
formed. The experiments have been performed under normal atmospheric condi-
tions. These tests give the absorptivity and reflectivity values of used PMMA over a
wide range of wavelengths. In this experiment cast acrylic (PMMA) of 3 mm
thickness has been used. The transmissivity and reflectivity results are shown in
Fig. 2. The reflectivity and transmissivity corresponding to 10.6 µm i.e. 943 cm−1
have been found to be 4.67 and 0.31 % respectively. Therefore it can be concluded
that the used PMMA specimen absorbs nearly 95 % of CO2 laser radiation. In other
words, it can be assumed that 95 % of total CO2 laser power is utilized in material
processing, while remaining 5 % is lost. This amount is still very high when
compared to laser interactions with many other materials. Therefore, with very little

Fig. 2 Reflectivity and transmissivity test of PMMA

Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 243

loss of total beam power, CO2 laser can be assumed to be perfectly suitable for
PMMA.
Determination of thermal properties is most important for understanding of CO2
laser interaction of PMMA. In order to determine its various thermal properties,
Simultaneous Thermogravitymetric analysis/Differential scanning calorimetry
(TGA/DSC) test have been performed. The tests have been performed using STA
6000 (Perkin-Elmer).
Table 1 lists the thermal properties obtained using TGA/DSC tests. The heating
of the sample has been performed at temperature increment rate of 10 °C per
minute. An initial weight of 32 mg of the sample has been taken. TGA test reveals
the thermal decomposition behavior of PMMA. TGA curve has been shown in
Fig. 3 in black dashed line. PMMA starts turning into rubbery state at 110 °C. It
starts melting at around 160 °C. However, both the processes do not involve
significant latent heat. Sample starts vaporizing at 220 °C. At 377 °C, the highest
rate of decomposition takes place. The sample gets completely vaporized at 393 °C.
DSC curve has been shown in red in color. Area under the DSC curve represents
the enthalpy of vaporization process. Some of the material properties have been
taken from the available literature and been mentioned in this table. In this mod-
eling, it has been assumed that material properties do not change with temperature.
In this research work, commercial CO2 laser, (VLS 3.60, Universal Laser Sys-
tem Inc., USA), has been used (Fig. 4). The laser is quasi-continuous (QCW) wave
in nature. The system is air-cooled and no other cooling aid has been used during
the experiments. Laser head can move in X and Y direction while bed moves in Z-
direction. The system is fully CNC controlled and runs through graphics based
software like AutoCAD, Corel draw etc. The focal length of the focusing lens is
50 mm. Further details of CO2 laser system has been provided in Table 2. The pulse
frequency of this system can be varied by adjusting the speed and PPI (pulse per
inch) parameter. The output power of the laser system remains constant over the
time during “ON” period. Figure 5 shows the power time variation of the laser
system. Laser beam can be focused to a very thin spot. Laser beam diameter has
been determined on a 1 mm thick PMMA sheet as described by Powell (1998).

Table 1 Thermal properties obtained from simultaneous TGA/DSC

Property Symbol Value
Glass transition temperature Tg 110 °C
Melting temperature Tm 165 °C
Thermal decomposition starts at Tds 230 °C
Thermal decomposition ends at Tde 393 °C
Specific heat cp 1.466 kJ/kg-K
Enthalpy of vaporisation ΔHv 2757 kJ/kg
Material density (Radice et al. 2012) ρ 1070 kg/m3
Thermal conductivity (Radice et al. 2012) k 0.19 W/mK
244 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

Fig. 3 Simultaneous TGA/DSC test results of PMMA

Fig. 4 Universal CO2 laser

systems

Table 2 CO2 Laser system

specification Class type IV
Max power 60 W
Wavelength 10.6 µm
Output beam shape Gaussian
M2 value <1.5
Mode of operation RF excited ON/OFF
Maximum working area 24′′ × 12′′
Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 245

Fig. 5 Power-time variations

for CO2 laser

Average beam diameter has been found to be 237 µm. Also, beam periphery has
been found to be very closely approximating the circle. Laser system can be
allowed to work in two different modes namely raster mode and vector mode. In
this work, all experiments have been performed in vector cutting mode of the laser
system. All the experiments have been performed at focus point of the lens resulting
in minimum beam spot diameter.

3 Energy Based Modeling of CO2 Laser Microchanneling

of PMMA

The thermal conductivity of PMMA is very low. As such the energy loss due to
thermal conduction is also very small. Therefore, neglecting the conduction heat
loss does not affect the modeling process to a significant extent. Also the heated
zone is extremely small in a microchanneling process. The maximum temperature
rise is also not significantly high. These factors make the convection and radiation
loss to be negligible. Material properties inevitably change with temperature.
However, since the vaporization temperature of the PMMA is small, these changes
may also be assumed to be insignificant for making the modeling simpler and easy
to understand. As the laser beam vaporizes the material, in the way they also
interact with the vaporizing particles. Some part of the incoming beam energy gets
absorbed by such particles. However, since the amount of vaporizing material is
very small, the energy absorption in this process can also be assumed to be very
small. Therefore, on the basis of the above discussion, following assumptions have
been made in this energy based modeling;
1. There is no conduction heat loss into the substrate.
2. There is no convection and radiation loss.
3. The material properties do not change and remains constant throughout the
process.
246 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

Let the laser beam moves through the center line in x-direction and at the center
line y = 0. Figure 6 shows the schematic diagram of laser beam movement on
PMMA. Since the beam is near perfect Gaussian, the cross-section of the produced
microchannel is also nearly Gaussian.
The optical intensity of a Gaussian laser beam at any location (x, y) can be given
by following Eq. (1) (Dahotre and Harimkar 2007):

x2 þy2 
I ðx; yÞ ¼ I0 e2 w2 ð1Þ

where,
I = laser beam intensity at (x, y),
I0 = laser beam peak intensity ¼ pw 2P
2;

P is average laser power

w = beam spot radius.
Let us consider an infinitesimally small area dA = dx × dy within the beam
diameter (Fig. 6). P is the average laser power supplied for the time dt. Let α is the
absorptivity of the material for CO2 laser beam wavelength. The laser beam travels
with a scanning speed U (Fig. 7).
Since the conduction and radiation energy losses are negligible and PMMA
quickly vaporizes without undergoing significant melting, it can be assumed that all
the energy given by laser to PMMA is utilized into material removal.

Fig. 6 Schematic of laser microchanneling process on PMMA

Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 247

Fig. 7 Focused laser beam moving in x-direction

Energy transfer from laser to the small area dA can be computed as follows:
Amount of laser energy transferred to area dA;

x2 þy2 
x2 þy2 
dx
Elaser ¼ a  I0 e2 w2  dA  dt ¼ a  I0 e2 w2  dA  ð2Þ
U

Energy required to vaporize the small volume can be computed as per Eq. (3):

Evaporization ¼ mðcp DT þ HL Þ ¼ q  dA  dz ðcp DT þ HL Þ ð3Þ

where,
m = Mass of the vaporized volume,
ρ = mass density of PMMA
dz = depth of vaporized volume
ΔT = Temperature change (from room temperature to vaporization temperature),
HL = Latent heat of vaporization
Equating Eqs. (2) and (3),

Elaser ¼ Evaporization

x2 þy2 
dx
a  I0 e2 w2  dA  ¼ q  dA  dz ðcp DT þ HL Þ
U

x2 þy2 
dx 1
dz ¼ a  I0 e2 w2  
U q ðcp DT þ HL Þ

Applying the limits;

ZZ Zþ1
x2 þy2 

dx a
dz ¼ I0 e2 w2  

U q cp DT + HL
0 1
248 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

pffiffiffi
y2 
a 2 P
Z ¼ pffiffiffi  e2 w2  ð4Þ
wq pðcp DT þ HL Þ U

At the centerline i.e. at y = 0, Z = Zmax

pffiffiffi
a 2 P
Zmax ¼ p ffiffiffi  ð5Þ
wq pðcp DT þ HL Þ U

y2 
Z ¼ Zmax e2 w2 ð6Þ

Equation (5) can be used to determine the maximum depth of the microchannel,
i.e. depth at the center. From Eq. (5) it can be interpreted that maximum depth is
directly proportional to the laser input power. However, the maximum channel
depth decreases when scanning speed increases. The channel depth along the radius
i.e. along the y axis can be determined by using Eq. (6).
In order to physically verify the developed model experiments have been per-
formed with three distinct levels of power and scanning speed. Average power and
scanning speed have been varied at three different levels. Total nine experiments
have been performed based on full factorial design as depicted in Table 3. The
output characteristics i.e. microchannel depth has been measured using 3-D
Olympus microscope. The depth at the center of the microchannel has been termed
as microchannel depth. V-Shape of the microchannel has been obtained due to
Gaussian nature of laser beam. Figure 8 shows the output characteristics of the
produced microchannels.
The ends have been ultrasonically cleaned and polished before measurement.
The depth has been found to be consistent across the length of the microchannel.
Bulging at the top corners of the microchannels are also visible in Fig. 8. It has also
been observed that larger is the energy density, larger is the amount of bulging and
splashing due to larger amount of resolidification. Top view of the microchannels
reveals that the channels are straight and clean. Some part of the channel

Table 3 Input and output parameters of CO2 microchanneling process on PMMA

Experiment no. Power (P) Scanning speed (U) Kerf width Maximum depth
1 2 7.5 255.86 582.12
2 3 7.5 271.21 850
3 4 5 301.91 1553.19
4 3 5 287.84 1233.79
5 3 10 259.7 678.03
6 2 5 273.77 847.43
7 2 10 237.95 471.37
8 4 7.5 276.33 1063.79
9 4 10 267.37 855.15
Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 249

Fig. 8 a Cross-sectional view. b Top view of fabricated microchannel

surrounding becomes softer than the rest of the part after the microchanneling
process and therefore has been termed as softened zone. The softened zone can be
distinguished by a different color on the optical micrograph image as shown in
Fig. 8. The softened zone can also be termed as heat affected zone (HAZ) in this
context. The largest width of the softened zone takes place at the top most surface
and reduces thereafter. This can be attributed to the fact that heat radiates radially
after striking the PMMA surface. Since, highest amount of energy strikes the top-
most surface, and reduces thereafter, the largest width of HAZ takes place at the top
most surface. No burrs and charring phenomenon has been observed around the
microchannels in this process. All the microchannels have been found to be clean
and straight. The experiments have been performed on transparent 3 mm thick
PMMA sheet.
The depth and profile of the microchannels have also been evaluated based on
Eqs. (5) and (6). Table 4 enlists the comparison between actual values and calcu-
lated values. Percentage error in prediction of maximum depth has been calculated
using following equation.

Table 4 Percentage error calculation

Experiment no. Experimental depth value Predicted depth Error (%)
1 582.12 578.1333 0.68485
2 850 867.2 2.02352
3 1553.19 1734.4 11.6669
4 1233.79 1300.8 5.43123
5 678.03 650.4 4.07504
6 847.43 867.2 2.33293
7 471.37 433.6 8.01281
8 1063.79 1156.267 8.69313
9 855.15 867.2 1.40911
250 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

Fig. 9 Graph showing relative errors in actual and predicted values

 
Experimental result  Predicted result

Error ¼    100 %
Experimental result 

Figure 9 shows the relative differences in actual and predicted values of mi-
crochannel depth for all the experiments.

4 Material Removal Mechanism

CO2 laser ablation is purely thermal ablation in which material removal takes place
purely due to vaporization through melting. PMMA strongly absorbs the CO2 laser
and vaporizes immediately as soon as the average laser power crosses certain
threshold value. Glass transition temperature of the PMMA has been found to be
110 °C. As soon as temperature of the substrate material reaches to 110 °C, the
material starts to turn into glassy rubbery state. Once the temperature of the part
crosses glass transition temperature, it may not return to its original condition. The
refractivity and some of the surface properties change. The swelling at the surface
can be found in the region close to microchannel. This particular region where
temperature crossed the glass transition temperature but did not reach to decom-
position temperature is termed as softened zone. Since the thermal conductivity of
the PMMA is very low, heat gets accumulated into very small region near to
microchannel. The formation of softened zone or heat affected zone can be
attributed to its low thermal conductivity. Lower conductivity causes localized
accumulation of heat in this zone. PMMA involves very little amount of melting at
around 160 °C. However, melting does not involve significant amount of latent
heat. Therefore, material removal process can be assumed to involve direct subli-
mation of solid PMMA into vapors without melting. Due to this direct phase change
process, the chemical degradation is at minimum. Therefore microchannel edges are
of superior quality than many other cutting processes. It has also been observed
Energy Based Analysis of Laser … 251

during simultaneous TGA/DSC test of PMMA sample. As the temperature of the

PMMA reaches to 230 °C, the decomposition of PMMA starts. Although decom-
position temperature of the PMMA is not sharp, it takes place very rapidly. PMMA
fully decomposes at 393 °C. The highest rate of decomposition takes place at
377 °C. Under the incident laser beam, the temperature of the surface immediately
rises to its vaporization temperature and PMMA (C5O2H8)n decomposes into
monomer MMA (methyl-meth-acrylate) units, carbon dioxides (CO2), carbon
monoxides (CO) and water (H2O)10. The unzipping of various chemical chains
leads to formation of monomers. For a radically polymerized PMMA, following
two kinds of processes have been proposed. In the first one, the depolymerization
process starts with the vinyl end groups. While the second depolymerization pro-
cess is initiated at saturated C–C bonds. Monomers are highly volatile in nature.
Therefore, very little amount of melting takes place. This is one of the reasons that
CO2 laser ablation of PMMA does not involves redeposition of materials. The cut is
very much clean with very little or no defects. However a little charring and burning
effects are quite visible at the edges forming the bulging zone. The only undesirable
effect is softened zone and bulging of the material at the adjacent surfaces. All the
byproducts are perfectly volatile in nature and do not cause any further reaction on
the PMMA substrate, leaving behind a clean structure. Due to presence of carbon
content, a little amount of charring takes place at the edges. The cross sectional
shape of the microchannels is of near Gaussian shape. The Gaussian shape occurs
due to the Gaussian nature of the laser beam. The microchannels with lower depths
follow Gaussian nature more closely than channels with larger depths. However, in
most of the cases the cross-section very much resembles to alphabet “V”. This
shape of the microchannel also signifies the shape of the beam. Therefore it can be
concluded that laser beam shape resembles to the shape of a cone with a pointed
crest. The top view of the microchannel is a clean channel structure. Both edges are
perfectly parallel to each other.

5 Results and Discussion

All of the experiments have been performed in order to have a wide range of
different aspect ratios. The aspect ratio varies from 2 to 5 approximately. Developed
model has been tested on all these wide ranges of aspect ratio. The model has been
successfully able to predict the maximum depth and profile of the microchannels as
shown in Fig. 10 (not to scale). Figure 10 shows the relative differences in actual
channel profile and predicted channel profiles. The predicted channel profiles have
been drawn with the help of MATLAB software. The background figure in grey
shows the actual channel width while the white colored curve shows the predicted
channel profile. The minimum error in predicting the maximum depth is 0.68 %
while the maximum error is around 11.66 %.
252 S. Prakash and S. Kumar

Fig. 10 Actual and predicted microchannel profiles

6 Conclusions

CO2 laser has been used successfully to create microchannels on PMMA. The
etched microchannels are clean with negligible amount of burrs around the channel.
The developed model utilizes fundamental physical aspects of thermodynamics.
The material properties of PMMA have been determined utilizing spectroscopy and
simultaneous TGA/DSC. The developed model presents an excellent agreement
between actual and predicted channel profiles. The successful modeling requires the
accurate values of material properties. The developed model can be used directly to
predict channel depth and profiles. The model has been found to predict the
dimensions accurately over a large zone of dimensions. Computational approaches,
though more accurate, consume time in order to predict the microchannel profiles
and depth. Energy based analysis presents an easy solution for CO2 laser machining
of PMMA.

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Department of
Science and technology (DST), Govt. of India for providing INSPIRE fellowship to one of the
author for carrying out this research.

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Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V

A. Sen, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

Abstract Progress of laser micro-machining i.e. micro-cutting, micro-drilling,

Micro-channeling, micro-grooving, micro-turning etc. in the field of aeronautic,
automobile, semiconductor and biomedical industries such as turbine blades of
aircraft engine, automotive fuel filters, combustion chambers, surgical needles and
micro-fluidic devices have emerged extensively in the present era. The prime
contributor to the success of laser micro-machining in the recent years is fiber laser
technology that involves the combination of diode pumped solid state lasers and
fiber technology. This is the most promising substitute to the high-power, bulk
solid-state lasers and some gas lasers owing to its simplicity, ruggedness, cost
effectiveness, low maintenance, higher efficiency, higher reliability and smaller spot
size. Fiber lasers are mainly characterized by short pulse lengths which range from
millisecond to picosecond and even femtosecond for precise micro-machining of
different materials. Titanium alloys play crucial roles in the areas of advanced
structures and technologies for aerospace and power industry, medicine, automatics
and mechatronics and various measurement equipments, because of their high
strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures, high corrosion resistance, fatigue
resistance, high strength to weight ratio and ability to withstand moderately high
temperatures without creeping. The conventional machining methods intended for
cutting these alloys not only suffer due to poor thermal conductivity, low elastic
modulus and high chemical affinity at elevated temperatures but also have to
undergo higher cost associated with the machining of Ti-6Al-4V caused by lower
cutting speeds and shorter tool life. Numerous research works have been conducted
with laser beam micro-machining approaches on titanium alloys mainly on Ti-6Al-
4V, in order to establish the optimal experimental conditions that are to be used in
different applications. However, the physical mechanism which leads to the

A. Sen (&)
B. Doloi
B. Bhattacharyya

Production Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
e-mail: abhishek.sen1986@gmail.com
B. Doloi
e-mail: bdoloionline@rediffmail.com
B. Bhattacharyya
e-mail: bb13@rediffmail.com

© Springer India 2015 255

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_15
256 A. Sen et al.

observed geometry and surface roughness of the micro-machined surface is still

behind the veil. The aim of the present chapter is to make an in depth study of the
fiber laser micro-grooving of Ti-6Al-4V, discussing vividly the fiber laser
machining system, the occurring physical processes and machining strategy and
influence of various process parameters. Experimental results of present research
work along with the work of various researchers are discussed so as to validate and
run down hypotheses on the mechanisms involved.

Keywords Micro-machining
Fiber laser
Ti-6Al-4V alloy
Micro-grooving

process

1 Introduction

Laser micro-machining process includes wide range of versatile processes which

deals with the removal of stringent amount of molten material in the range of
microns (Scientific Technical Committee of the Physical and Chemical Machining
Processes of CIRP, 1–500 μm was adopted as the range for micro-machining work)
(Masuzawa and Tonshoff 1997). In general other related manufacturing processes
such as micro-joining and micro-adjustment (Meijer 2002) by the laser beam can
also be termed as micro-machining process. Generally, the micro-machining term is
broadly classified into the ablation, micro-cutting, micro-drilling, marking in the
ranges of micron. This chapter aims to focus on the aspect of micro-grooving
(broadly micro-machining i.e. micro-cutting) of titanium alloys of grade 5 (Ti-6Al-
4V) by fiber laser machining system. The average power of various laser systems
that are identified to be best suitable for micro-machining applications of wide
range of engineering materials are 20–50 W. In brief, laser micro-machining is
mainly characterized by a machining process in which small amount of material is
removed by focusing highly intense laser beam on the work-piece surface as the
generated heat from the laser beam melts and then vaporizes the work-piece
throughout the thickness of the material (Meijer 2002). The molten material can be
expelled from the cutting front by a pressurized assist gas jet that includes com-
pressed air pressure, inert gaseous systems i.e. argon, helium, nitrogen and some-
times enhanced material removal can also be conducted through chemical reactions
such as oxidation of the material (Sun and Brandt 2013).
Progress in engineering in the field of advanced structures and technologies for
aerospace and power industry, biomedical, automatics and mechatronics, manu-
facturing of control and measurement equipment, is driven to a large extent by
development and application of new or modified functional materials. It includes
titanium and its alloys, although initially they were intended mainly for applications
in structural material to carry loads and carrying airframe elements for aerospace
industries. Titanium alloy of grade 5 enables implementation of new solutions in
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 257

structures and technologies and orthopaedics for its unique properties such as low
cytotoxicity and biocompatibility (Ratner et al.1996), corrosion resistance (Hayes
and Mow 1997), wear resistance (Chesnutt et al. 1980) and fatigue resistance
(Collings 1984; Williams 1984; Fasasi et al. 2009). In most applications, Ti-6Al-4V
implants have relied on surface roughening and porous coatings to improve
osseointegration (Fasasi et al. 2009). The potential for micro-parts as medical tools
operating at cellular level is increasing which drives extensive research efforts to be
concentrated on the evolution and control of the titanium alloys microstructure
through the adjustment of the processing parameters in order to obtain desirable
balance of properties for specific applications. The challenges in understanding the
mechanisms involving machining of titanium alloys along with its low thermal
conductivity (laser beam machining process) and the high tool wear associated with
the reactivity of titanium with tool materials (traditional machining process) are still
to be addressed.
Fiber lasers evolved as the most versatile and rapid growing laser systems during
the last decade and successfully emerged into the various fields of manufacturing,
medical, metrological and military applications that were previously dominated by
conventional solid state lasers and gas lasers. Today, fiber lasers (average power of
10–50 W) hold a good market share in the domain of fine and precise micro-cutting
that involves the combination of both continuous mode and pulse mode with the aid
of fusion cutting (inert gas) to sublimation cutting (oxygen cutting). The initiation
of combining optical fiber with laser system was started when the advantages of
introducing a rare earth doped single-mode optical fiber in a laser cavity to provide
a robust single spatial mode at the laser output was recognized in 1961 by Snitzer
(1961). After a few years, high gain in neodymium-doped multimode silica optical
fiber lasers pumped by flash lamps was demonstrated by Snitzer and Koester
(1964). In the mid-1980s, practical work on single-mode optical fiber lasers com-
menced, after the initial advancement of rare-earth-doping methods that used
modern optical fiber fabrication processes based on vapor-phase deposition tech-
nique (Hegarty et al. 1983; Nakazawa et al. 1989; Poole et al. 1985). For the
majority of the 1990s, the highest-power single-mode optical Fiber lasers were
usually pumped either by gas lasers or solid-state lasers, which turned out to be
irrelevant in case of commercial, industrial applications owing to low average
power drawn from most single-mode fiber lasers (Teodoro 2011). Finally, the
booming of the telecommunications during 2001 caused the thrust needed for the
development of high-power optical fiber lasers. Extensive amount of dedicated
research works and development of multimode pump diodes brought about sig-
nificantly more powerful and reliable multimode pump diodes at radically lower
cost. It is worth noting that the contribution of the Military-funded programs, in a
drive for directed energy weapon system and countermeasures which was another
driving force for higher powers from fiber lasers and the development of related
technologies (Hecht 2009).
258 A. Sen et al.

1.1 Advantages of Fiber Lasers Over Other Solid State

and Gas Lasers

Shorter wavelength in combination with its high focus ability, better system flex-
ibility, high component yield, long uptime along with improved reliability, high
repeatability, high aspect ratios with utmost precision, unlimited material coverage,
low cost and fully automated processes seem be advantageous for fiber lasers in thin
sheet metal cutting. Whereas, the CO2 lasers are probably still capable of machining
thicker materials more efficiently. Although, Olsen et al. (2009) study revealed
efficiency of fiber laser cutting operation for thick materials is higher than of CO2
laser. Their experimental results also revealed that burr free cuts can be achieved in
1 and 2 mm AISI 304 stainless steel, over a wide range of cutting rates using multi-
beam fiber laser machining system. Further research studies in the domain of fiber
laser machining process also brought about the observations that fiber lasers can
produce better results as compare to CO2 lasers when machining of copper and
magnesium alloys. Fiber lasers have also been replacing Nd-YAG lasers in various
micro-machining applications such as micro-cutting of stents, thin sheet of ferrous
and non-metals in terms of cutting speed, cut edge quality and the length of micro
cracks. Fiber laser cutting of thick polycrystalline silicon (silicon wafer) is another
significant area where it produces better results compared to Nd-YAG laser. The
fundamental wavelengths of fiber lasers lie between 1 and 2 μm (Schaeffer 2012)
and can couple extremely well with wide range of metals. The long thin gain media
of fiber lasers produce high quality beams which are focussed to a very small spot
on the work piece surface, giving very high power density. The high efficiency of
the laser diodes produce considerably high wall plug efficiency compared to other
conventional lasers. Other important characteristics of fiber lasers have active
regions of several kilometres long which can provide kilowatt levels of continuous
output power. Fiber lasers are also benefited due to flexible coupling of the light
with the fiber for which light can be delivered easily to a movable focusing element.
Efficient cooling can be achieved because of long fiber length that leads to high
surface to volume ratio. High vibrational stability, extended lifetime and mainte-
nance free operation (Schaeffer 2012) appears to be advantageous and results into
more compactness in the case of fiber laser system as compared to other conven-
tional solid state and gas lasers. Therefore, in the present scenario, fiber lasers are
outpacing market growths mainly in the areas of automotive, aerospace, wind
turbines, solar processing and bio-medical devices.

1.2 Need of Laser Beam Micro-grooving Process

Micro-grooves are used as one of the key micro-features in different micro-products

like micro-thermal devices, micro-heat exchangers, micro-reactors, micro-pumps
and micro-mechanical systems. A high aspect ratio micro-groove not only provides
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 259

a large surface area for heat dissipation and reaction systems but also provides high
capillary force for micro-heat pipes and micro-pumps, as micro-fluidics, frictional
force and capillarity vary according to the geometry of the micro-groove (Rathod
et al. 2013). Micro-grooves can also be used as micro-channels in biomedical and
biochemical applications such as super alloys, titanium alloys, aluminium alloys,
copper alloys etc., which are hard and difficult to cut by conventional machining
methods. The effectiveness of the laser micro-grooving process mechanism depends
on the thermal properties and the optical properties to a certain extent. Mechanical
properties of the materials that are to be machined do not play significant roles as
compare to other mentioned properties. Energy transfer between the laser and the
material occurs through irradiation for which no cutting forces are generated by the
laser. As a consequence, mechanically induced material damage, tools wear and
machine vibrations cannot be observed. Moreover, the material removal rate (MRR)
for laser machining is not limited by constraints such as maximum tool force, built-
up edge formation or tool chatter. In order to obtain fine and deep micro-grooves
i.e. grooves with high aspect ratio (width/depth), importance of different properties
such as reflectivity, thermal conductivity, specific heat and latent heats of melting
and evaporation is crucial.

1.3 Importance of Ti-6Al-4V Micro-grooves in Research

and Industrial Perspective

Ti-6Al-4V is the most used material out of the other titanium alloys and its total
production is almost half of all titanium alloys. The present research work is
dedicated towards the bio-medical features of this alloy, giving priority to both the
geometrical aspects i.e. width and depth and surface topology i.e. surface roughness
at the time of selecting the process parameters. Titanium alloys (grade 5) are often
used in different bio-medical field of applications such as artificial hip joints, knee
joint replacements and also dental implants. It is important that Ti-6Al-4V can bond
firmly with the bones, for optimal function and durability. Therefore, enhanced
bioactivity and improved implant-host interactions are important so as to reduce
biological related implant failure. The process of osseointegration mainly depends
upon the various surface properties such as surface chemistry, surface topography,
surface roughness and the surface energy. Modified improved surfaces confer
enhancement of cell-implant interactions and brings about more opportunities for
focal attachment which are beneficial for orthopaedic applications (Brown and
Arnold 2010). Therefore, selection of optimum machining parametric conditions
holds the key behind obtaining precise micro-grooves with minimum surface
roughness. Thereafter, these precise and fine micro-grooves can be optimized to
integrate with the surrounding tissue.
260 A. Sen et al.

1.4 Basic Mechanism of Laser Micro-grooving

Process of Ti-6Al-4V

Most of the titanium alloys that are used in the industry contain α- and β- stabilizers
which include Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn and Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo. The chemical
compositions of Ti-6Al-4V are listed in table 1. These alloys are heat treatable and
most are weldable especially with the lower β-stabilizer (Sieniawski et al. 2013).
According to Ezugwu et al. (2003), machinability can be defined as the difficulty to
machine a particular material under a given set of the machining parameters such as
cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. Conventional machining process fails to
meet stringent quality control at the time of machining of titanium alloys owing to
excessive amount of heat, work hardening, low thermal conductivity, abrasiveness
and high strength level. In contrast, laser beam machining is fast and repeatable
process. The heat generated during the laser beam machining process, is used to
remove material in a very small volume without mechanical engagement with
work-piece material. The basic mechanism involved behind laser beam micro-
grooving process can be identified as the laser beam micro-cutting process includes
several crucial factors. During laser beam micro-machining of titanium alloy of
grade 5, temperature zones can be divided into solidus temperature of 1877 K,
liquidus temperature of 1923 K and evaporation temperature of 3533 K. Four
different approaches which govern laser beam machining process are evaporative
laser cutting, fusion cutting, reactive fusion cutting and controlled fracture tech-
nique. The selection of optimum laser cutting technique depends on the thermo-
physical properties of the material, the thickness of the work piece and the type of
laser employed. For a thick section cutting of titanium alloy, the most preferred
process is reactive fusion cutting. In reactive fusion cutting, molten material is
removed and the lost material is compensated by further melting of the work-piece
at the solid-liquid interface below the cutting front (Mahrle and Beyer 2009). The
present topic covers fiber laser micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V having thickness of
1.1 mm. It is worth to take a note that all the research experiments were carried out
in atmospheric conditions.
Fiber laser beam is focused on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V and some portion of the
energy (optical energy is converted to heat energy) is absorbed. Theoretically, only
40–80 % of that energy may be absorbed in most cases of fiber lasers. Remaining
part of the energy is reflected back and some portions of the energy may be
scattered through the work-piece. Absorption occurs through a very thin surface
layer and the absorbed energy diffuses into bulk of the material. As the pulse width
in the present system is in nanosecond pulse regime, the heat flow can be assumed
to be one dimensional (Meijer 2002). The absorbed laser beam penetrates on the

Table 1 Chemical composition of Ti-6Al-4V

Al (%) Fe (%) C (%) N (%) O (%) V (%) Ti
5.55–6.5 <0.25 <0.08 <0.05 <0.2 3.35–4.5 Balance
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 261

work-piece surface in the range of microns and sub microns. As the temperature
increases, surface temperature will reach to the melting point at a certain period of
time. The melting time reduces drastically when power density increases rapidly.
Another important aspect that should be taken into consideration is that all the
experiments were accomplished in pulse mode and thus the peak power is high at a
considerable amount which can cause high vaporization rate. The high vaporization
rate can create a shock wave and a high vapour pressure at the liquid surface
considerably increases the boiling temperature (Meijer 2002). Finally the molten
material is removed as vapour by the expulsion of melt, as the resultant of the high
pressure in combination with super heated liquid after the end of the laser pulse. As
all the research experiments were carried out in atmospheric conditions, heat
affected zone (HAZ) and re-solidification of the material may occur in a form of rim
(Meijer 2002). Overall laser beam micro-machining process of Ti-6Al-4V including
representation of laser beam process of micro-groove generation is shown in Fig. 1
(a) & (b) respectively.

1.5 Literature Review on Laser Beam Micro-machining

of Ti-6Al-4V

In the previous sub-chapter, various research aspects of Ti-6Al-4V were discussed

and the difficulties of major issues of machining of these alloys were also addressed.
Researchers studied laser beam micro-machining (LBMM) and laser assisted micro-
machining (LAMM) approaches with different combinations of assist gas pressure
system so as to optimize the various process parameters depending upon the
applications. Ti-6Al-4V grooves can be machined in water and silicon oil condi-
tions but formation of bubbles and cracks are obvious in such machining condi-
tions. These cracks can be formed on the surface of the liquid-machined grooves
because of the induced additional thermal stresses from the rapid quenching. This
sub-chapter not only focuses on the various research works on laser beam micro-
machining of Ti-6Al-4V that enhances bone healing and implant integration but
also on various other research works related to laser beam micro-grooving process.
The mechanisms involved laser beam micro-grooving process that can be
compared to micro-cutting process, except for the evacuation of scoria in the range
of microns, which cannot flow out in the rear side of the micro-grooved surface as is
realized in a micro-cut surface. Al-Hajri et al. (2005) studied the characterization of
copper-finned micro-grooved surfaces for effective evaporation heat transfer, which
can be applied to cooling of high flux electronics. Mauclair et al. (2013) reported
cross sectional profile of micro-grooves machined in stainless steel by ultrafast laser
machining system. They relied on spatial beam shaping technique in which the
intensity distribution was utilized for precisely controlling of the pulse overlapping
during the translation of the sample under femtosecond exposure. Experimental
results revealed a good agreement with the priori calculations based on the ablation
rate and pulse overlapping. Dhupal et al. (2008) investigated pulsed Nd:YAG
262 A. Sen et al.

Fig. 1 a Representation of laser beam micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V. b Representation of laser

beam process of micro-groove generation in terms of width and depth

laser-turning operation to generate micro-groove on cylindrical work-piece of

aluminum oxide ceramic material. They concluded that minimum depth deviation
can be achieved by moderate settings of the lamp current with moderately high
pulse frequency.
Various research efforts have been concentrated on improving the bone-implant
interface, with the aid of either physical or chemical approaches. The physical
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 263

approach is focused on the modification of the implant surface morphology and

topography using mechanical methods such as machining, acid-etching, plasma
spraying, grit-blasting and anodization in order to improve the micro-topography of
the surface. Increase in surface roughness of the implant material would provide a
higher level of surface energy which would improve bone anchorage, matrix protein
adsorption, osteoblasts functions and ultimately osseointegration (Wang and Poh
2013). The most preferred assist gas system which involves the inert gasses nitrogen,
argon and helium was found out. In contrast, when this alloy is cut with oxygen assist
gas at even low pressure, the uncontrolled burning of cutting front starts, which results
into wide kerf width and poor surface quality. At the time of air assisted laser cutting,
the reaction of titanium with oxygen and nitrogen produces a thin layer of hard and
brittle oxides and nitrides and also generates much thicker HAZ in comparison to that
of argon (Zhang et al. (2007). Therefore, it was suggested that, in order to overcome
these problems titanium alloys may be cut using inert gasses such as argon and helium.
Chen et al. (2009) studied the effects of nano-second pulse UV laser multi scale laser
texturing on Ti-6Al-4V substrate on the adhesion of osteoblast cells. The researchers
found that groove width was not significantly affected either by the number of passes
or the distance between pulses. The effect of pulse energy on groove width was
critical. In contrast, groove depth was affected by the translation distance and the
number of passes as well as laser pulse energy. They also reported that laser processing
conditions also affect surface roughness and other sub-micron features created on the
surface. Almeida et al. (2006) performed a factorial designed experimentation on Nd:
YAG laser cutting of Ti and Ti alloy sheets. It was concluded that use of nitrogen assist
gas increases surface hardness from 2 to 3 times due to the formation of titanium
nitride (TiN) while a mixture of He and Ar gases reduce the irregular edges and also
eliminate the nitride formation. It was also reported that micro-milling of titanium
alloy for medical applications especially for implants can create free-form surfaces,
which lead to improvement in biocompatibility. Therefore, in order to produce
functional micro-products, not only part features and tolerances have to be concerned
but also surface quality must be considered as well. Several approaches have been
used in order to gain a control over the surface finish of micro-features; for example,
process parameters optimization, surface generation modelling and simulation, effects
of using lubrication etc. Sun et al. (2008) performed laser assisted machining trials on
commercially pure (alpha) titanium alloy and observed significant reductions in the
cutting forces due to laser pre-heating and smoother surface finish due to the dimin-
ished fluctuations in the cutting forces. Similarly, Dandekar et al. (2010) observed an
increase in tool life up to a cutting speed of 107 m/min during laser assisted turning of
Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Sun et al. (2011) also carried out laser assisted milling trials on Ti-
6Al-4V alloy and reported a dramatic reduction in the feed force and the tool edge
chipping which is the dominant tool failure mode in dry milling of this alloy. Shelton
and Shin (2010b) conducted a study of LAMM slotting of Ti-6Al-4V stainless steels
AISI 422 (422SS) and AISI 316 (316SS) with tungsten carbide (WC) micro end mills.
Fasasi et al. (2009) showcased the effects of nano-second laser-processing parameters
i.e. pulse repetition rate, scan speed and wavelength on micro-groove geometry. To
fabricate micro-structure having approximately 11 μm width and depth, Ti-6Al-4V
264 A. Sen et al.

plate of 6 mm × 6 mm × 12 mm was utilized with Q-switched nanosecond laser. The

researchers successfully demonstrated the laser ablated micro-grooves without
cracks. Desired 8–12 μm micro-groove depths and widths could be achieved by
controlling pulse frequency, scan speed and lens focal length that controls spot size.
Shelton and Shin (2010a) again studied LAMM side cutting experiments of 316SS,
422SS, Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718 (IN718) of fin work-piece structure. Experimental
results revealed that formation of burrs in Ti-6Al-4V and IN718 were drastically
reduced with the aid of laser-assist machining (Rashid et 2012). Yang et al. (2010)
developed a 3D finite element model so as to predict the formation of HAZ during
laser-assisted milling of Ti-6Al-4V. They developed a proper correlation between the
predicted HAZ and measurements. A transient, 3D finite volume prismatic thermal
model was also developed by the researchers’ group for laser-assisted milling (Tian
et al. 2008). The thermal model was then utilized for the modeling of the temperature
field during LAMM processes of different configurations. This prismatic thermal
model provided the transient temperature distributions within the work-piece and
validated through surface temperature measurements using an infrared camera and
embedded thermocouples.

2 Working Principle of Fiber Laser Generation

The working principle of fiber laser can be identified with the production of laser
light that requires material (a rare earth element) in the active medium which is to
be raised from its ground state to an excited state (population inversion) in that
medium. Normally atoms in the active medium reside in their ground states and
some external form of energy must be added to raise these atoms to an excited state.
Laser is generated when the laser diodes are pumped to excite lower energy mol-
ecules to excited states. The number of laser diodes depends on the application of
the fiber laser and the output power required. Laser is generated by ‘spontaneous
emission’ and then amplified by ‘stimulated emission’ along the axis of the reso-
nator cavity. Inside the fiber, generated light propagates in the mode form. Mode of
travel along the axis of the waveguide is constant with its characteristic propagation
and group velocity. It is important that light which incidents on the boundary
between fiber core and cladding, should be at angles greater than critical angle and
must undergo a total internal reflection (Teodoro 2011). Light rays are guided
through the core without refraction into cladding. The cavity mirrors consist of two
primary optics, front and rear mirror; reflect the photons to and fro through the laser
medium to increase amplification. Through the pumping process, only a fraction of
energy passes through the front mirror. In conventional fibers doped single-mode
core and a cladding, the laser power is restricted to about 1 W. To achieve higher
output powers, fiber lasers use double-clad fibers as the amplifying medium
(Schaeffer 2012). Most of fiber lasers employ Q switch mode of operation though
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 265

Fig. 2 Simple schematic diagram of Q switched ytterbium doped fiber laser

introduction of ‘master oscillator, power amplifier’ (MOPA) design enables inde-

pendent control of pulse width, pulse repetition frequency and average power. End-
to-end all-fusion-spliced-fiber MOPA designs, is a very common design for the use
of fiber-coupled semiconductor laser. In Q switched fiber laser systems, pulse
energy is independent of the fiber length. A simple schematic diagram of Q swit-
ched ytterbium doped fiber laser is shown in Fig. 2.

3 Experimental Studies on Fiber Laser Micro-machining

of Ti-6Al-4V

Details of fiber laser micro-machine setup, along with the experimental plan and
results have been thoroughly discussed in this chapter.

3.1 Fiber Laser Micro-machining Setup

The key elements of fiber laser are (a) optical fiber, (b) rare earth dopant ions, (c)
mirrors, (d) pump sources and (e) fiber coupler. Laser interaction with the optical
fiber material is dependent on several parameters i.e. laser source (wavelength and
emission regime, mainly) and also on the characteristics of the material itself.
Optical fiber (main component) is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide made of low-
loss material such as a silica glass. The improvement of the optical properties is
accomplished by doping with ytterbium (Yb3+), neodium (Nd3+) as rare earth
elements. Yb3+ holds several advantages compared to other rare earth elements
owing to a longer upper-state lifetime, a small quantum defect (results in lower
thermal load per unit of pump power) and absence of the excited state absorption.
To create laser cavity, various types of mirrors can be used in fiber lasers, i.e. bragg
gratings, multilayer dielectric mirrors or semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors
(SESAM) (Schaeffer 2012). In most of the cases, pumping is done predominantly
by semiconductor diode lasers. Different semiconductor materials are used for
different wavelengths such as aluminum gallium arsenide lasers, output ranging
266 A. Sen et al.

from 750 to 950 nm. The output of the diode laser is directly injected into the laser
fiber. In order to increase the pump power reaching to the fiber, multiple diode
lasers are used. Fiber couplers are being used either one side of input fibers or one
side of output fibers so that the emitted light cannot go back towards the source.
In the present research, all the experiments were carried out on multi-diodes
pumped Ytterbium (Yb3+) doped fiber laser machining system of 50 W, made by
M/S Sahajanand Laser Technology Limited. Total 8 number of laser diodes are
used for pumping and each of the diodes is coupled with the multimode of optical
fibers. The photographic view of the fiber laser machining system along with diode
pointer and F-θ lens (shown separately) were used in the present research work as
represented in Fig. 3a, b respectively. The laser head of the fiber laser consists of
both electric and galvanometer unit from which the generated laser beam is focused
on the work piece with the aid of F-θ lens of 100 mm. The mode of operation in
which experiments were carried out was Q switched mode which can generate a
high level of peak power in the regime of kilowatts. The present experimental setup
is also boosted by nanosecond pulse regime for which material interaction time with
the laser beam is less. The diode pointer assures that the work piece is on the focal
plane. The work-piece remains stationary and the laser beam moves to and fro to
the programmed directions (by software) and highly focused generated beam is
directed to the work-piece. The detailed machining setup is listed in Table 2.

3.2 Experimental Planing

Due to the complexity of relationship between laser-cutting parameters and the

cutting quality, four process parameters i.e. scan speed, pulse frequency, average
power and number of pass were considered so as to find out the influence of fiber
laser micro-grooving process parameters on various responses such as width, depth
and surface roughness. The objective of the present research work was to study the
minimization of width and surface roughness and maximization of the depth
although the present research work exclusively deals with the basic experimental
studies. Extensive pilot experiments were carried out previously so that all the
desired results could be achieved. Another important objective was to fabricate
micro-grooves with utmost precision and improved surface roughness in atmo-
spheric conditions. The literature review revealed that only few works have been
carried out in such conditions and the end results regarding surface quality were not
satisfactory. The present research work was also important for narrowing the gap
between the theoretical and experimental studies. After the micro-machining, the
samples were cleaned with the ultrasonic cleaner for 15 min so as to remove dust
particles. The dimensions of the depth and width were measured using Leica optical
microscope using 5× lens. The measurements of the widths were taken inside four/
five (depending upon the width dimensions' variation) different places of the micro-
grooves and the final width was calculated on the basis of average of four/five
values. The measurements of the depth were carried out from the surface edges of
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 267

Fig. 3 a Photographic view of fiber laser machining system. b Photographic view of lens and
diode pointer (Courtesy of Sahajanand Laser Technology Limited)
268 A. Sen et al.

Table 2 Specification of the No. Specification Description

fiber laser
1 Laser type Pulsed
2 Wavelength 1064 nm
3 Mode of operation Pulsed
4 Mode of laser beam TEM00
5 Beam diameter 8.8–9 mm
6 Laser beam spot diameter 18–20 µm (after focus)
7 Average power 50 W
8 Pulse width 120 ns
9 Pulse repetition rate 50–120 kHz
10 Output fiber length 3m

the sample material. Surface roughness (Ra) of the micro-grooves was computed by
atomic force microscope (Nanosurf Easy Scan 2). The surface topology measure-
ments were carried out by a small probe placed at the tip of a cantilever beam and
the forward scanning were done from the left to right of the selected surface of the
work-piece. All the measurements of the surface roughness using AFM are con-
ducted by line fit which calculates the first order least squares fit (mean value and
slope) for each line of data points and subtracts the fitted values from the raw
measurement data for each data point of that line. The 3D view of the surface
topology and measured surface roughness values of each groove in terms with Ra
were utilized to analyze and validate the micro-grooving process. Origin 8 (data
analysis and graphing software) was utilized for parametric plots with the measured
values of width, depth and Ra so as to identify effects of the process parameters for
the understanding of fiber laser micro-machining process for fabricating the micro-
grooves on Ti-6Al-4V.

3.3 Experimental Results and Discussions

The results of the total 49 experiments consist of four set of experiments which
include diferent level of micro-cutting parameters. The results of the total 49
experiments are listed in Table 3.

3.4 Influence of Process Parameters on Micro-groove

Geometry and Surface Roughness

In this present sub-section, influence of four process parameters on the micro-

groove geometry and surface roughness have been explained in detail.
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 269

Table 3 Results of the total 49 experiments

Ex. Number Scan Pulse Average Width Depth Ra
of speed frequency power (µm) (µm) (µm)
passes (mm/s) (kHz) (W)
1 8 1000 80 30 145.852 113.701 0.419
2 8 900 80 30 144.451 198.033 0.450
3 8 800 80 30 124.645 112.285 0.210
4 8 700 80 30 155.512 144.958 0.145
5 8 600 80 30 149.855 136.230 0.130
6 8 500 80 30 171.548 164.612 0.103
7 8 400 80 30 174.580 175.964 0.180
8 8 300 80 30 169.541 349.098 0.209
9 8 200 80 30 224.72 367.372 0.109
10 8 100 80 30 197.638 515.670 0.044
11 8 90 80 30 220.689 387.885 0.205
12 8 80 80 30 207.658 415.315 0.505
13 8 70 80 30 205.693 415.258 0.511
14 8 60 80 30 213.668 401.594 0.245
15 8 50 80 30 232.772 481.512 0.236
16 8 40 80 30 232.772 454.673 0.115
17 8 30 80 30 236.893 481.868 0.179
18 8 20 80 30 188.611 613.832 0.212
19 8 10 80 30 186.274 750.829 0.100
20 8 05 80 30 321.385 748.923 0.169
21 8 40 50 30 319.007 821.558 0.087
22 8 40 60 30 351.115 880.702 0.263
23 8 40 70 30 349.805 839.754 0.108
24 8 40 80 30 375.595 791.742 0.213
25 8 40 90 30 350.871 803.632 0.119
26 8 40 100 30 340.456 746.961 0.118
27 1 40 50 30 279.094 759.799 0.130
28 2 40 50 30 279.094 812.343 0.140
29 3 40 50 30 340.464 812.019 0.169
30 4 40 50 30 324.245 824.667 0.237
31 5 40 50 30 246.853 862.59 0.228
32 6 40 50 30 247.779 867.667 0.140
33 7 40 50 30 262.206 905.615 0.137
34 8 40 50 30 261.834 779.146 0.151
35 9 40 50 30 249.980 747.445 0.167
36 10 40 50 30 238.465 755.312 0.262
37 11 40 50 30 235.065 735.082 0.276
38 12 40 50 30 234.118 738.054 0.277
42 5 100 50 2.5 320.017 475.500 0.198
(continued)
270 A. Sen et al.

Table 3 (continued)
Ex. Number Scan Pulse Average Width Depth Ra
of speed frequency power (µm) (µm) (µm)
passes (mm/s) (kHz) (W)
43 5 100 50 5 373.093 479.653 0.272
44 5 100 50 7.5 379.653 473.043 0.286
45 5 100 50 10 384.777 559.074 0.329
46 5 30 100 7.5 124.133 516.072 0.026
47 5 30 100 10 111.292 198.064 0.051
48 5 30 100 12.5 106.327 32.982 0.064
49 5 30 100 15 150.159 49.038 0.100

3.4.1 Influence of Scan Speed on Width, Depth and Surface Roughness

on Ti-6Al-4V Micro-grooves

Previous research articles revealed that the fiber lasers are more effective in cutting
operations than the conventional CO2 lasers because of their linear energy per unit
sheet thickness. Fiber lasers are capable of producing high energy intensity to cause
the work-piece vaporization and create a keyhole owing to shorter wavelengths
(Dahotre and Harimkar 2008). The cutting quality is mainly governed by the
combination effects of pulse frequency and scan speed. In pulse mode of laser
micro-machining operation, the extent of spot overlapping determines the surface
roughness of the micro-groove geometries. During pulsed fiber laser micro-
grooving operation of titanium alloys, minimization of surface roughness, width as
well as increase in dimensions of depth of the micro-groove criterion is most
important for various fields of engineering applications. Another important con-
cerning factor is the formation of heat affected zone that can have a detrimental
effect on the surface roughness of the fabricated micro-groove geometry. To
overcome this phenomenon to a large extent, many of the experiments were carried
out with higher scan speed in the moderate setting of pulse frequency with the
combination of other process parameters that were kept as constants.
Figure 4 shows the influence of scan speed on width, depth and surface
roughness on fiber laser machined micro-groove surfaces while other process
parameters were kept constant such as 8 number of passes, pulse frequency of 80
kHz and average power of 30 W. Increase in scan speed causes the energy density
to decrease and less amount of heat to be conducted to the work-piece resulting in
reduction in thickness of HAZ layers. As mentioned previously, if the spot over-
lapping increases then the surface roughness will tend to decrease. It is worth
mentioning that in this present 20 set of experiments, pulse frequency was set at
moderately low value, but pulse width was relatively at high value. When scan
speed was at lower value, it produced high level of spot overlapping and continuous
power density per unit length. On the other hand, when scan speed was increased at
moderate setting of pulse frequency, it produced low spot overlapping, discontin-
uous power density and less material interaction time. Due to continuous power
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 271

Fig. 4 Effect of scan speed on width, depth and surface roughness

density and more spot overlapping produced by lower scan speeds, dimensions of
both width and depth were more as compared to the phenomenon observed at
higher scan speed. In addition to that, reduction of penetration rate at each pass and
sputtering of molten materials were observed at the micro-groove surfaces because
of high number of passes. Each mentioned parameters had pivotal roles on Ti-6Al-
4V micro-groove geometry and surface topology. Therefore, variations in both
width and depth dimensions were observed at high scan speed and both had the
tendency to reduce. In contrast, surface of Ti-6Al-4V micro-grooves showed
reverse results for the same reasons. As a result, surface of the machined micro-
grooves became rough at higher scan speed and vice versa.

3.4.2 Influence of Pulse Frequency on Width, Depth and Surface

Roughness on Ti-6Al-4V Micro-grooves

Pulse mode operation of the fiber laser system provides a high instantaneous power
for a period of pulse duration and followed with a period of power off. During pulse
mode fiber laser micro-grooving operation, melt ejection occurs in each laser pulse
272 A. Sen et al.

during the time when melt front cools during pulse off-time. It is important for the
micro-grooving operation to reduce the quantity of the dross formation which can
be achieved by producing low heat input. The relationship between pulse fre-
quency, laser beam energy and average power is shown by Eq. 1. Low heat input
can also reduce the quantity of melt formed but also imparted sufficient cooling
between two successive laser pulses which prevented overheating of the cut front
(Steen and Mazumder 2010).
Figure 5 shows the influence of pulse frequency on width, depth and surface
roughness of fiber laser machined micro-groove surfaces while other process
parameters were kept constant such as 8 number of passes, scan speed of 40 mm/s
and average power of 30 W. It can be observed in the present set of experiments
that scan speed remained constant at a moderately high value. This was beneficial
not only for understanding the complex phenomenon of pulse frequency on the
micro-groove geometry but also for reducing the surface roughness in a consid-
erable amount. Equation 1 revealed that pulse frequency varies inversely with the
laser beam energy when laser average power is constant. Therefore, when pulse
frequency was increased during the present set of experiments, keeping other

Fig. 5 Effect of pulse frequency on width, depth and surface roughness

Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 273

process parameters constant, laser beam energy reduced inversely. This phenom-
enon holds true with the moderate high settings of scan speed. In contrast, this
phenomenon reverts back with the combination of moderately low settings of scan
speed with increased pulse frequency. Low settings of pulse frequency lead to the
increase in laser beam energy. This causes more heat input to the micro-groove
surface and thus melting of more amount of material was observed. Therefore,
width and depth dimensions were relatively at high values in low pulse frequency.
This phenomenon also holds true for producing rough micro-groove surfaces at low
pulse frequency. In contrast, with the increase of pulse frequency with moderate
high settings of number of passes, reduction of laser beam pulse energy as well as
reduction of depth of penetration might occur. The effect of spot overlapping also
has a pivotal role in micro-groove topology. In addition, the melted material may
not be removed completely and the remaining melted material can be re-solidified at
the micro-grooving edges at high settings of pulse frequency. Therefore, low heat
generation at high settings of pulse frequency, led to moderate changes in the
dimensions of both width and depth; even though a tendency to reduce in the
dimensions of width and depth were observed. Along with this, reduction in surface
roughness due to the low heat generation and more spot overlapping at these
settings of pulse frequency was observed. Hence better micro-groove topology was
produced with the increase of pulse frequency.

Average power
Laser beam energy ¼ ð1Þ
Pulse frequency

3.4.3 Influence of Number of Pass on Width, Depth and Surface

Roughness on Ti-6Al-4V Micro-grooves

Figure 6 shows the influence of number of pass on width, depth and surface
roughness of fiber laser machined micro-groove surfaces while other process
parameters were kept constant as scan speed of 40 mm/s, pulse frequency of 50 kHz
and average power of 30 W. The present parametric combinations of 12 set of
experiments revealed that the experiments were carried out at high heat input on the
micro-groove surfaces. It can be observed from Fig. 6 that the width increases with
the number of passes, but reverts back after a certain increment of number of
passes. This phenomenon happened due to the striking of laser beam on the work-
piece surface in a repetitive manner during pulse on time. In addition, the length of
focus was altered every time as the number of passes went on increasing. As a result
of that spot size of the laser beam was increased significantly. Therefore, with the
increased spot size, the penetration rate into the desired thickness of the work-piece
274 A. Sen et al.

Fig. 6 Effect of number of pass on width, depth and surface roughness

could not be achieved. Due to repetitive striking of laser beam on the work-piece
surface and pulse mode operation of fiber laser system, the depth increased. Due to
the absence of inert gaseous systems in the present machining setup, some amount
of molten material were re-solidified on the side wall of the micro-grooves. The
moderate high setting of scan speed led to the phenomenon of sputtering at the
edges of the micro-groove surfaces. Therefore, due to the combined effect of
sputtering and re-solidification, the dimensions of width were reduced after certain
increment of the number of passes as observed in Fig. 6. This phenomenon also
holds true for micro-groove topology. The machined micro-grooves surfaces were
rough as compared to those produced at low number of passes.

3.4.4 Influence of Average Power on Width, Depth and Surface

Roughness

Laser power determines the direct energy input to the micro-cutting process.
At lower laser powers, the energy supplied to the cutting front may be insufficient to
cut through the desired depth of the material, whereas at higher powers, production
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 275

Fig. 7 Effect of average power on width, depth and surface roughness

of clean through cuts necessitates the reduction of cutting speed (Brown and Arnold
2010). Laser average power also determines the maximum cutting speed which is
defined as the minimum speed at which through cut is produced. Both micro-cutting
quality and performance is dependent on the laser average power.
Figure 7 represents the influence of the average power on width, depth and
surface roughness of fiber laser machined micro-groove surfaces while other pro-
cess parameters were kept constant such as 5 number of passes, scan speed of 100
mm/s and pulse frequency of 50 kHz. It can be observed from Fig. 7 that the
amount of re-solidified material on the micro-groove surface increased with the
increase in laser average power. Increase in laser power led to increase in the
dimension of width up to a certain extent due to the increase in more power density
and power input per unit area (refer to Eq. 1). In addition to this, low settings of
pulse frequency produced more spot overlapping, continuos power density at the
time of fiber laser micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V micro-grooves. Hence, better
micro-groove topologies were observed at low average power and vice versa. It was
observed that the effect of laser energy in the geometry of the micro-grooves was
not having the same functional dependence in both width and depth dimensions.
The tendency of width dimensions was found to be increasing with the combine
276 A. Sen et al.

parametric effects of low laser average power, low pulse frequency and high scan
speed. Large heat input led to the removal of more amount of molten material from
the micro-groove surfaces, although the peak power was moderately low due to
high setting of pulse width. Hence, dimensions of groove depths were changed
insignificantly with the increment of average power. The same can be stated in case
of width dimensions which increased moderately up to a certain extent and then
remained almost constant after that. It was also obvious that the focal plane varied
each time during pulse off/on time and the rate ofpenetration also reduced as the
machining time increased. Therefore, changes in the dimensions of both width and
depth were insignificant.

3.5 Photographic Exhibits of Ti-6Al-4V Micro-grooves

and Its Surface Characteristics

Figure 8a shows the micro-groove profiles of two micro-grooves measured in Leica

5× lens when scan speed was at 1000 and 900 mm/s respectively. Figure 8b and c
shows the two micro-groove profiles of the width dimensions at different parametric
settings i.e. 30 W of average power, scan speed of 40 mm/s, 4 number of passes and
pulse frequency of 50 kHz and 30W of average power, scan speed of 40 mm/s, 8
number of passes and pulse frequency of 50 kHz respectively. Better micro-groove
profile and reduction in width dimensions were observed when the number of passes
was 8 as compare to number of passes were 4. Figure 9a, b provides the 3D view of
four graphical displays of the measured data and other elements at different para-
metric settings as shown in the figures. At the right side of the 3D graphs, there is a
color scale that shows which measured signal level that is mapped by the respective
color. Therefore, Z height data is encoded with that colour scale and displayed
2-dimensionally. From Fig. 9a, it can be understood that when scan speed is 700
mm/s at 80 kHz of pulse frequency as compared to the scan speed of 40 mm/s at 60
kHz of pulse frequency, better finished micro-groove surfaces can be obtained. It can
also be also observed that from Fig. 9b that at 12.5 W of laser average power (other
parameters were constant) better surface topology can be obtained compared to
average power of 30 W (other parameters were constant).Thus, selecting a combi-
nation of optimum parameters can lead to a better surface quality for potential
application in the field of bio-medical engineering.
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 277

Fig. 8 a Microscopic view of different micro-groove profile at different scan speed. b and c
Microscopic view of the micro-groove width at different number of passes
278 A. Sen et al.

Fig. 9 a, b 3D representation of surface topology of the micro-grooved surface topologies at

different parametric settings

4 Conclusions

Fiber laser micro-machining has a great potential for generating micro-grooves on

Ti-6Al-4V. The present chapter mainly deals with the influence of four process
parameters such as average power (2.5–30 W), number of passes (1–8), scan speed
(40– 1000 mm/s), pulse frequency (50–100 kHz) during laser micro-grooving on
Fiber Laser Micro-machining of Ti-6Al-4V 279

Ti-6Al-4V using 50 W diode pumped fiber laser. Different process parametric

setting led to different width, depth and surface roughness. From the results of
present experimentation, the following conclusions can be drawn.
(a) Depth and width dimensions tend to decrease with high scan speed with the
combination of low pulse frequency, but surface roughness has a tendency to
gradually increase owing to low spot overlapping and discontinuous power
density at high scan speed.
(b) With the increase of pulse frequency combining moderate scan speed,
reduction in the dimensions of width and depth can be observed owing to low
heat generation. At higher values of pulse frequency, the more spot overlap-
ping results continuous power density and smoother micro-groove surfaces.
(c) With the increment of number of pass, depth tends to increase while width
decreases. After a certain number of pass, width will tend to decrease owing to re-
solidification and sputtering of the molten material on the micro-grooved sur-
face. Rough surface quality is observed due to the increase in the number of
passes.
(d) As the average power increases, width and depth simultaneously increase due
to more heat input and evaporate more amount of material from the micro-
groove zone. Poor surface quality can also be observed with the increase of
average power.
Fiber laser micro-machining is a unique process which can produce micro-
grooves on titanium alloys with better accuracy. The growth of the fiber laser is
commendable within a short span of time both in research and industrial per-
spectives. The present research work not only facilitates the use of fiber laser in the
domain of micro-machining but also simplifies the complex phenomena of the
micro-machining of the titanium alloys. Further research work can be carried out
for determining parametric settings so as to achieve optimized values of better
micro-machining quality along with minimum width and maximum depth.

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support and assistance provided by
CAS Ph-IV program of Production Engineering Department of Jadavpur University under Uni-
versity Grants Commission, New Delhi and TEQIP phase II program of Jadavpur University also
M/S Sahajanand Laser Technology Limited for extending the machining facilities.

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Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia
Ceramic

Josephine Peter, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

Abstract Laser marking is one of the well-developed technologies of materials

processing. Laser marking is the best and most applied permanent marking method.
Ceramic is a difficult material to be processed by conventional marking techniques
due to its high hardness and brittleness. This chapter deals with the artificial neural
network (ANN) and the response surface methodology (RSM) based mathematical
modelling and also an optimization analysis on marking characteristics i.e., mark
width, mark depth and mark intensity on zirconia ceramic. The experiments have
been planned and carried out based on Design of Experiment (DOE). The major
influencing laser marking process parameter considered are pulse frequency, lamp
current, pulse width, scanning speed and air pressure. The experiments have been
planned and carried out based on RSM based modelling with 32 runs. ANN
modelling is performed and the results are compared. The average percentage of
prediction errors of the developed ANN model for mark width, mark depth and
mark intensity are 2.52, 2.58 and 2.58 respectively and the overall percentage of
prediction error is 2.6. The output of the RSM optimal data is validated through
experimentation and ANN predictive model. A good agreement is observed
between the results based on ANN predictive model of 82.8 μm, 46.3 μm and 0.605
for mark width, mark depth and mark intensity respectively and actual experimental
observations.

Keywords Laser marking
Zirconia
RSM and ANN

J. Peter (&)
B. Doloi
B. Bhattacharyya

Production Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
e-mail: joshiriyapeter@gmail.com
B. Doloi
e-mail: bdoloionline@rediffmail.com
B. Bhattacharyya
e-mail: bb13@rediffmail.com

© Springer India 2015 283

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_16
284 J. Peter et al.

1 Introduction

Laser marking is flexible, programmable and environmentally clean method which

employs a thermal process that utilises high intensity beam of focused laser light to
create a contrasting mark on the material surface and is primarily used to mark or
print bar codes, matrix codes, universal product codes (UPC) and serial numbers,
etc. (Restrepo et al. 2006). The main application of laser marking is for the purpose
of product identification and traceability (Chen and Darling 2005). Compared to
traditional marking techniques, such as inkjet, hot stamping or mechanical scribing,
laser marking offers many advantages such as flexibility, speed, indelibility, reli-
ability, free of consumables and high cleanliness (Ng and Yeo 2001). Nd:YAG
laser marking has great potential in diverse range of applications, i.e., electronics
components, automotive products, jewellery, medical implants and surgical
instruments, etc. The line width produced by Nd:YAG laser is narrower than that of
CO2 lasers, which is a major factor for higher resolution. In some cases, second and
third harmonic Nd:YAG lasers at 532 and 355 nm, as well as ultraviolet excimer
lasers are the optimum choice to mark highly transparent materials. The application
of laser technology is pacing the demands from industry for smaller geometries and
increasingly tighter specifications. At the same time, the requirements with regard
to the quality, flexibility, speed and production costs of the marking process are
becoming increasingly stringent. The diverse range of applications in the area of
product recognition and identification are given as follows:
(a) Computer Equipment
Marking text and graphics on plastic computer peripherals. An entire keyboard
can be marked in a single operation.
(b) Automotive Products
Marking text, graphics and part numbers on ball and roller bearing races,
gears, shafts, instrument displays and audio bezels for identification. Marking
layout, current ratings and protection information on fuse box covers.
(c) Electronic Components
Marking epoxy packaged ICs and other micro components with text and
graphics for identification. Cleaning epoxy flash material from capacitor legs
to ensure integrity of electrical connections.
(d) Electrical Switchgear
Production of text and graphics on plastic relays, circuit breakers and switch
covers to meet specific requirements of approvals bodies in different markets.
(e) Communications Equipment
To create graphics on mobile phone keypads and production of text and logos
on plastic bodies of telephone headsets.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 285

(f) Agriculture Equipment

Replacement of hot foil marking to generate text, graphics and bar codes on
livestock identification tags.
(g) Promotional Products and Giftware
Origination of text and graphics on pen barrels, key rings, knives, trophies,
picture frames, plaques, etc.
(h) Light Shows
Removal of metallic coatings from glass discs to produce graphics on gobos
used in laser light shows.
Technical demands from the electronic, medical, aerospace and other industries
are pushing the boundaries into micron level for smaller components which need
fine marking with more precise tolerances. Nd:YAG laser has some unique prop-
erties for using it in marking processes. The advantage of laser systems is the small
beam width, allowing manufacturers to mark particularly small parts, an issue of
increasing concern as the quest for miniaturization is being increasing very rapidly
(Chen et al. 2008). The relative robustness and compactness of the laser and the
possibility for the light it produces to be transmitted to the work piece via optical
fibres are two features that contribute to its success. Laser beam can be focused and
deliver sharp-edged energy directly to a tiny region without heating the rest of the
material which allows for greater flexibility in the factory environment.
Advanced ceramic materials have great applications in the various fields due to
their explicit properties. The typical properties exhibited by zirconia are high
strength, high fracture toughness, excellent wear resistance and chemical resistance,
high hardness and toughness which make its applications in wide fields like
orthopaedic implants, manufacture of cutting tools, refractory applications and
structural opacifiers etc. Zirconia has great potential as substitutes for traditional
materials in many biomedical applications. These properties and features of zirconia
add to value of the material, which makes laser marking on zirconia to have an
important scope. On the other hand, the major difficulty in the process is the number
of laser parameters involved.
Nd:YAG lasers are typically found in industrial applications as they are known
for their ability to mark metal, either by ablation or by creating a colour change
through annealing and therefore Nd:YAG lasers are able to provide more detailed
graphics (Adelina and Dinu 2008). The absorption properties of Nd:YAG laser
beam of wavelength of 1064 nm on various structural ceramics is also very high.
However, this absorption also greatly depends on the optical properties, surface
temperature and also on surface roughness of the ceramic work piece. The major
concern in the marking process is the number of laser parameters involved. Hence
there is a requirement to explore it in detail on laser marking of ceramics, which has
different applications in various fields. In order to attain clear and excellent mark, it
is most important that proper laser marking methods and the suitable process
parameters are to be selected for the specific material, which leads to increase in the
286 J. Peter et al.

marking quality. Laser marking characteristics may be altered due to a small change
in the marking parameters; therefore, monitoring and control of the laser marking
parameters are necessary. This chapter deals with the modelling of laser process
parameters like pulse frequency, lamp current, pulse width, scanning speed and air
pressure on the marking characteristics i.e., mark width, mark depth and intensity
using RSM. Moreover optimized process parameters for effective laser marking are
determined. Artificial neural network (ANN) predictive model is also been devel-
oped to confirm the results and to train the data and predict the optimum response
based on the empirical model obtained through RSM.

2 Basic Mechanism of Laser Marking

Lasers produce a significant amount of energy in a small defined area. This focused
energy is far greater than that achieved by any other process as it heats, melts or
vaporizes within selected areas. Lasers can achieve significant contrast by material
melting, material annealing or material vaporization, all effects being uniquely
permanent. The principle of laser marking is that a laser beam modifies the optical
appearance of a surface that it hits. This can occur through a variety of mechanisms.
Mechanisms for marking can broadly be divided into two categories:
(a) Marking by material removal from the surface.
(b) Marking by surface modification.

2.1 Marking by Material Removal from the Surface

In this mechanism, removing material with a laser creates a visible mark: either by
melting, vaporization or photochemical decomposition or ablation and engraving.
The resulting surface morphology creates a readable high contrast mark.

2.1.1 Etching

Laser etching is a process by which the heat applied to the surface is increased to a
level that causes substrate surface melting. The laser beam heats the surface of a
material and as it cools, the material takes on a different finish. The etching process
actually removes small amounts of material from the metal piece to create a mark.
The actual etching process is initiated by absorption of laser light by a solid in
contact with a gas or liquid, a gas in contact with a solid, or by a both a solid and a
gas simultaneously (Houle 1986). The excitation will lead to a reaction between the
solid and gas or liquid. Depending on the wavelength of light used, absorption
results in electronic excitation, which can subsequently melt, to heat, or in
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 287

immediate direct heating. The former is referred to as photochemical, and the latter
photo thermal. Laser marking process involves the application of high speed laser
etching techniques on lead frames that were protected with polymer coating
(Ho et al. 1997). The input energy required to initiate etching is relatively small,
and so etching is chosen over ablation whenever it is desirable to minimize the
thermal loading on a material.
Etching is often used for industrial purposes, such as for marking tools or parts
with serial numbers, logos, and barcodes. It is only applicable to certain metals,
metallic coated surfaces and some plastics. Excellent results can be routinely
obtained at penetration depths of less than 25 μm (Dahotre and Harimkar 2008).
This technique, however, should not be used on some metals where material
integrity is critical to the part because cracks produced in the molten metal during
cooling can propagate into the underlying surface material. These cracks can
expand downward if the part is stressed and/or after repeated temperature cycling.
These conditions have led to metal fatigue and part failures. Laser etching is not
recommended for parts thinner than 1.5 mm.

2.1.2 Surface Melting

The material can be brought to a molten state as a result of melting. The laser beam
removes a layer of coating such as black oxide, paint, anodization, chrome, etc., to
reveal the base material. This method creates very sharp and detailed characters and
graphics due to the high contrast between the coating and the base material. An
analytical model for the laser melting of inhomogeneous work pieces with parabolic
melt pool geometry were studied to find the melt pool depth during laser marking to
determine the thickness of the resulting surface layer after solidification (i.e. the glaze
thickness), which is related to the quality of the mark (Peligrad et al. 2001, 2002). It is
frequently employed to induce a color change in plastics. A wide variety of com-
mercial plastics yield excellent color contrast and high quality marking images.
Excellent results are routinely obtained at penetration depths of less than 25 μm.

2.1.3 Ablation

Ablation refers to material being ejected by the interaction of the high intensity laser
pulse with the material. Ablation is most often performed in vacuum or air. A part
of the incident light energy is absorbed in the material and transformed into heat.
Depending on material conductivity and thermal capacity the bulk material tem-
perature rises. When temperature reaches a certain threshold value melting and
vaporization appears. Parts of the heated material that reach such high temperatures
are removed by means of vaporization and vapour caused ejection of melt. Solid-
ified melt forms a recast layer on the crater wall (the sides and bottom of a laser
mark) and condensed vapour is deposited as debris on the surface around the
interaction region (Nedialkov et al. 2005). These phenomena (debris and recast
288 J. Peter et al.

layer) may adversely influence the laser mark visibility so they should be mini-
mized by proper choice of processing parameters. Generally, shorter pulses are
more efficient and produce less unwanted depositions near the processing area. In
addition, at a given beam energy E the peak beam intensity (power/area) is higher at
shorter beam pulse, so material removal threshold values are attainable.
Material is removed from the work piece, often resulting in with little or no
change in coloration. This type of interaction is often found when carbon black is
used for coloration due to the high laser energy absorption and heat generation. The
technique may be used on homogeneous materials, in which case the mark arises as
a result of the contrast between the substrate and the ablated regions. Marking in
carbon black (CB)/polypropylene (PP) compounds using a 532 nm Nd:YAG laser
were performed (Feng et al. 2001). Both thermo physical and photochemical
reactions are found to co-operative during laser processing of conventional poly-
mers. The polymer made the ablated region appears white, contrasting sharply with
the black background of the original surface.
Alternatively, it may be applied to layered substrates; the ablated region reveals
an underlying region that provides high contrast—a popular technique for marking
polymers. The effects of laser ablation upon multiple-layered coloured inks were
carried out upon four layered ink samples consisting of white/cyan/white/black
layers showed that it was possible to selectively remove the inks to expose both the
top white and the cyan layers, although charring occurred with deeper ablation
(Stewart et al. 2000). Ablation is used in partial removal of coating layers from the
base material that are marked with different colour.

2.1.4 Engraving

The laser beam penetrates the surface and removes material in the laser path
through melting displacement and/or evaporation. Laser engraving involves more
heat than laser etching and results in the removal of substrate material. Localized
increase in temperatures above the melting point of the material causes melting.
Once the material is resolidified, a modified surface structure occurs in the form of a
mark. The high contrast obtained by laser colouring or etching cannot be obtained
by laser engraving because the material is vaporized and ejected during the marking
process. A Q-switched diode-pumped frequency-doubled Nd:YAG green laser to
deep engrave different kinds of wood without carbonization of the surface was
demonstrated (Leone et al. 2009). Although this method appears to be the most
appropriate laser marking technique, it generally produces less damage to the
substrate than laser etching; however, because most of the structural strength of
materials is in the integrity of their surface and because it can produce micro
cracking in some materials. Like laser etching, direct laser engraving can be easily
determined by power microscope (10×) magnification. Laser engraving is not
recommended for use on parts thinner than 2.5 mm. Nearly any material can be
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 289

engraved. Laser engraved marks are exceptionally durable and can only be removed
by heavy grinding. Therefore laser engraving is used for forgery-proof product
marking.

2.2 Marking by Surface Modification

In this mechanism, the laser radiation affects the material composition to create a
high contrast mark without material removal. It may locally melt the material,
causing it to oxidize or chemically alter to form a visible mark.

2.2.1 Foaming

The foaming process occurs when the local temperature surrounding the absorption
place is sufficiently high to generate gases via burning or evaporation. The hot gases
are themselves surrounded by molten material and expand to form bubbles. If the
energy of the laser is controlled, foaming can result in bubbles that scatter light in
such a way that it results in white or light-on-dark marking contrast (Ion 2005). In
order to obtain this type of result the laser needs to be set to high pulse frequencies,
resulting in high heat transmission to the compound. White coloured markings on
dark surfaces can be achieved through foaming which gives very high contrasts.
Small gas bubbles form in the molten material which increases the volume creating
a type of plastic foam. This makes the processed areas appear much brighter than
the surrounding material. In some cases, the marking projects from the surface. This
is referred to as a foamed marking. As a plastic material is heated by the laser beam,
gas pockets form and the material starts to foam leaving a foamed light mark. The
foam rises approximately 40 μm from the surface and extends to a depth of about
60 μm in the polymer surface. As the marking is partly raised on the surface, its
wear resistance may be somewhat reduced.

2.2.2 Carbonisation

A dark or black marking can be achieved on a light surface by a laser heating which
causes localised carbonization of the polymer matrix. The process occurs when the
absorbed energy raises the local temperature of the material surrounding the
adsorption site high enough to cause thermal degradation of the polymer. Laser
oxidizes only the surface of material into black, resulting in a smooth and cut-less
surface. This marking applies to lubricious parts. Also it is suited for metal of iron
group, stainless steel, silicon wafer, etc., where visibility is an important issue.
Certain particle substrates coated with certain metal oxides may be employed as
laser sensitive pigments for use in laser marking of plastics using different types of
lasers. Hence the components of the coating layer were chosen to optimize laser
290 J. Peter et al.

sensitivity. Sensitivity Nd:YAG laser is primarily attributable to the marking

components of the metal oxide layer, namely CuO, MoO3, WO3, V2O5, Ag2O, or
PbO2. The oxide layer may also become partially reduced upon laser irradiation,
forming dark-colored sub-oxides which increase the marking contrast (Fu 2004).
The effect is best seen on light colour materials. Extreme carbonisation may lead to
excessive local heating and carbonisation which can affect the physical properties of
the matrix. In some cases, this can produce dark brownish markings.

2.2.3 Annealing

The laser is used to heat metal to near melting points, which induces a colour
change to the top layer of material (Sugioka et al. 2010). Annealing with the heat of
the laser beam creates a dark, burr-free, permanent mark without noticeable surface
penetration. Laser annealing creates an indelible mark induced by heat and oxygen
without noticeable material ablation. Laser annealing is used with all metals which
show a colour change when exposed to heat and oxygen, especially stainless steel.
Annealing often gives a dark iridescent look, with a faint rainbow of greens, blues,
and pinks that can sometimes be seen in the text or graphic. The colour depends
strongly on the temperature to which it is heated. Annealing leaves no cuts or
shallow marking and typically produces the darkest. Because no material is
removed from the metal, this technique is often used for medical devices used
within the human body. Annealing leaves no cuts or shallow engravings like those
found in marking and etching and typically produces the darkest mark of these three
methods. As a burr-free process, annealing offers significant advantages when
marking already finished surfaces. Process speed is lower compared to laser
engraving because annealing relies solely on thermal effects (Ready 2001). Com-
paratively low temperatures can be applied to metal to anneal the surface. The
marking beam will produce a sharp, contrasting line to the surrounding material
with very shallow material penetration. Marking by annealing has the advantage of
not disrupting the surface that is important for some medical applications, specif-
ically implantable devices.

2.2.4 Colouring

Laser colouring is a process used to discolour some metallic substrate materials

without burning, melting, or vaporizing the material. This is done by passing a
relatively low power laser beam across the surface at slow speed to discolour the
area of the mark. This laser marking method produces a high-quality; high-contrast
marking that does not disrupt the surface (Ready 2001). The process, however, does
not work with all materials and can have an adverse affect on materials that have
been previously heat-treated and can reduce the corrosion resistant properties of
some stainless steel alloys. These mixed colorant systems are dependent on specific
colorant stabilities and not all colour changes are possible. Laser formulations
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 291

cannot be toxic or adversely affect the product’s appearance, physical properties, or

functional properties. Additives can help improving absorption properties. Appli-
cable laser sources are Nd:YAG, Nd:Vanadate or fiber lasers. Furthermore, har-
monic wavelengths of 532 nm (green) and 355 nm (UV) can be used for bleaching
and photo reduction processes. Nd:YAG laser beam which is operated in contin-
uous wave mode as a tool to print patterns of coloured enamels on tile substrates
was performed (Fernandez-Pradas et al. 2007). The laser marking technology for
textile material to remove indigo-dye from denim is also applied. A Nd:YAG laser
used with 1064 nm and its second harmonic 532 nm with energy per pulse as high
as 40 mJ and a repetition rate of 60 Hz. The denim-fading process occurs when the
fluency of the beam is higher than the threshold of interaction (Dascalu et al. 2000).
UV-induced photo reduction is often called cold marking, as there is no noticeable
heating of the material. This is a most common method for marking plastics such as
polycarbonate and ABS.

3 Nd:YAG Laser Marking Process Parameters

The key parameters of the laser marking process that define a given laser’s marking
ability are the pulse frequency, lamp current, scanning speed, spot size, the peak
and average power of the pulse. Therefore, monitoring and control of the laser
marking parameters are necessary so that marking is done with high efficiency.

3.1 Pulse Frequency

The pulse repetition rate determines the amount of time between lasers ‘bursts’
allowed to strike a surface. The high peak power pulses at low frequencies will
increase the surface temperature rapidly resulting in material vaporization and
minimal heat conduction into the part. At higher repetition rates, the lower peak
power will produce much less vaporization but will result in significantly more heat
conduction. The greater number of pulses in a given timeframe will also increase
the heat conducted into the work surface. The Q-switch pulse rate is probably the
most important variable for control of the thermal process. The ability to Q switch
the laser provides short pulses with very high peak powers that enable the laser to
produce high quality contrasting marks on a wide range of materials. The laser
parameters such as pulse duration, peak power and average power can be varied as
per requirement according to the material and type of the mark. Typically plastics
and fine marking are achieved at lower Q-switch frequencies. Increasing Q-switch
frequency reduces peak power, increases pulse width and average power and is
more suited to higher threshold materials such as metals. For graphics and large fill
areas, high fill rates can be achieved with frequency which provides the thickest line
width of marking.
292 J. Peter et al.

3.2 Scanning Speed

In laser marking process the scanning speed of laser beam with respect to the work
piece is another important variable in the thermal process and must be set to achieve
the desired process results. For deep marking (typically >0.05 mm) each point on
the marked line will require exposure to several pulses to achieve depth. The beam
speed must be reduced until the desired depth is achieved. For shallow marking, the
speed may be increased to the system’s maximum velocity or until the separation
between pulses is aesthetically unacceptable at the selected pulse rate setting. The
result of pulse frequency and beam speed is the mark point overlap. As a general
rule, pulses should overlap at least 50 % to give the appearance of a continuous
mark line and around 70–90 % to ensure a good marking. Hence adjustment should
be made to compromise between process speed and the quality of a mark.

3.3 Focused Spot Size

Focal spot size determines the maximum energy density that can be achieved when
the laser beam power is set, so the focal spot size is very important for material
processing. The diameter of the focused laser beam on the work surface determines
both the marking line width and marking efficiency. The spot diameter is a function
of focal length of the lens and the divergence of the laser beam. This implies that
when the focal length is increased the focusing spot size is correspondingly
enlarged. The setting of focal length has effects two properties i.e., first, the incident
spot size and the energy density, second, the marking field area. The spot diameter
(d0) of laser beam at focal point is determined as:

d0 ¼ ð2 f kÞ=D ð1Þ

where, d0 is the diameter of the focused spot, f is the focal length of the focus lens,
D is the entrance beam diameter, and λ is the wavelength (Klimt 1988). Figure 1
shows the relation between spot size and percentage of overlap.

3.4 Laser Power

The most fundamental method of checking the performance of a laser is to measure

its power or energy output. Laser output directly affects a laser’s ability to perform a
process. Lasers operate in either continuous wave mode or pulsed mode. Figure 2
shows the difference between continuous and pulsed mode laser power. Both
operation states have lot of applications. For pulsed laser, an important parameter is
the peak power. In general, CO2 lasers have relatively high continuous wave power,
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 293

Fig. 1 The relation between

spot size and percentage of
overlap

while Nd:YAG lasers can provide relatively high peak power for pulsed operation.
Output power is closely related with processing time and operation expense. If the
selected laser power is lower, the processing time will be increased, if the selected
laser has too high power than necessary, the operation expense will be higher than
necessary. So the proper choosing of laser power is very important. Laser beam is
pulsed at medium to high frequencies so as to get the maximum energy in a short
period of time. The lower the frequency with which the energy is released the
higher will be the pulse power and the consequent effect. High peak power and
power density are required for reflective materials, such as aluminium, brass and
copper which can be achieved by lasers with high peak pulse energy. It represents
the power averaged over the period of the pulse, and is the product of the pulse
energy and the pulse frequency.
For a pulse laser with high pulse frequency, the peak power is usually expressed
in terms of average power as (Peter et al. 2013),

Average Power ðPavg Þ

Peak Power ðPpeak Þ ¼ ð2Þ
Pulse Frequency ðf Þ  Pulse Duration ðlÞ

Fig. 2 Difference between continuous and pulsed laser

294 J. Peter et al.

It is observed that a high peak power is often required for marking. Shorter
pulses have higher peak power. The thermal interaction time is also shorter, which
lead to smaller heat-affected-zones, and thus better mark quality.

3.5 Lamp Current

The lamp current determines the power or energy being used to stimulate a material
into photoemission, i.e., increasing the lamp power increases the laser amplifica-
tion. When a laser heats up the targeted material, the energy absorbed is conducted
into surrounding material; at higher absorption rate the surface region of the
material will melt and began to vaporize. Increasing or decreasing the electric
current to the krypton arc lamp adjusts the output power of the laser. As the current
is changed, the light output from the lamp and the rate of laser amplification
increases or decreases accordingly.

3.6 Pulse Width

Pulse width refers to the temporal length of laser pulse; that is, the time during
which the laser actually emits energy. Pulse width is expressed as the % of duty
cycle. Required pulse width depends on the time needed to vaporize the material.
High quality beam can be produced by accurately controlling this parameter in
order to achieve quality marking.

3.7 Air Pressure

Air pressure plays an important role in laser marking. It mainly assists to remove
the material and to minimize the heat affected zone during laser marking. Moreover,
the air protects the focusing optics against vapour or spatter emitted due to high
intense laser beam. The quantity of air pressure during laser marking is important,
as it can affect the marking quality characteristics. However, the pressure should not
be so high such that it will create vibration of machine parts.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 295

4 Evaluation of Nd:YAG Laser Marking Quality

Characteristics

Evaluation of laser marking quality characteristics is done by estimating mark

width, mark depth and mark intensity. The quality of a mark is assessed by its
legibility characteristics. The quality characteristics are usually evaluated using
complementary techniques such as optical microscopy, surface roughness mea-
surement, and contrast evaluation. The acceptance of level of each of these quality
characteristics generally depends on the customer’s requirements.

4.1 Mark Width

The width of the line segment that formed by laser marking is referred to mark
width. The marking width is controlled by the focused beam spot size. Other
parameters such as beam scanning speed, laser power density and material
absorptivity also affect the line width. Generally, mark width is measured using an
optical microscope. Sometimes, surface texture measuring equipment is also used
for determining the width measurement.

4.2 Mark Depth

The marking depth is mostly affected by the laser energy density, the type of
material and the interaction time between the material and laser beam. Marking
depth is measured using a surface profile instrument. The depth of penetration in the
material that can be achieved varies from a few microns to several tens of milli-
metres. The assist compressed gas enhances the evaporation of material from
marking zone which further results in more marking depth. A further enhancement
of the effect on the material can be realized by the supply of gases such as oxygen
or compressed air, which assist material removal.

4.3 Mark Intensity

The visual difference between the visible brightness of a particular mark and
unmarked portion is referred as mark intensity. The measurement of marking
contrast is done with image analysis software. The sharpness or resolution of the
marked edges affects the marking contrast or intensity. This parameter is particu-
larly important in marking “bar code”, as poor edge sharpness may cause failure of
bar code reader. Better edge resolution can be produced due to high peak power.
296 J. Peter et al.

The marking intensity or the mark contrast (c) can be determined by,
gbackground  gmark
c¼ ð3Þ
gwhite  gblack

where gbackground is the grey level value of unmarked area and gmark is grey level
value of marked area. gblack is the grey level of black colour and gwhite is the grey
level of white colour. After taking the optical photographs using optical micro-
scope, the image is analyzed in a PC, which computes the grey level of mark of
different portion.

5 Laser Marking Technique and Procedure Used

for Experimentation

Laser marking can be done by either moving the laser in accordance with the profile
which is needed to be generated or by moving the work piece by keeping the laser
stationary. The latter technique is followed to mark the work piece in this present
work. The schematic representation of the marking technique is shown in Fig. 3.
The system consists of various subsystems such as laser generation and beam
delivery unit, cooling unit, assist air supply unit and computer numerical control
(CNC) for X-Y-Z axis movement. Laser from the laser head is transmitted through
the beam bender that bends the laser beam at 90° so that it could be focussed on to
the work piece using a lens. Pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm
with a TEM00 mode of operation is used to conduct experiments. The laser beam is
focused with a lens of 50 mm focal length having a spot size of 0.1 mm. The work
piece is mounted on the CNC controlled X-Y table. The work piece movement

Fig. 3 Schematic representation of CNC controlled pulsed Nd:YAG laser marking system
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 297

along the X-Y axis and the focusing lens movement along Z axis are CNC
controlled and can be operated via a computer for marking after proper focusing of
laser beam by means of focusing lens. The surface of the flat work piece is set as the
focal plane. The feed rate is given by X-Y table movement so as the marking is
done appropriately. Laser beam is directed to the work piece through a nozzle by
which assist gas mainly air is supplied to the surface of the work piece so as to aid
in material removal and to prevent resolidification. With the use of Q-switched Nd:
YAG laser, laser beam with high peak power is achieved. This enables to mark
different materials with good quality. Moreover, the alignment of focusing lens is
very important because if the beam centre is not co-axial with the centre of the lens,
then the beam after the lens will not be straight and therefore the marking efficiency
drastically decreases. Hence special care has to done to check if focussing lens is
well aligned. The work piece is held in a fixture and is monitored with the help of
charge couple device (CCD) camera. A closed-circuit television (CCTV) is used to
view the work piece for focusing the beam accurately for proper marking operation.
Experiments are performed with the aid of compressed air with different air
pressures. Figure 4 shows the focussing arrangement of laser marking system. The
drawing file is utilised through the software MULTISAW that is interfaced with the
CNC controller for the axis movement of the work piece. Any special figures, logos
and characters can be plotted by using any plotting software namely AutoCAD or
CorelDraw and can be exported to the laser marking software for generating CNC
program. Marking with multiple fonts and desired sizes, orientations and rotations
can be done by controlling the motion of work piece as per CNC program with the
aid of CNC drive systems.

Fig. 4 Focusing arrangement of laser marking system

298 J. Peter et al.

6 Optimization of Nd:YAG Laser Marking Based on RSM

and ANN Model

Modelling of the laser marking operation on zirconia ceramic by using experi-

mental design and response surface methodology (RSM) are performed so as to
determine optimal parametric combinations for quality marking. Artificial neural
network is also utilized to model laser marking process because of its versatile
capability and reliability.

6.1 Experimental Planning and Development of Empirical

Model Based on RSM

Response surface methodology based analysis is an effective method for estab-

lishing empirical models for optimal analysis on marking quality characteristics of
the pulsed Nd:YAG laser marking operations. The design of experiments (DOE)
based on RSM are planned for conducting experiments. In order to find the quality
characteristics of the laser marking, geometric shapes marked on a flat zirconia
work piece of 20 × 30 mm dimension. Central composite rotatable half design
(CCD) with 32 runs is selected with an alpha value of 2.0. CCRD is a very efficient
method for fitting a second-order model. Experiments were carried out based on the
design with six centre points (Douglas 2001). Five factors with five levels were
considered for experimental purpose. The actual and the coded values of Nd:YAG
laser marking process parameters are listed in Table 1.
RSM based empirical models for responses i.e., mark width, mark depth, and
mark intensity have been established to show the mathematical relationship
between the response, Y and the laser marking process parameters. The corre-
sponding empirical equation for all the response characteristic can be represented as
mark width (Ywz), mark depth (Ydz), mark intensity (Yiz). These empirical
equations may be used to find the values of the responses for any values of input
parameters for the range taken.

Table 1 Actual and coded values of laser marking of zirconia

Factors Unit Symbol Levels
−2 −1 0 +1 +2
Pulse frequency (PF) Hz X1 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Lamp current (LC) A X2 25 26 27 28 29
Pulse width (PW) % X3 2 4 6 8 10
Scanning speed (SS) mm/s X4 1 2 3 4 5
Air pressure (AP) kgf/cm2 X5 0.3 0.8 1.3 1.8 2.3
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 299

Ywz ¼ 3764:70  0:14X1  250:36X2 þ 18:87X3 þ 17:59X4  33:02X5

þ 4:94X22 þ 0:96X23  3:03X24 þ 18:25 X25  1:41X2 X3  1:36X2 X4 ð4Þ
 4:03X2 X5  0:46X3 X4 þ 1:17X3 X5 þ 13:66X4 X5

Ydz ¼ 3158:28 þ 0:02X1  223:49X2 þ 14:90X3  71:52X4  124:87X5

þ 4:06X22  0:07X23 þ 1:12X24  0:27X25 þ 0:01X1 X5  0:19X2 X3 ð5Þ
þ 1:58X2 X4 þ 2:90X2 X5  1:0X3 X4  2: 31X3 X5 þ 7:0X4 X5

Yiz ¼ 12:1248  0:0004X1  0:8544X2 þ 0:3100X3  0:0719X4  0:4462X5

þ 0:0165X22 þ 0:0010X23 þ 0:0127X24 þ 0:2059X25  0:0075X2 X3
 0:0062X2 X4 þ 0:0069X3 X4  0:0225X3 X5  0:00250X4 X5
ð6Þ

6.1.1 Analysis of Process Parameters on Marking Quality

Characteristics on Zirconia

The parametric effects of different process parameters like the pulse frequency,
lamp current, pulse width, scanning speed and air pressure on marking quality
characteristics like the mark width, mark depth, and mark intensity during Nd:YAG
laser marking on zirconia ceramic are analysed based on response surface plots.

Parametric Influences on Mark Width

The surface plot of mark width with pulse frequency and lamp current by keeping
all other process parameters constant at pulse width as 6 %, scanning speed as
3 mm/s and air pressure as 1.3 kgf/cm2 is shown in Fig. 5. It is seen that mark width
decreases more steeply with the increase in the pulse frequency for both low and
high values of lamp current. As the pulse frequency increases there is a decrease in
the mark width. It is because of the fact that the energy of laser beam mainly
depends on lamp current and pulse frequency. With respect to lamp current there is
an increase in the mark width with increase in lamp current. As the lamp current
increases and pulse frequency decreases, the laser beam energy increases and the
top surface melted at a faster rate, thus increasing the mark width.
The variation of mark width with the change in lamp current and pulse width is
shown in Fig. 6 keeping all other parameters constant at pulse frequency of
6000 Hz, scanning speed of 3 mm/s and air pressure 1.3 kgf/cm2 as constant. As the
lamp current increases the power intensity increases, which aids in more material
removal, which is indicated, by the increase in the mark width. At low values of
percentage of pulse width, there is a steep increase in the mark width with the
300 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 5 Variation of mark width with pulse frequency and lamp current

Fig. 6 Variation of mark width with lamp current and pulse width

increase in the lamp current. When the pulse width is increased, there is a decrease
in the mark width. At low pulse width Nd:YAG laser produces high quality beam
which makes the laser marking more accurate and hence there is an increase in
mark width.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 301

Fig. 7 Variation of mark width with scanning speed and air pressure

The change in the mark width with respect to change in scanning speed and air
pressure is shown in Fig. 7 keeping all other parameters constant at pulse frequency
of 6000 Hz, lamp current of 27 A and pulse width of 6 % as constant. From the
surface plot it is seen that there is a gradual decrease in the mark width with rise in
the scanning speed for low air pressure. At high scanning speed, the time available
for the laser at the marking surface is very less hence there is a decrease in mark
width. On the contrary, there is an increase in the mark width at high air pressure
with the variation in the scanning speed.

Parametric Influences on Mark Depth

The variation of mark depth with the change in pulse frequency and lamp current by
keeping all other process parameters as constant at pulse width as 6 %, scanning
speed as 3 mm/s and air pressure as 1.3 kgf/cm2 is shown in Fig. 8. From the
surface plot it is observed that mark depth decreases gradually when the lamp
current is increased up to the mid value after which it shows a slight increase in the
mark depth for low and high values of pulse frequency. It is inferred that a change
in pulse frequency and lamp current has a major influence to attain the mark depth.
However with the rise in the lamp current there is an increase in the mark depth as
the laser beam intensity increases the amount of melted and vaporized material so
as to form a deeper marking. Similar phenomenon is observed at a low pulse
frequency and with the change in the lamp current.
The effect of change in lamp current and pulse width on mark depth is seen from
Fig. 9 by keeping other process parameters at pulse frequency of 6000 Hz, scanning
speed of 3 mm/s and air pressure 1.3 kgf/cm2 as constant. It is observed that the
302 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 8 Variation of mark depth with pulse frequency and lamp current

Fig. 9 Variation of mark depth with lamp current and pulse width

mark depth decreases with the change in lamp current up to mid level after which it
shows a slight increase in the mark depth at low pulse width and high pulse width.
But at low lamp current with the variation in the pulse width, there is a small rise in
the mark depth. At high lamp current with the change in pulse width, there is steep
increase in the mark depth.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 303

Fig. 10 Variation of mark depth with scanning speed and air pressure

The influence of scanning speed and air pressure on mark depth is studied from
Fig. 10 by maintaining other process parameters like pulse frequency of 6000 Hz,
lamp current of 27 A and pulse width of 6 % as constant. With the change in the
scanning speed there is a steep fall in the mark depth for low range of air pressure
compared to high range of air pressure. It is observed that at low scanning speed
with the change in the air pressure there is small decrease in the mark depth. When
the air pressure is high, the material is ejected out thoroughly which aids to the
increase in the mark depth. In addition to it, at low scanning speed the material of
the work piece absorbs sufficient amount of heat energy for longer time, as result,
the mark depth is increased.

Parametric Influences on Mark Intensity

The variation of mark intensity with the change in pulse frequency and lamp current
is studied from Fig. 11 with pulse width of 6 %, scanning speed of 3 mm/s and air
pressure of 1.3 kgf/cm2. With the change in the pulse frequency there is a decrease
in the mark intensity for low and high lamp current up to 6000 Hz after which it
shows a gradual increase with the change in lamp current. But at low and high pulse
frequency, there is an increase in mark intensity with the change in lamp current.
This is due to the fact that as the lamp current increases the intensity of laser beam
reaching the work piece also increases which ultimately increases the intensity of
the mark.
The surface plot of mark intensity with the change in lamp current and pulse
width keeping all other laser marking process parameters like pulse frequency of
6000 Hz, scanning speed of 3 mm/s and air pressure 1.3 kgf/cm2 as constant is
304 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 11 Variation of mark intensity with pulse frequency and lamp current

Fig. 12 Variation of mark intensity with lamp current and pulse width

shown in Fig. 12. As the lamp current increases there is a steady change in the mark
intensity at low pulse width. Because at low pulse width high concentrated laser
beam energy causes faster rate of penetration compared to high pulse width, as a
result there is decrease in the mark intensity. It is seen that there is a fall in the mark
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 305

Fig. 13 Variation of mark intensity with scanning speed and air pressure

intensity at high pulse width with the change in lamp current. Similarly, the mark
intensity increases at low values of lamp current with the increase in pulse width.
The variation in mark intensity with change in scanning speed and air pressure is
shown in Fig. 13 keeping all other parameters like pulse frequency of 6000 Hz,
lamp current of 27 A and pulse width of 6 % as constant. When the scanning speed
is increased there is a slight increase in mark intensity at low and high range of air
pressure. But there is a decrease in mark intensity at mid level of air pressure. At
low scanning speed with the variation of air pressure, there is a slow decrease up to
mid level after which there is a slow increase in the mark intensity.

6.1.2 Multi-objective Optimization of Nd:YAG Laser Marking Quality

Characteristics

The multi-objective optimization analysis is performed to achieve the minimum

mark width, maximum mark depth and maximum mark intensity of the laser
marking on zirconia based on the developed empirical equations. Figure 14 shows
the result of multi objective optimization. The optimal combinations of laser
marking process parametric setting is obtained as pulse frequency of 4.484 kHz,
lamp current of 25.68 A, pulse width of 5.17 %, scanning speed of 1.06 mm/s, air
pressure of 2.3 kgf/cm2. The minimum mark width is obtained as 78.34 μm. The
maximum mark depth is found as 49.99 μm. The maximum intensity value is 0.60.
The value of composite desirability is taken as 0.999. Figure 15 shows the SEM
micrographs of the laser marking quality characteristics like mark width, mark
depth and mark intensity at optimal setting.
306 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 14 Multi objective optimization of zirconia ceramic

78µm 0.6
50µm

Fig. 15 SEM views of the mark at optimal setting

6.2 Development of Artificial Neural Network

The application of artificial intelligence is remarkable in virtually all fields of

engineering. Modeling and optimization are necessary for the understanding and
control of any process. One of the main applications of artificial neural networks is
that it can be used to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to
find patterns in data. Artificial neural network is a massively parallel distributed
information processing structure consisting of processing elements interconnected
via unidirectional signal elements called connection weights (Hassoun 1995). The
basic model of the neuron is founded upon the functionality of a biological neuron.
The basic processing elements of neural networks are called artificial neurons, or
simply neurons or nodes. In a simplified mathematical model of the neuron, the
effects of the synapses are represented by connection weights that modulate the
effect of the associated input signals, and the nonlinear characteristic exhibited by
neurons is represented by a transfer function.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 307

The neuron impulse is then computed as the weighted sum of the input signals,
transformed by the transfer function. The learning capability of an artificial neuron
is achieved by adjusting the weights in accordance to the chosen learning algorithm.
Depending on the weights, the computation of the neuron will be different. By
adjusting the weights of an artificial neuron, the desired output can be obtained
(Muthukrishnan and Davim 2009). A typical artificial neuron and the modelling of
a multilayered neural network are illustrated in Fig. 16.
From Fig. 16, the signal flow from inputs x1, x2, …, xn is considered to be
unidirectional, which are indicated by arrows, as is a neuron’s output signal flow
(O). The neuron output signal O is given
!
X
n
O ¼ f ðnetÞ ¼ f w j xj ð7Þ
j¼1

where wj is the weight vector and the function f(net) is referred to as an activation
(transfer) function. The concept for the development of ANN model is implemented
right from development of ANN model to validation, and optimization of laser
marking parameters have been carried out and the methodological approach for the
development of ANN model is depicted in Fig. 17. At first, the input and the output
data are normalized. The number of neurons for the input layer and the output layer
is decided according to the number of inputs variables and the number of outputs
required. Different networks are selected by varying the number of neurons in the
hidden and trained to search out the optimal ANN model for prediction of laser
marking. The error available at the neurons of the hidden layer is calculated by
iterations and back-propagated. The number of neurons in the hidden layer is
selected with precisely in order to reach the goal in lesser number of iterations with
minimum percentage of prediction errors to obtain the desired result in the shortest
possible time. Further network model is trained and the predicted values are

Fig. 16 Artificial neuron

308 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 17 Flow diagram of

methodological approach of
ANN model development

validated with the experimental data. The percentage of prediction error is calcu-
lated as,

½ðExperimental result  Predicted result)]

Prediction error ð%Þ ¼  100 ð8Þ
Experimental result

The number of neurons for the input layer and the output layer is decided
according to the number of inputs variables and the number of outputs required.
Finally, a neural network model with a structure of 5-8-3 is found to be the most
efficient model for zirconia ceramic and the architecture of the developed ANN
model is shown in Fig. 18 with a hidden layer. The ANN model is developed based
on multi-layer feed-forward backpropagation algorithm using ‘trainlm’. With this
training program, the model is trained with 32 sets of experimental data and the
results are shown in Table 2.

Fig. 18 Architecture of developed neural network

Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 309

Table 2 Design of experimental plan with responses

No. Actual values laser parameters Responses ANN predicted results
PF LC PW SS AP Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
(Hz) (A) (%) (mm/s) (kgf/cm2) width depth intensity width depth intensity
(μm) (μm) (μm) (μm)
1 5000 26 4 2 1.8 78 27 0.39 78.5 27.5 0.37
2 7000 26 4 2 0.8 101.25 32 0.46 102 32.3 0.45
3 5000 28 4 2 0.8 137.75 27 0.43 138.6 27.9 0.44
4 7000 28 4 2 1.8 91.5 26.5 0.58 92.8 25.7 0.57
5 5000 26 8 2 0.8 118.5 44 0.5 117.4 44.8 0.55
6 7000 26 8 2 1.8 90.25 26 0.39 91 26.9 0.35
7 5000 28 8 2 1.8 87.5 16.4 0.44 86.1 16 0.43
8 7000 28 8 2 0.8 130 16.4 0.48 131.9 15.7 0.47
9 5000 26 4 4 0.8 115 25.5 0.37 116.4 25 0.36
10 7000 26 4 4 1.8 90.75 48 0.48 91.8 47.4 0.47
11 5000 28 4 4 1.8 112.5 29 0.43 114 28.6 0.44
12 7000 28 4 4 0.8 113.75 23 0.52 112.1 23.8 0.5
13 5000 26 8 4 1.8 107.75 16.4 0.49 106 16 0.47
14 7000 26 8 4 0.8 101.5 23 0.5 100.4 22.4 0.51
15 5000 28 8 4 0.8 118.75 16.4 0.54 117.5 15.7 0.53
16 7000 28 8 4 1.8 107 27 0.44 108.2 27.9 0.43
17 4000 27 6 3 1.3 127.5 18 0.41 127 18.7 0.42
18 8000 27 6 3 1.3 104.5 16.4 0.5 103.7 16 0.52
19 6000 25 6 3 1.3 89.25 31 0.42 89.9 30.3 0.44
20 6000 29 6 3 1.3 118.5 42 0.39 117.6 41.2 0.4
21 6000 27 2 3 1.3 101.25 22 0.36 100.4 21.4 0.37
22 6000 27 10 3 1.3 97.75 16.4 0.35 97.1 16 0.36
23 6000 27 6 1 1.3 92.5 33 0.4 93.4 32.3 0.42
24 6000 27 6 5 1.3 100 16.5 0.38 101.8 16.9 0.36
25 6000 27 6 3 0.3 115 14 0.62 116.9 14.9 0.6
26 6000 27 6 3 2.3 89.75 26 0.47 88.7 26.9 0.46
27 6000 27 6 3 1.3 82.25 30 0.35 83.4 31.7 0.34
28 6000 27 6 3 1.3 81.7 25.5 0.36 81 25 0.35
29 6000 27 6 3 1.3 83 22 0.34 82.6 22.8 0.33
30 6000 27 6 3 1.3 82.95 25 0.33 81.4 25.7 0.34
31 6000 27 6 3 1.3 82.5 16 0.35 83.9 15.5 0.36
32 6000 27 6 3 1.3 81.9 14.5 0.36 82 14 0.37

6.2.1 ANN Results and Analysis

Training of the neural network model is performed using 32 experimental data. To

validate the results, the trained network model has been tested using ten experi-
mental data (verification data), which are not used in the training process is given in
Table 3. The process parametric data are taken from the range as mentioned in
Table 1 and their results are compared with the RSM model. Table 4 shows the
310 J. Peter et al.

Table 3 Verification experiment (test data) for zirconia ceramic

No. Process parameters Responses
PF (Hz) LC (A) PW (%) SS (mm/s) AP (kgf/cm2) Mark Mark Mark
width depth intensity
(μm) (μm)
1 6500 26 8 1 0.8 90.5 30 0.38
2 4000 28 6 3 2.3 127.5 18 0.41
3 5500 25.5 7 4 1 116.5 36 0.54
4 7000 27.5 4 5 1.8 90 25.3 0.57
5 4500 25 3 2 1.3 115.6 16 0.59
6 5000 28.5 5 4 2 112.6 29 0.49
7 5500 29 9 3 0.5 130.4 21.6 0.4
8 6000 26.5 7 1 0.7 89.25 31 0.42
9 7500 27 10 5 1.5 98.2 26 0.36
10 8000 25 2 2 0.3 104.5 16.4 0.5

Table 4 Comparison between RSM based results and ANN predicted results of test data for
zirconia
Expt. RSM estimated results ANN predicted results
No. Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
width depth intensity width depth intensity
(μm) (μm) (μm) (μm)
1 93.1 30.8 0.395 92.8 30.7 0.389
2 123.5 18.9 0.425 123.2 18.4 0.42
3 112.7 37.5 0.56 113.5 35.9 0.553
4 92.3 24.4 0.593 92.5 26.1 0.588
5 113.1 16.6 0.605 113 16.5 0.608
6 109 30.4 0.509 114.6 29.7 0.499
7 134 20.6 0.386 133.2 22.3 0.391
8 85.2 29.9 0.435 91.2 30.3 0.429
9 102.5 26.6 0.341 100.8 26.7 0.351
10 107.8 15.8 0.48 101.7 16.8 0.486

comparison of experimental results and ANN predicted results along with the
percentage of prediction error. The average percentage of prediction errors of the
developed ANN model for mark width, mark depth and mark intensity are 2.52,
2.59 and 2.58 respectively and the overall percentage of prediction error is 2.6.
Results of the responses for the ten sets of data calculated based on RSM and
ANN predicted results are given in Table 4. The percentage of estimation errors for
two models is shown in Table 5. For RSM predicted results, the average percentage
of estimation error for mark width, mark depth and mark intensity are 3.34, 3.83
and 3.93 respectively. The overall average percentage of prediction error is found as
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 311

Table 5 Comparison of percentage of estimation and prediction errors of RSM model estimated
and ANN model predicted results of test data for zirconia
Expt. No. % of estimation error of % of prediction error of
RSM model ANN model
Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
width depth intensity width depth intensity
(μm) (μm) (μm) (μm)
1 2.76 2.66 3.94 2.54 2.33 2.37
2 3.52 5 3.66 3.37 2.22 2.44
3 3.26 4.12 3.7 2.57 2.25 2.41
4 2.55 3.56 4.06 2.78 3.16 3.15
5 2.42 3.75 3.05 2.24 3.12 2.71
6 3.2 4.8 3.88 2.1 2.41 3.05
7 3.5 4.17 4.21 2.14 3.2 2.25
8 4.5 3.54 3.57 2.4 2.25 2.14
9 4.35 3.07 5.2 2.64 2.69 2.5
10 3.34 3.65 4 2.4 2.24 2.8
Average 3.34 3.832 3.927 2.518 2.587 2.582
percentage of
prediction error
Overall percentage 3.99 2.6
of prediction error

3.99. It can be seen from these two prediction errors that the overall prediction error
for RSM model is nearly 1.53 times the overall prediction error of ANN model.
Thus, by evaluating the percentage of prediction error of the two models, it is
observed that the developed ANN model for laser marking process predicts the
responses quite satisfactorily.
The comparison between experimental and ANN model predicted values for
mark width, mark depth and mark intensity graphically for all 32 experiments for all
the responses are shown in Figs. 19, 20 and 21. It is seen from this figure that the
developed ANN model predicted all responses at different process parametric set-
ting effectively. It is also observed that the data points of experimental and ANN

Fig. 19 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of mark width

312 J. Peter et al.

Fig. 20 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of mark depth

Fig. 21 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of mark intensity

predicted results are very close to one another. Also comparison of experimental
and ANN predicted results for all the responses for test data are shown in Figs. 22,
23 and 24 for the responses like mark width, mark depth and mark intensity
respectively. It is also observed that the data points of experimental and ANN
predicted results are very close to one another. It is seen from this figure that the
developed ANN model predicted all responses at different process parametric set-
ting effectively. It is concluded that ANN models developed for prediction of the
laser marking quality characteristics such as mark width, mark depth and mark
intensity at different process parametric setting are adequate.

Fig. 22 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of test data for mark width
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 313

Fig. 23 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of test data for mark depth

Fig. 24 Comparison of experimental and ANN predicted results of test data for mark intensity

6.3 Optimization and Prediction Through ANN

The developed ANN model has been used to predict the response parameters, i.e.
mark width, mark depth and mark intensity for all combinations of input factors.
Hence all the possible combinations of five process parameters with each at five
levels are generated. From the developed ANN model, the marking characteristics
like mark width, mark depth and mark intensity are also predicted for all the 3125
combinations of laser marking process parameters. RSM based multi objective
optimization is carried out for laser marking on zirconia ceramic and the optimal
process parameters obtained are pulse frequency of 4.484 kHz, lamp current of
25.68 A, pulse width of 5.17 %, scanning speed of 1 mm/s and air pressure of
2.3 kgf/cm2. The optimized values are 78.34 μm for mark width, 49.99 μm for mark
depth and 0.60 for mark intensity. Experimentally obtained results of the responses
are compared with the RSM and ANN model based predicted results and the
percentage of error in the responses of both models are calculated and the results
obtained is shown in Table 6. The results of the response are also predicted using
the developed ANN model from the RSM predicted optimal parametric combina-
tion. The results obtained by ANN prediction are 82.8 μm, 46.3 μm and 0.605 for
mark width, mark depth and mark intensity respectively. It is noticed that the ANN
model which is developed has predicted the response quite acceptably as the per-
centage of prediction errors are 2.5, 3.13 and 1.62 respectively which are much
lower than that of results predicted through RSM model. Therefore it is confirmed
314 J. Peter et al.

Table 6 Comparison of RSM predicted, ANN predicted and experimental results at optimal RSM
based parametric setting
Terms Experimental RSM ANN
predicted predicted
Parametric Near feasible setting of RSM predicted Pulse frequency of
combination values 4.484 kHz, lamp current of
25.68 A
Pulse frequency of 4.4 kHz, Lamp Pulse width of 5.17 %
current of 25.7 A Scanning speed of
1.06 mm/s
Pulse width of 5 % Air pressure of 2.3 kgf/cm2
Scanning speed of 1 mm/s
Air pressure of 2.3 kgf/cm2
Mark width (μm) 80.78 78.34 82.8
Mark depth (μm) 47.8 49.99 46.3
Mark intensity 0.615 0.60 0.605
Percentage of prediction error in RSM approach
Mark width = 3.02 %
Mark depth = 4.5 %
Mark intensity = 2.43 %
Percentage of prediction error in ANN approach
Mark width = 2.5 %
Mark depth = 3.13 %
Mark intensity = 1.62 %

Fig. 25 Marking on zirconia

with optimal combination of
PF—4.4 kHz, LC—25.7 A,
PW—5 %, SS—1 mm/s and
AP—2.3 kg/cm2

that the developed ANN model predicts better results than the developed RSM
model. Figure 25 shows the marking of a logo with the predicted optimal para-
metric setting.
Nd:YAG Laser Marking on Zirconia Ceramic 315

7 Conclusions

Laser marking is found to be an effective and permanent marking, which offers

greater flexibility. Artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed, which has
been tested and validated using test data sets for the prediction of various responses.
The overall percentage of prediction error is 2.6 for the developed ANN model and
the overall average percentage of estimation error is 3.99 for the RSM model.
Comparing RSM and ANN models it is found that the overall estimation error for
RSM model is nearly 1.53 times the overall prediction error of ANN model and this
clearly indicates that the ANN model is superior to RSM model. Also the ANN
predicted optimal values of mark width of 82.8 μm, mark depth of 46.3 μm and
mark intensity 0.605 are obtained from the multiple parametric setting and the
percentage of prediction errors for mark width, mark depth and mark intensity are
obtained as 2.5, 3.13 and 1.62 respectively. The small value of errors of various
responses of the laser marking process indicates that the ANN model performs the
precise prediction of optimal parametric setting for Nd:YAG laser marking on
zirconia ceramic.

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support and also assistance provided
by CAS Ph-IV program of Production Engineering Department of Jadavpur University under
University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi.

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Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN
Nanocomposite: Experimental Study
and Process Optimization

N. Roy, A.S. Kuar, S. Mitra and B. Acherjee

Abstract Nd:YAG laser microdrilling of SiC30BN nanocomposite material is

studied here. Taguchi based grey relational analysis is used to simultaneously
determine the optimum setting for minimum hole taper and HAZ width. Grey
relation analysis is adopted for combining multiple quality characteristics into one
integrated numerical value called Grey relational grade. A L27 orthogonal array has
been used for conducting experiments. Lamp current, pulse frequency, pulse width,
assist gas pressure and focal distance are considered as input process parameters
whereas hole taper and HAZ width are considered as machining responses. It is
observed that the quality characteristics of drilled micro holes are improved
markedly at the optimized parameter settings as compared to quality levels achieved
for initial machine parameter settings.

Keywords Nanocomposite
Hole taper
HAZ width
Grey relational analysis

N. Roy (&)
A.S. Kuar
S. Mitra

Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata 700032, West Bengal, India
e-mail: nilanjan_83@yahoo.co.in
A.S. Kuar
e-mail: askuar@rediffmail.com
S. Mitra
e-mail: Mail.souren.mitra@gmail.com
B. Acherjee
Department of Production Engineering, BIT Mesra, Extension Centre,
Deoghar 815142, Jharkhand, India
e-mail: a.bappa@yahoo.com

© Springer India 2015 317

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_17
318 N. Roy et al.

1 Introduction

From the beginning of civilization, the materials have been processed into useful
components or tools, by modifying their physical properties like size, shape and
texture. This has been done through different processes, namely cutting, welding,
bending, machining, punching, marking, cladding, alloying etc. Machining is one
of the important areas in the engineering discipline. The advancement of technology
during the last few decades causes to the development of many hard-to-machine
materials, such as titanium, stainless steel, high-strength temperature—resistant
alloys, ceramics, refractories, fibre reinforced composites, superalloys, nanomate-
rials etc. These materials are not suitable to be machined by the conventional
machining processes because of their high hardness, strength, brittleness, toughness
and low machinability properties. Sometimes, the machined components require
high surface finish and dimensional accuracy which cannot be achieved by the
conventional machining processes. Moreover, the rise in temperature and the
residual stress generated in the workpiece by those machining processes are not at
all desirable or acceptable. These requirements have led to the development of
newer processes in machining, known as non-traditional machining (NTM) pro-
cesses. These are non-traditional in the sense that the conventional cutting tools are
not employed in these machining processes for metal removal instead energy in its
direct form is utilized, e.g. mechanical energy in abrasive jet machining, electro
chemical energy in electrochemical machining, chemical energy in chemical
machining, thermoelectric energy in electric discharge machining processes, etc.
These NTM processes are not limited by the hardness, toughness, and brittleness
and machinability criteria of the work materials. Moreover, using these NTM
processes, any kind of intricate shape can be generated with high accuracy and
precision with minimum residual stress generation (Pandey and Shan 2004). During
the last few decades, the varieties of these NTM processes have increased signif-
icantly. All these NTM processes have their own process (machining/operating)
parameter sand performance measures (responses). For effective utilization of the
NTM processes, it is very much important to find out the optimal NTM process to
get machining performance with high dimensional accuracy.

1.1 Laser Beam Machining

Lasers can be considered as one of non-conventional machining process because of

their precision of operation, low cost, localized processing, wide range of material
processing, flexibility and high speed of operation. Laser beam machining is the
machining processes involving a laser beam as a heat source. Laser, Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, is a coherent, monochromatic,
collimated, low divergence, high-energy beam of electromagnetic radiation (Meijer
2004). It is a thermal process where laser beam is used as a heat source to remove
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 319

materials without mechanical engagement with workpiece material. In laser beam

machining process, material removal isn’t dependent on mechanical, physical or
electrical properties of workpiece but on thermoptical properties of the material
(Davim 2013). During laser beam machining process laser beam interact with
workpiece, the beam energy is partially absorbed by the workpiece material first
heats up the surface to boiling point followed by melting or sublimation, evapo-
ration, plasma formation and ablation. Based on the kinematics of the machining
zone where material removal takes place, laser beam machining is classified into
one, two, and three dimensional machining. Laser drilling is a one-dimensional
laser machining process where the laser beam is fixed relative to the workpiece.
Laser cutting operation is a two dimensional laser machining process where, laser
beam have a relative motion with a respect to workpiece. During three dimensional
laser machining process two or more laser beams are used and each beam forms a
surface with relative motion respect to the workpiece (Samant and Dahotre 2009).
Different types of lasers such as CO2, Nd:YAG and Excimer lasers are used for
machining with each type of laser having its own wavelength of absorption and
machining applications. CO2 laser is a gas laser that use gas molecules (combi-
nation of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium) as the lasing medium. The actual
excitation takes place by an AC or DC electrical discharge and this laser emits light
at a wavelength of 10.6 µm in the far infrared region of the electromagnetic
spectrum. CO2 lasers are widely used in industry for applications in laser
machining, heat treatment and welding. On the other hand, Nd:YAG laser is a solid
state laser that use dopants (Neodymium (Nd3+)) dispersed in a crystalline matrix
(complex crystal of Yttrium–Aluminum–Garnet (YAG) with chemical composition
Y3Al5O12) to generate laser light. Krypton or xenon flash lamp is used as an exciter
and an output wavelength of 1.06 µm in the near-infrared region of the spectrum
can be obtained. Nd:YAG fibre lasers are used in applications requiring low pulse
repetition rate and high pulse energies (up to 100 J/pulse) such as hole piercing and
deep keyhole welding applications. Excimer lasers are an increasingly popular type
of gas lasers made up of a compound of two identical species that exist only in an
excited state. Commonly used excimer complexes include argon fluoride (ArF),
krypton fluoride (KrF), xenon fluoride (XeF) and xenon chloride (XeCl) with the
output wavelengths varying from 0.193 to 0.351 µm in the ultraviolet to near-
ultraviolet spectra. These compounds can be formed by inducing the noble gas (Ar,
Kr, or Xe) of the compound into an excited state with an electron beam, an elec-
trical discharge or a combination of the two. Excimer lasers are used for machining
solid polymer workpieces, removing metal films from polymer substrates, mi-
cromachining ceramics and semi-conductors, and marking thermally sensitive
materials (Chryssolouris 1991). These different types of lasers can be operated
either in the continuous wave (CW) or in the pulsed mode. In continuous mode
lasers, continuous pumping of the laser emits incessant light. While in pulsed mode
laser, there is a laser power-off period between two successive pulses which varies
from nano, pico to femto seconds.
320 N. Roy et al.

1.1.1 Laser Beam Drilling

In different types of laser machining processes laser drilling is the simplest one.
Laser drilling is most extensively used in the aerospace, aircraft, biomedical,
MEMS, renewable energy source instrument, microelectronic and automotive
industries (Tam et al. 1994). One of the most important applications of laser drilling
is in the aerospace industry for drilling of a large number of closely spaced effusion
holes with high aspect ratio and high quality to improve the cooling capacity of
turbine engine components. In general, there are four approaches to laser drilling,
namely, single pulse, percussion, trepanning, and helical drilling. Figure 1 shows
the different types of laser drilling operation.
Single Pulse drilling: only single shot is used to make the hole for which high
pulse energy is supplied to vaporize the material in single pulse (Fig. 1a). The hole
diameter can be smaller or greater than laser beam diameter which primarily
depends on temporal and spatial intensity profiles of the focused laser beam, and
material thickness (Ready and Farson 2001). Examples of its application are drilling
of the sieves and filters.
Percussion Drilling: multiple shot is used to make the hole with no relative
movement between laser beam and workpiece (Fig. 1b). Percussion drilling is
mainly applied for drilling of cooling holes in aerospace engine components, such

Fig. 1 Types of laser drilling. a Single pulse laser drilling. b Percussion laser drilling.
c Trepanning laser drilling
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 321

as turbine blades, combustion chamber, guide vanes, blind hole in surgical needle
and most kind of the lubrication holes (Sanikommu et al. 2007).
Trepanning Drilling: trepanning drilling process begins by percussion drilling of
a central hole followed by contour cutting to achieve the desired hole diameter
(Fig. 1c). To produce good hole circularity with less metallurgical defects trepan-
ning drilling technique is used (Corcoran et al. 2002).
Helical Drilling: spiral ablation of the laser beam into the workpiece at several
small steps produces helical drilling. The hole drilled by this technique shows
significant reduction in the recast layer and good hole circularity, however, the
processing time is comparatively slow (Sanikommu et al. 2007).

Laser Beam Microdrilling

The world of laser machining production is divided into micro and macro machining.
Laser micromachining has been widely used in microelectronics, aerospace, bio-
medical and other higher-precision applications. Generally pulsed mode is used for
laser micromachining with high resolution in depth and lateral dimensions. To min-
imize the thermal effects such as melting and burr formation, extremely short pulse
durations (nano or pico or even femtosecond), wide range of wavelengths and repe-
tition rates (from single pulse to Megahertz) are used during laser micromachining
thus eliminating the need for any post processing measures (Lasagni and Lasagni
2011). Nd:YAG lasers has expanded high beam quality laser machining to micron-
scale precision. The high peak powers obtainable with these lasers enable material
removal through thermal ablation (Russo 1995). The process of micro drilled printed
circuit board (PCBs) having diameter as small as 10 μm is developed by Bachmann
(1989). Parametric study of pulsed Nd:YAG laser microdrilling of gamma-titanium
aluminide has been done by Biswas et al. (2010a) for effective utilization of this
material in modern manufacturing industry. Pulsed Nd:YAG laser microdrilling on
titanium nitride alumina composite have been carried out to study the effect of process
parameter e.g., lamp current, pulse frequency, pulse width, assist air pressure, focal
length on hole circularity at entry and exit and hole taper (Biswas et al. 2010b).
Modelling and analysis of pulsed Nd:YAG laser machining characteristics during
microdrilling of zirconia (ZrO2) has been carried out by Kuar et al. (2006).
From the manufacturing point of view, the geometrical as well as metallurgical
features of the laser drilled section are very important. Formations of taper, heat-
affected zone (HAZ), recast layer are most undesired machining responses during
laser microdrilling. Yilbas has studied the effects of focus setting on resulting mean
hole diameter (Yilbas 1988). Drilling characteristics are determined by exit hole
diameter as a function of material thickness and pulse energy for the single pulse
drilling of the material (Rodden et al. 2002). Spatter-free laser percussion drilling
closely spaced array holes are performed by Low et al. (2001). Non-uniform melts
ejection, erosion to the hole walls and laser power reduction as the beam propagated
to the hole are the most significant reasons for taper formation (Yilbas 1997).
Okamoto et al. (2010) have experimentally investigated the effects of wavelengths
322 N. Roy et al.

on machining characteristics of silicon nitride and AlN in Nd:YAG laser mic-

rodrilling. The effect of drilling angle on recast formation, HAZ, oxide layer has
studied by Sezer et al. during laser beam machining of thermal barrier coated (TBC)
Nimonic 263 superalloy by varying the beam angles to workpiece surface from 30
to 90° (Low et al. 2000). Rega et al. (2011) have experimentally studied the
influence of processing gas on laser microdrilling and ablation of aluminum and
stainless steel. During which it is observed that compressed air is better than argon
or nitrogen as a processing gas for laser microdrilling of aluminum and stainless
steel. Some prior researchers attempted to find out the optimal process parameter
settings for laser microdrilling process with less amount of HAZ (Heat affected
zone), taper and recast layer. The Taguchi method (TM) is a statistical approach for
the purpose of designing and improving product quality. Taguchi method is
designed to optimize only a single quality characteristic (Ross 1996). Optimization
of multiple quality characteristics, however, is much more complicated than the
former. Improving one particular quality characteristic would possibly lead to
serious degradation of other critical quality characteristics (Anawa and Olabi 2008).
As a result, uncertainty will be increased during the decision making process. Grey
theory, first established by Dr. Deng in 1982, can provide a solution to a system in
which the model is uncertain or the information is incomplete (Pan et al. 2007).
Taguchi based Grey analysis can effectively recommend a method of optimization
technique for determination of optimal parameter settings and effectively solve the
complicated interrelationships among multiple quality characteristics, which are
applied in different manufacturing, processes (Acherjee et al. 2010).
Laser drilling process can be applied on a wide range of materials including off
ceramics, composites, superalloys and advanced materials like nanocomposite.
Recent times in industries like automobile, electronics, aerospace, biomedical, use of
new advanced composite materials are increased rapidly due to their enhanced
properties. Properties like higher toughness, very high elastic modulus, ductility, high
temperature stability, low thermal conductivity, high strength and wear resistance
make nanocomposite material highly competitive against other conventional mate-
rials. Composite materials are inhomogeneous and highly abrasive by nature which
makes it difficult to machine material. In which nanocomposite offers a remarkable
potential for new properties and technologies (Dandekar and Shin in press).
A nanocomposite is a multiphase solid material where one of the phases has one,
two or three dimensions of less than 100 nm, or structures having nano-scale repeat
distances between the different phases that make up the material. The mechanical,
electrical, thermal, optical, electrochemical, catalytic properties of the nanocom-
posite differ vastly from that of the parent materials. Nanocomposite materials,
mechanical properties are different from conventional composite material due to its
very high aspect ratio (Ajayan et al. 2003). Pulsed Nd:YAG laser has great ability
for micromachining because of higher laser beam intensity at low mean power due
to small pulse duration and good focusing characteristics. Due to formation of a
thermal gradient at that laser beam and work piece interface, the bond strength of
nanocomposite material is reduced to a great extent which helps for easy material
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 323

removal. That makes application of laser beam machining more advantageous for
micromachining of nanocomposites over other conventional and non conventional
manufacturing technique (Li et al. 2011). Das et al. (2008) studied laser mi-
cromachining of barium titanate (BaTiO3)-polymer nanocomposite to produce
novel micromachined 3D capacitors. A laser micromachining technique is also
developed by Das et al. (2008) to control the surface morphology of sol-gel thin
films. Laser beam microchanelling of Ni–YSZ cermets has been experimentally
studied by J. Gurauskis et al. to improve gas permeation (Gurauskis et al. 2008).
Benga et al. (2010) experimentally studied laser micromachining of HAP based
biocomposites for hard tissue grafting. The laser surface modification of electro-
deposited nanostructured binary Ni-Co alloy has been studied by Aqeeli (2011) to
study the corrosion behaviour. However, no such comprehensive research work or
any technology guidance is available for Nd:YAG laser beam microdrilling of
Silicon Carbide 30 % Boron Nitride (SiC-30BN) nanomaterial.
Pulsed Nd:YAG laser microdrilling of Silicon Carbide 30 % Boron Nitride (SiC-
30BN) nanocomposite material has been performed for determination of optimum
laser machining Process parameters to get desired machining responses. From
review of past research works, it is observed that the application of air as assist gas
may causes some undesired characteristics during laser microdrilling. In the present
research work, argon is used as assist gas during laser microdrilling of silicon
carbide-30 boron nitride (SiC-30BN) nanocomposite material. Lamp current, pulse
frequency, pulse width, gas pressure and focal distance with argon as assist gas
have been chosen as independently controllable process variables. The settings of
machining parameters are determined by using Taguchi L27 orthogonal array. Hole
taper and heat affected zone (HAZ) width are considered as process responses.
Optical measuring microscope at 10× magnification has been used to capture the
image of drilled microhole from where the top and bottom micro-drilled hole
diameter are measured by image analyzing software to calculate hole taper. Taguchi
based Grey Relational Analysis method is used in this study to provide an efficient
solution to complicated interrelationships among multiple response parameters. The
application of this optimization technique converts the multiple quality character-
istics to a single performance characteristic called grey relational grade from which
finally the optimum machining parameters setting are obtained that simplifies the
optimization procedure (Pan et al. 2007).

2 Mechanism of Material Removal During Laser Beam

Drilling

Reflection, absorption, scattering and transmission are the physical phenomena that
take place when the laser beam is incident on the workpiece surface. Depending on
the focused beam diameter at the surface, laser power intensity, reflectivity,
324 N. Roy et al.

Fig. 2 Interaction of laser

beam with workpiece material

absorptivity and physical properties of workpiece material, the laser radiation

penetrates on different depth beneath the surface due to instant solid heating,
melting and evaporation. Figure 2 shows a schematic of interaction of laser beam
with work material.
Material removal during laser drilling is governed by melting, sublimation,
vaporization, dissociation, plasma formation and ablation (Samant and Dahotre
2009). The surface temperature increases with increasing irradiation time and the
surface temperature of the workpiece may reach the melting point and material
removal takes place by melting (Salonitis et al. 2007). As the heating progresses
further, the surface temperature of workpiece reaches the boiling point; the material
removal takes place by evaporation instead of melting. After vaporization starts at
the material surface, the liquid–vapour interface moves further beneath the surface
with supply of laser energy and material is removed by evaporation from the
surface above the liquid–vapour interface (Dahotre and Harimkar 2008). The pulse
length and power intensities along with surface temperatures affect the recoil
pressure which plays a vital role in material removal in molten state. When the laser
energy density surpasses a certain threshold limit, the material immediately
vaporizes, gets ionized and forms plasma having temperatures as high as 50,000 °C
and pressures up to 500 MPa (Tönshoff and Kappel 1998). When the surface
temperature exceeds a certain threshold value, plasma plume forms a shield over the
machining area and reduces the energy available to the workpiece which has a
harmful effect on machining operation. When laser energy exceeds the character-
istic threshold laser energy, the temperature of the surface exceeds the boiling point
of the material causing rapid vaporization and subsequent material removal by the
process known as thermal ablation (Bäuerle 2000). For the long pulses liquid
ejection from the cavity takes place, depending on the pulse length and power
intensities whereas incase of short pulses, liquid ejection takes place without sur-
face ablation. The liquid ejection improves the material removal rates from the
cavity (Yilbas 2013). The physical phenomena of material removal mechanism are
shown in Fig. 3.
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 325

Fig. 3 Various governing

physical phenomena of
material removal mechanism

3 Overview of Proposed Optimization Methodology

Taguchi method of robust parameter design has been extensively adopted in

manufacturing for nearly three decades. Taguchi method uses a special design of
orthogonal arrays to study the entire process parameter space with a small number
of experiments only (Phadke 1989). In Taguchi method, a loss function is defined to
calculate the deviation between the experimental value and the desired value. The
value of the loss function is further transformed into a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio
where ‘signal’ represents the desirable value and the ‘noise’ represents the unde-
sirable value and S/N ratio expresses the scatter around the desired value. Usually,
there are three categories of the quality characteristic in the analysis of the S/N ratio,
i.e., the-larger-the-better, the-smaller-the-better, and the-nominal-the-best. Regard-
less of the category of the quality characteristic, the larger S/N ratio corresponds to
326 N. Roy et al.

the better quality characteristic. Therefore, optimal level of the process parameters
is the level with the highest S/N ratio. Optimization of multiple quality character-
istics is much more complicated than that of a single quality characteristic (Ross
1996). Improving one particular quality characteristic would possibly lead to
serious degradation of the other critical quality characteristics. To solve this
problem, the grey Relational Analysis first established by Dr. Deng in 1982, can
provide a solution to a system in which the model is uncertain or the information is
incomplete. In grey relational method, experimental information is classified as
white, black, or grey. Representing white as full of information and black as lack of
information, The grey represents the primitive data with poor, incomplete and
uncertain information, and the incomplete relationship of the information among
these data is called the grey relation. Grey relation analysis is used to measure an
approximate correlation between sequences (Fung 2003). In grey relational anal-
ysis, the dimensions of factors considered are usually different and their magnitude
difference is large. Therefore, the original data is normalized to make the magnitude
of the original data in between range of zero and one. Next, a grey relational
coefficient is calculated to express the relationship between the ideal and actual
normalized experimental results. Then, the grey relational grade is computed by
averaging the grey relational coefficient corresponding to each quality character-
istic. The level with the highest grey relational grade is considered as optimum
process parameter level (Acherjee et al. 2010).

4 Experimental Setup Used in the Present Research

4.1 Nd:YAG Laser Beam Machining Set up

A CNC pulsed Nd:YAG laser machining system manufactured by M/s Sahajanand

Laser Technology, India, is used for the experimental study. The CNC Nd:YAG
laser machining system consists of various subsystems such as; Laser source and
beam delivery unit, power supply unit, radio frequency (RF) Q-switch driver unit,
cooling unit and CNC controller for X,Y and Z axes movement.
Laser Source: Laser source consists of laser head and intra-cavity aperture.
Laser Head: In Nd:YAG Lasers, Neodymium (Nd) atoms (lasing media) are
embedded in an Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) crystal host. The pump source is
a krypton arc lamp positioned parallel to the Nd:YAG crystal. Both the Nd:YAG
rod and the krypton arc lamp are located inside a gold plated elliptical cavity. The
elliptical shaped cavity is used because of the special property of the ellipse that it
has two focuses, and the light emitted from one focus is totally concentrated on
another focus. Therefore in the cavity the krypton arc lamp is kept at one focus and
the Nd:YAG rod is kept on another focus. The gold plated cavity is used for its high
reflectivity to the wavelength of the pump light.
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 327

Intra cavity aperture: intra cavity aperture restricts the amplification to occur
along the off axis of the resonator. An intracavity safety shutter is used to block the
path of reflection between two mirrors.
Beam delivery unit: it consists rear mirror of 100 % reflectivity, front mirror of
80 % reflectivity, expander, bending mirror, focusing lens and protective lens. The
output from the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is directed to the workpiece using a
beam delivery system that first bends the laser beam at 90°, and then focuses it on
the workspot through the focusing lens and protective lens.
Power Supply unit: This is the main power supply unit that controls the laser
output. It mainly ignites and controls the intensity of light emitted by the Krypton
arc lamp. The intensity of light produced by the lamp is used for pumping the Nd
atoms in Nd:YAG rod. Photographic view of RF-Q switch driver and Lamp current
controller unit are given below.
Radio frequency (RF) Q-switch driver unit: The Q-switching is an excellent
method to change the continuous mode operation into pulsed mode operation. RF
Q-switch driver unit supplies RF signal to Q-switch for its operation. As it is being
switched with a high frequency, it is also cooled by chilled water for repetitive
operations and therefore the unit is provided with over temperature interlock.
Figure 4 shows the pictorial view of RF-Q Switch driver and the power supply.
Cooling unit: This unit consists of two substances such as 3-phase chiller
system, which is used for providing the chilled water to the heat exchanger. The
specifications of chiller unit are given in Table 1. Heat exchanger and pump sys-
tems, which are mainly used for circulating the de-ionized water through resin filter

Fig. 4 The RF-Q Switch

driver and the power supply
(Lamp current controller) unit

Table 1 Specification of the

chiller unit Property Description
Electrical requirement 415 V AC supply
De-ionized water tank capacity 5L
De-ionized water resistance ≥200 kΏ/cm
De-ionized water flow rate 20 l/min
De-ionized water operating temperature 24 ± 1 °C
328 N. Roy et al.

via water to water heat exchanger to the laser head & Q-switch. The de-ionized
water is used because it has high optical transparency and low electrical conduc-
tivity. The heat from de-ionized water subsequently removed by water-to water heat
exchanges connected to an outside water source. The de-ionized temperature is
regulated means of a solenoid, which turns the outside flow ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ as
required.
CNC controller for X, Y and Z axes movement: The CNC controller consists
of X-Y-Z axis translation stage and a control unit. The specifications of CNC table
are given in Table 2. A stepper motor is attached to each of the axes and this is
connected to the controlling unit.
The CNC Z axis controller unit controls the movement of focusing lens. The
workpiece is held on the CNC controlled X-Y translation stage table. A specially
developed fixture is placed on the X-Y translation stage table. CCD camera together
with CCTV monitor is used for viewing the location of workpiece and also for
checking the proper focusing condition on the workpiece surface. Photographic
view of CCD camera and CNC controller unit are shown in Figs. 5 and 6
respectively.

Table 2 Specification of
CNC table unit Properties Description
Axis of travel (X-Y axis) 150 mm × 150 mm
Focusing vertical travel 50 mm
Position accuracy 00.02 mm over travel 250 mm
Repeatability 0.01 mm over travel of
250 mm
Resolution 1 µm
Table working area 150 mm × 150 mm
Clamping Using newly developed fixture
Feed rate (X, Y, and Z 25 mm/s
axis)
Control system CNC open loop system

Fig. 5 The CCD camera

Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 329

Fig. 6 The CNC controller

unit (work table)

Assist Gas supply Unit: An assist gas supply unit has attached with LBM
system which is mainly used to remove the machined particle from the machining
zone as well as for cooling of machining zone. Assist gas supply unit consists of air
compressor or specific gas container, oil moisture separator, pressure valve. Oil and
moisture separator is used for purification of compressed air or gas. Pressure reg-
ulator is used to supply compressed air or gas at various pressure to the machining
zone. Photographic view of Nd:YAG Laser beam machine is given in Fig. 7. The
specifications of Nd:YAG Laser beam machine are given in Table 3.

Fig. 7 Photographic view of laser beam machining. A = laser head, B = power supply unit,
C = RF Q-switch driver unit, CNC X-Y-Z work table, D = CCTV, E = CCD camera, F = RF Q-
switch driver unit, G = chiller unit, H = CNC controller unit, I = heat exchanger unit, J = air
compressor
330 N. Roy et al.

Table 3 Specification details of Nd:YAG laser machining setup

Specification Description
Laser type Nd:YAG laser
Wave length 1064 nm (Fixed)
Mode of operation Pulsed (by RF-Q switch)
Type of Q switch Acousto-optic Q switch
Mode of laser beam Fundamental mode TEM00 (Fixed)
Mirror reflectivities Rear mirror 100 %, front mirror 80 %
Beam diameter(1/e2) 1 mm (by default)
Laser beam spot diameter 75 µm
Average power 75 W
Pulse width 120–150 ns

4.2 Selection of Process Parameters and Workpiece Material

Lamp current, pulse frequency, assist gas pressure, pulse width and focal distance
are considered as the controllable process parameters to carry out the experiment.
Schematic illustration of focal distance change is shown in Fig. 8.
The geometrical aspects i.e. hole taper and Heat affected zone (HAZ) width are
considered as process responses. The ranges of these parameters are selected on the
basis of trial experiments conducted by using one factor at a time approach.
1.57 mm thick Silicon Carbide 30 % Boron Nitride (SiC-30BN) nanocomposite has
been considered as workpiece material for experimental study. Properties of SiC-
30BN nanocomposite are listed in Table 4 (Xiangdong et al. 2004).
Previous research works reveals that the application of air as assist gas may
cause some undesired hole characteristics during laser microdrilling. Argon is used
as assist gas during laser micro drilling of silicon carbide-30 boron nitride (SiC-
30BN) nanocomposite material. Taguchi methodology for five factors at three
levels (given in Table 5) is used for the implementation of the plan of orthogonal
array experiments. An L27 orthogonal array with five columns and 27 rows is
employed in this work. Experiments are performed accordingly with the

Fig. 8 Schematic diagram illustrating different focal distance

Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 331

Table 4 Properties of SiC-

30BN nanocomposite Property Unit Values
Yield stress MPa 263.2 ± 6
Young’s modulus GPa 230 ± 5
Fracture strength MPa 380 ± 10
Density g/cc 2.906

Table 5 Machining
parameters and their levels Process parameters Level
1 2 3
Lamp current (L) (A) 23.5 24.5 25.5
Pulse frequency (γ) (kHz) 1 2 3
Pulse width (w) (%) 2 4 6
Argon gas pr. (p) (kg/cm2) 0.4 0.7 1.0
Focal distance (F) (μm) −200 0 200

arrangement of the orthogonal array. The interaction between the process param-
eters are not considered for this study. Therefore, the five controllable process
parameters yield 10° of freedom which greater than number of controllable process
parameters.
Optical measuring microscope has been used to capture the image of drilled
microhole at 10× magnification and to determine the top and bottom diameters of
the microholes. Thickness of the workpiece is measured by a digital micrometer.
From where HAZ width width and hole taper are measured. Microscopic views of
machined microholes are also taken for further analysis. HAZ width and taper of the
drilled microhole has been calculated as follows:

HAZ diaTop  Hole diaTop

HAZ width ðmmÞ ¼ ð1Þ
2
Hole diaTop  Hole diaBot
Taper ðradÞ ¼ ð2Þ
2  Thickness

5 Experimental Observation

The experimental layout for the laser microdrilling process parameters using the
L27 orthogonal array and the experimental results are presented in Table 6.
The effects of the process parameters such as the lamp current, pulse frequency,
pulse width, assist gas pressure and focal distance on the hole taper and HAZ width,
during laser microdrilling are presented in Fig. 9a, b respectively. Taper has been
found to be a decreasing tendency with increase of lamp current up to 24.5 A, and
then it increases sharply with increase of lamps current. HAZ width increases
332 N. Roy et al.

Table 6 Experimental lay out with multi-performance results

Lamp Pulse Pulse Assist gas Focal Taper HAZ
current frequency width pressure distance
1 1 1 1 1 0.0821 0.2038
1 1 1 1 2 0.0605 0.2179
1 1 1 1 3 0.0435 0.2084
1 2 2 2 1 0.1005 0.1966
1 2 2 2 2 0.0835 0.1943
1 2 2 2 3 0.0793 0.1784
1 3 3 3 1 0.0901 0.1825
1 3 3 3 2 0.0865 0.1798
1 3 3 3 3 0.0649 0.1854
2 1 2 3 1 0.0482 0.2504
2 1 2 3 2 0.0350 0.2465
2 1 2 3 3 0.0274 0.2436
2 2 3 1 1 0.0989 0.2037
2 2 3 1 2 0.0903 0.2074
2 2 3 1 3 0.0582 0.2123
2 3 1 2 1 0.1121 0.1976
2 3 1 2 2 0.0995 0.2020
2 3 1 2 3 0.0649 0.1916
3 1 3 2 1 0.1250 0.2350
3 1 3 2 2 0.1200 0.2263
3 1 3 2 3 0.0787 0.2259
3 2 1 3 1 0.1203 0.2503
3 2 1 3 2 0.0905 0.2501
3 2 1 3 3 0.0834 0.2371
3 3 2 1 1 0.1470 0.2376
3 3 2 1 2 0.1117 0.2409
3 3 2 1 3 0.0870 0.2203

monotonically over the entire range. Generally, higher laser beam power generates
higher thermal energy which produces large taper and greater HAZ width. From
these figures it is observed that increase in the pulse frequency results in increase in
taper due to instant melting and vaporization from the top surface at high pulse
frequency and vice versa. But HAZ width decreases due to less energy beam
generation at higher pulse frequency. Increase in pulse width results in uniform
material removal from machining zone due to high peak power. For which taper
shows a decreasing tendency up to 2nd level of pulse width but further increase in
pulse width causes higher heating value in top surface than bottom surface results in
increase in taper. At lower pulse widths less HAZ is generated, than that of higher
pulse widths due to less interaction time and heat diffusion between laser beam and
workpiece material. It is found that, Taper increases with gas pressure up to 2nd
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 333

(a) Lamp current (b) Lamp Current

Pulse Frequency 0.24 Pulse Frequency
0.11 Pulse Width Pulse Width
Assist Gas Pressure Assist Gas Pressure
Focal Distance 0.23 Focal Distance
0.10

HAZ Width
0.22
Hole Taper

0.09

0.08 0.21

0.07 0.20

0.06 0.19
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Process parameter Level Process Parameter Level

Fig. 9 a Effects of Nd:YAG laser microdrilling parameters on taper. b Effects of Nd:YAG laser
microdrilling parameters on HAZ width

level and thereafter starts decreasing but HAZ width shows the reverse effect.
Increase in assist gas pressure causes rapid removal of molten material as well as
excess heat from machining zone results in increase in taper but decrease in HAZ
width. Further increase in assist gas pressure cause uneven heating value on the top
surface of the workpiece results in formation of low taper and high HAZ width. It
has been shown from the figure that taper decreases with increase in focal distance.
Difference in the material removal from the top and bottom surface decreases
gradually with increase in focal distance, generates low hole taper. But the HAZ
width marginally increases up to level 2 then decreases. The increased beam spot
area with increased focal distance causes high HAZ width. With further increases in
focal distance laser beam propagates through the hole for which less HAZ width
generates in top surface.

6 Determination of Optimal Parameter Settings

The steps of the grey Relational Analysis are as follows:

Step 1: Grey relational generating
Step 2: Calculating the grey relational coefficient
Step 3: Calculating the grey relational grade

6.1 Grey Relational Generating

In Grey Relation analysis, the orders of magnitude of the factors are different.
Because of this the input data must be pre processed to transform the original
334 N. Roy et al.

sequence to a comparable sequence. For this purpose, the experimental results are
normalized in the range of zero and one, the process is called grey relational
generating. Microhole taper and HAZ width have lower-the-better quality charac-
teristic. The normalized results, xij, for lower-the-better quality characteristic can be
expressed (Pan et al. 2007) as
maxj yij  yij
xij ¼ ð3Þ
maxj yij  minj yij

where yij is the ith quality characteristic in the jth experiment. Larger normalized
results correspond to the better quality and the best-normalized result should be
equal to 1.

6.2 Determination of Grey Relational Coefficients

A grey relational coefficient is calculated to display the relationship between the

optimal and actual normalized experimental results. The grey relational coefficient
can be expressed (Pan et al. 2007) as





mini minj
x0i  xij
þ f maxi maxj
x0i  xij

nij ¼



ð4Þ

x0  xij
þ f maxi maxj
x0  xij

i i

where x0i is the ideal normalized result (i.e. best normalized result = 1) for the ith
quality characteristics and ζ is a distinguishing coefficient, which is defined in the
range of 0 ≤ ζ ≤ 1. In this study, the value of ζ is taken as 0.5 (which is generally
adopted in most previous studies) for calculating the grey relational coefficients.

6.3 Grey Relational Grades Determination

The grey relation grade can be calculated from Eq. 5 (Pan et al. 2007) by taking the
average of the grey relational coefficients and applying the same weight on both
quality characteristics under investigation.

1X m
cj ¼ wi nij ð5Þ
m i1

where γj is the grey relational grade for the jth experiment, wi is the weighting
factor for the ith quality characteristic and m is the number of quality character-
istics. The calculated value of grey relation grade is given in Table 7.
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 335

Table 7 Results of grey relation analysis

Exp. no. Taper HAZ width Grey relation Grey relation Grey Order
(rad) (mm) generating coefficient relation
Taper HAZ Taper HAZ grade
width width
1 0.0821 0.2038 0.5426 0.6472 0.5223 0.5863 0.5543 13
2 0.0605 0.2179 0.7232 0.4514 0.6437 0.4768 0.5603 11
3 0.0435 0.2084 0.8654 0.5833 0.7879 0.5455 0.6667 7
4 0.1005 0.1966 0.3888 0.7472 0.4500 0.6642 0.5571 12
5 0.0835 0.1943 0.5309 0.7792 0.5160 0.6936 0.6048 9
6 0.0793 0.1784 0.5661 1.0000 0.5354 1.0000 0.7677 1
7 0.0901 0.1825 0.4758 0.9431 0.4882 0.8978 0.6930 4
8 0.0865 0.1798 0.5059 0.9806 0.5029 0.9626 0.7328 2
9 0.0649 0.1854 0.6865 0.9028 0.6146 0.8372 0.7259 3
10 0.0482 0.2504 0.8261 0.0000 0.7419 0.3333 0.5376 14
11 0.0350 0.2465 0.9365 0.0542 0.8872 0.3458 0.6165 8
12 0.0274 0.2436 1.0000 0.0944 1.0000 0.3557 0.6779 5
13 0.0989 0.2037 0.4022 0.6486 0.4554 0.5873 0.5214 17
14 0.0903 0.2074 0.4741 0.5972 0.4874 0.5538 0.5206 18
15 0.0582 0.2123 0.7425 0.5292 0.6600 0.5150 0.5875 10
16 0.1121 0.1976 0.2918 0.7333 0.4138 0.6522 0.5330 15
17 0.0995 0.2020 0.3972 0.6722 0.4534 0.6040 0.5287 16
18 0.0649 0.1916 0.6865 0.8167 0.6146 0.7317 0.6732 6
19 0.1250 0.2350 0.1839 0.2139 0.3799 0.3888 0.3843 25
20 0.1200 0.2263 0.2258 0.3347 0.3924 0.4291 0.4107 22
21 0.0787 0.2259 0.5711 0.3403 0.5383 0.4311 0.4847 19
22 0.1203 0.2503 0.2232 0.0014 0.3916 0.3336 0.3626 26
23 0.0905 0.2501 0.4724 0.0042 0.4866 0.3343 0.4104 23
24 0.0834 0.2371 0.5318 0.1847 0.5164 0.3801 0.4483 21
25 0.1470 0.2376 0.0000 0.1778 0.3333 0.3782 0.3557 27
26 0.1117 0.2409 0.2952 0.1319 0.4150 0.3655 0.3902 24
27 0.0870 0.2203 0.5017 0.4181 0.5008 0.4621 0.4815 20

The optimal parameter setting determined by using grey based Taguchi method
is L1γ3w3p3f3. The grey relational grade of each factor level is calculated as the
average for the same level in each column. The grey relational grade graph (Fig. 10)
shows the trend of each factor with respect to different levels with grey relation
grade.
336 N. Roy et al.

Fig. 10 Grey relation grade Lamp current

graph Pulse Frequency
Pulse Width
0.65 Assist Gas Pressure
Focal Distance

Grey Relation Grade

0.60

0.55

0.50

0.45

0.40

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

Process Parameter Level

7 ANOVA Analysis

ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) is a computational technique to estimate the effect

of each process parameter on microhole quality characteristics quantitatively. This
is accomplished by separating the total variability of the grey relational grades. In
ANOVA, the ratio between the variance of the process parameter and the error
variance is called Fisher’s ratio and it is used to determine the significance of
process parameter on machining response by comparing the F-test value of the
parameter with the standard F table value (F0.05) at the 5 % significance (95 %
confidence) level. The ANOVA results for HAZ width and hole taper are listed in
Tables 8 and 9 respectively.
If the value of P is less than 0.05, the process parameter is considered significant.
From the Table 8 it is found that all the process parameters other than focal distance
are statistically significant for HAZ width. Percentage contribution column in
ANOVA result table indicates at the degree of influence of all the process
parameters on the microhole characteristics. According to the table it is found that
lamp current (56.62 %) has the most dominant factor followed by pulse frequency
(19.46 %), assist gas pressure (12.75 %), pulse width (9.34 %) and focal distance
(1.83 %). From the table it has been observed that S-values of the responses are
smaller and R-Sq, R-Sq (adj) and R-Sq (pred) values of responses are moderately
high, from which it can be concluded that the data for each response are well fitted
in the developed models.
Whereas from the Table 9 it is found that all the process parameters other than
pulse width are statistically significant for hole taper. Percentage contribution
column in ANOVA result table indicates at the degree of influence of all the process
parameters on the hole taper. According to the table it is found that lamp current
Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 337

Table 8 Results of ANOVA for HAZ width

Source Degrees of Sum of Mean of F P %
freedom square square contribution
Lamp 2 0.007900 0.003950 107.63 0.000 56.62
current
Pulse 2 0.002714 0.001357 36.98 0.000 19.46
frequency
Pulse width 2 0.001303 0.000651 17.75 0.000 9.34
Assist gas 2 0.001778 0.000889 24.23 0.000 12.75
pressure
Focal 2 0.000255 0.000128 3.48 0.056 1.83
distance
Error 16 0.000587 0.000037
Total 26 0.014538
S R-sq R-sq(adj) R-sq(pred)
0.0088199 94.13 % 90.46 % 83.28 %

Table 9 Results of ANOVA for hole taper

Source Degrees of Sum of Mean of F P %
freedom square square contribution
Lamp 2 0.006883 0.003442 44.24 0.000 34.49
current
Pulse 2 0.003581 0.001791 23.02 0.000 17.95
frequency
Pulse width 2 0.000487 0.000243 3.13 0.071 2.44
Assist gas 2 0.002665 0.001332 17.13 0.000 13.35
pressure
Focal 2 0.006341 0.003170 40.75 0.00 31.77
distance
Error 16 0.001245 0.000078
Total 26 0.021202
S R-sq R-sq(adj) R-sq(pred)
0.0060581 95.96 % 93.44 % 88.50 %

(34.49 %) has the most dominant factor followed by focal distance (31.77 %), pulse
frequency (17.95 %), assist gas pressure (13.35 %) and pulse width (2.44 %). It can
be concluded that the data for each response are well fitted in the developed models
from the results of regression analysis for hole taper given in Table 9.
338 N. Roy et al.

8 Confirmation Test

After getting the optimal parameter setting for desired microhole characteristics, the
next step is to verify the feasibility of the proposed Taguchi based grey method. The
optimum grey relational grade, γopt, is calculated as:

X
q
copt ¼ cm þ ðci  cm Þ ð6Þ
i1

where, γm is the total mean of the grey relational grade, γi, is the mean of the grey
relational grade of ith parameter at the optimal level, and q is the number most
influencing of microhole drilling parameters.
Three additional experiments are performed with level at optimal parameter
setting and average of those three results is taken for confirmation test. Table 10
furnishes the predicted value of grey relation grade and result of confirmation test.
From the table it is found that hole quality characteristics viz. Hole taper is
improved from 0.0649 rad to 0.055 rad (15.25 %) and HAZ width is improved from
0.1854 to 0.1828 mm (1.40 %). The microscopic view of drilled hole at optimum
parameter condition is given in Fig. 11.
This result shows that the use of Taguchi based grey relation analysis is effective
for improvement of microhole quality characteristics during laser microdrilling of
SiC-30BN. The overall quality characteristic is improved from 0.7259 to 0.7877

Table 10 Results of confirmation test

Level Initial parameter setting Optimal parameters
Prediction Experiment
L1 γ 3w3 p3f3 L1γ3w3 p3f3 L1γ3w3p3 f3
Taper (rad) 0.0649 – 0.055
HAZ width (mm) 0.1854 – 0.1828
Grey relation grade 0.7259 0.7822 0.7877

Top Surface Bottom Surface

Fig. 11 Microscopic view of the hole drilled at optimum parametric condition

Nd:YAG Laser Microdrilling of SiC-30BN Nanocomposite … 339

(8.51%). The result of confirmation test justify the application of the proposed
method and leads to continuous improvement of microhole geometry in laser
microdrilling of nanocomposite materials.

9 Conclusion

From the study it is concluded that laser beam microdrilling technique can be used
successfully for microdrilling of SiC-30BN nanocomposite. Taguchi based grey
relational analysis is used in this paper to optimize the laser microdrilling of SiC-
30BN nanocomposite with multiple performance characteristics. Multiobjective
optimization is simplified by converting multiple machining responses into a single
performance characteristic called grey relational grade. It is shown from the study
that the performance characteristics of the laser microdrilling process such as HAZ
width and hole taper are improved simultaneously by using the proposed method.
From the experimental observation it has been found that pulse frequency, pulse
width, applied gas pressure, lamp current and focal distance have influence on both
the machining responses hole taper and HAZ width. The mechanisms for the
phenomenon observed during the experimental observation are also discussed. The
outcome of the study helps to obtain optimum parameter settings for desired mi-
crohole quality characteristics and indicates the feasibility of the proposed multi-
objective optimization technique for laser microdrilling of SiC-30BN
nanocomposite material.

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Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning
Process of Alumina Ceramics

G. Kibria, B. Doloi and B. Bhattacharyya

Abstract Laser micro-turning process is one of the new and emerging technologies
in the area of laser material processing (LMP) of engineering materials. It is employed
for generation of micro-turning surface of particular surface profile and dimensional
accuracy on cylindrical workpiece with specific length and depth of turn within tight
tolerance. As the process is recently developed micro manufacturing technique, a
well planned research study and experimental investigation should be conducted
considering various laser micro-turning process parameters. Therefore, various
experimental schemes are adapted to study and analysis of significant process
parameters on response criteria such as surface roughness and machining depth.
A servo controller based fixture is designed and developed indigenously to hold and
rotate the cylindrical shaped work samples at various workpiece rotating speed.
Overlap between two successive spots (i.e. spot overlap) and overlap between two
successive micro-groove widths (i.e. circumferential overlap) play major role for
generating quality surface features during laser micro-turning process. Therefore,
mathematical formulations of spot overlap and circumferential overlap are devel-
oped for better understanding of the laser micro-turning process and also to study the
effects of these overlap factors on performance characteristics. Moreover, attempt has
been made to carry out experimental investigation to micro-turn cylindrical shaped
engineering ceramics at laser defocus conditions of laser beam. Moreover, compar-
ative study and analyse is performed to explore the effect of focused and defocused
conditions of laser beam on surface roughness criteria. SEM micrographs of the laser
turned surface captured at various parametric combinations have also been studied for
qualitative analysis of the process.

G. Kibria (&)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aliah University, Kolkata 700156, India
e-mail: prince_me16@rediffmail.com
B. Doloi
B. Bhattacharyya
Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
e-mail: bdoloionline@rediffmail.com
B. Bhattacharyya
e-mail: bb13@rediffmail.com

© Springer India 2015 343

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_18
344 G. Kibria et al.

Keywords Laser micro-turning process Alumina (Al2O3) Surface roughness





Defocusing conditions Pulsed Nd:YAG laser Spot overlap Circumferential
overlap

1 Introduction

Increased interest in micromachining technology has captured the imagination of

every manufacturing and industry segment such as aerospace, medical appliance
and automotive as well as military applications. The potential for product minia-
turization continues to grow and while posing numerous technical challenges. In
response to this continued miniaturization, researchers are developing new tech-
nologies to meet the high demands of miniature products and unique challenges
posed by micro manufacturing and must develop appropriate micromachining
systems or processes to support this growth. Several micro-machining technologies
are being employed in the manufacture of a wide variety of micro-products and
devices. Manufacturing techniques, both traditional and non-traditional, have been
developed significantly for the realization of diverse range of microstructures used
for various micro-system applications. Demand for various micro-features in macro
as well as micro-components has necessitated the urgent need to develop and
employ a number of alternative manufacturing techniques, other than traditional
processes, so that a wide range of materials such as ceramics, polymer, composites,
high strength temperature resistant (HSTR) alloys can be used as parent material for
micro-components or parts. Non-traditional micro-machining processes can be
efficiently and effectively applied to machine these types of hard-to-machine
materials irrespective of their hardness, toughness and brittleness. Laser beam
machining (LBM) is one of the advanced non-traditional machining processes,
which can be applied to manufacture wide variety of geometries and complex
shapes on difficult-to-machine materials with greater accuracy and faster rate.
Laser beam machining is classified based on type of source, mode of operations
and wavelength. Among a wide variety of lasers, Nd:YAG lasers, Excimer lasers
and Diode lasers are widely used for micro-machining applications. In pulsed
mode, the vaporization of material occurs in a very short time duration so that it
does not allow the heat to be conducted into the bulk material. The pulsing of laser
beam is done in various ways, such as normal pulsing, Q-switching and mode
locking. Nd:YAG laser compiled with Q-switch pulsing offers outstanding features
and quality of machining during laser micro-machining operations such as micro-
cutting, micro-drilling, micro-grooving, micro-turning and micro-milling.
Among the various micro-machining techniques of laser beam machining pro-
cesses, laser micro-turning process is a newly developed machining process in the
modern cutting-edge technology era. In this innovative technique of micro-
machining process, cylindrical surface of engineering ceramics and composites can
be micro-turned with high accuracy and good quality surface. Moreover, laser
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 345

micro-turning process using pulsed Nd:YAG laser has machining features including
melting and vaporization of material in very short time that avoids formation of
recast/re-solidified layer on machined surface and high repetition rate machining that
avoids cracks in machined surfaces and sub-surfaces. By taking into account all these
significant advantages, this new micro-machining technique i.e. laser micro-turning
process can be employed to remove very thin layer (depth) from cylindrical work-
piece of ceramics, which are difficult-to-turn in conventional turning processes. By
this process, one can produce desired dimensional micro-grooves or slots for a spe-
cific depth and length on cylindrical surface. This kind of micro-turned surface with
specific surface texture is required for assembly purpose of various micro-parts in the
micro-engineering applications. In ceramic whistle stud assembly purpose, high-
alumina ceramic spikes are often used. In lining applications, the alumina ceramic
bearing rings are also being used for assembling several precision components.
Further, on the shop floor, the reduction of the number of micro cutting edges of
ceramic grinding wheel due to worn out of abrasive particles from the wheel surface is
a major problem. The generation of micro-cutting edges on grinding wheel is a major
challenge for the manufacturing technocrats of high precision industries. Laser
micro-turning process can be a novel technology to generate new cutting edges of
desired surface topography on grinding wheel surface.

2 Laser Micro-turning Process

In 1988, three dimensional laser beam machining technology was introduced for
removal of material in bulk mode while using two intersecting laser beams
(Chrysolouris et al. 1988). However, to produce a laser turned surface of a specific
length and micron sized depth or to machine micro-groove for a specific length, the
use of two intersecting beam fails. Most of the past research works are related to
laser micro-drilling and micro-grooving operations of structural ceramics such as
Si3N4, Al2O3, MgO and SiC (Dahotre and Harimkar 2008; Kibria et al. 2010a). In
the area of laser micro-turning process, few research investigation has been reported
in the literature. On the other hand, Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) ceramic is one of the
most important technical ceramics, which are being utilized in several applications
ranging from automotive (bearing, valve, etc.), biomedical (orthopedic implants
particularly in hip replacement surgery) to aerospace (seals for gas turbine engines,
fuel line assembly, and thermocouples) and military (modern weapons, ceramic
armor, etc.) due to its several properties like high mechanical strength, the ability to
retain dimensional stability and excellent chemical resistance in aggressive envi-
ronments (Basu and Balani 2010; Gitzen 1970; Kim et al. 2009). In many appli-
cations, micro-turning process is carried out using diamond tool for processing
hard-to-machine cylindrical shaped materials. Yet, the use of diamond tool calls
upon many limitations while machining of advanced ceramics and composites.
Firstly, the diamond tool may undergo irregular and excessive wear as it is a
contact-type machining process and it further results in uneconomic production and
346 G. Kibria et al.

also cracks formation on the machined surface and sub-surface due to brittle nature
of ceramic materials (Buttery et al. 1979; Shih 2000). In addition, wire electrical
discharge turning (WEDT) process is a very recently developed novel micro-
turning technology used for fabricating micro-structures like small-pins, micro-tool
electrodes etc. (Haddad et al. 2008, 2010). However, in this process, non-con-
ductive materials like ceramics cannot be used as workpiece materials. Laser micro-
turning process, which removes materials layer-by-layer from cylindrical shaped
work sample, can be effectively utilized to generate such micro-turning surface or
micro-groove on difficult-to-machine materials. The basic concept of laser micro-
turning process is of producing multiple side-by-side micro-grooves, where each
groove width makes certain amount of overlap with previous one (Kruth et al.
2007). The amount of groove width overlap is controlled by two important process
parameters of laser micro-turning process, namely axial feed motion (Y feed rate)
and rotational speed of workpiece. To achieve a certain micro-turned depth and
desired surface texture on the laser scanned surface, continuous scanning process of
laser beam is carried out by focusing the beam on the preceding micro-turning
surface. The amount of overlap between groove widths is measured in terms of
circumferential overlapping percentage (COp), while the overlap between two
consecutive spots is measured in terms of spot overlapping percentage (SOp). The
values of these two parameters are chosen so carefully that the percentage values
lay more than 50 % to achieve quality surface during laser micro-turning operation.
The laser spot diameter, spot overlap, pulse frequency and linear scanning speed
are related as follow (Thawari et al. 2005)

ðSpot diameterÞ  ð1  spot overlapÞ  ðpulse frequencyÞ ¼ linear speed ð1Þ

Or,
 
v
Spot overlapping percentage ðSOp Þ ¼ 1  100 % ð2Þ
D  Fp

Here, v, D and Fp are linear scanning speed (mm/s), laser spot diameter (mm)
and pulse frequency (Hz), respectively. By converting the linear scanning speed,
v (mm/s) with workpiece rotating speed, N (rpm) and taking the diameter of
workpiece as 10 mm, Eq. 2 can be written as

0:5238  N
Spot overlapping percentage ðSOp Þ ¼ ð1  Þ ð3Þ
D  Fp

During laser beam scanning over the work surface, as shown in schematic view
in Fig. 1, two successive spots 1 and 2 produce an overlap length of x. Due to
Gaussian energy distribution of laser beam, the respective spots generate a small
crater through melting and/or evaporation from irradiated spots. The micro-turned
profile produced can be controlled by increasing the spot overlap area, i.e.,
increasing the pulse frequency or/and decreasing workpiece rotating speed, as per
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 347

Fig. 1 Schematic view of overlap between consecutive spots showing Gaussian energy
distribution (Kibria et al. 2012)

Eq. 3. Circumferential overlap percentage (COp) is another important criterion

during laser micro-turning process. The relationship of this factor with laser process
parameters can be formulated as follows.
The schematic view of circumferential overlap during laser beam scanning for
two successive rotations is shown in Fig. 2. Let, N and Ds are the rotating speed in
rpm and diameter of sample in mm, respectively. Now, the linear scanning speed of
laser beam is, v ¼ pD60s N in mm/s. The circumferential length of sample is, L ¼
p  Ds : Now, the time taken by the laser beam to scan one complete rotation is,
ts ¼ Lv ¼ 60 N in seconds. If, the sample is moved through an axial feed rate, f (mm/
s), then the movement of sample in ts seconds is, lc ¼ f  ts ¼ 60f N in mm.
Therefore, from Fig. 1, the circumferential overlap percentage can be calculated
from,

overlap length xc lc 60  f
COp ¼ ¼ ¼ ð1  Þ ¼ ð1  Þ  100 % ð4Þ
spot size D D D  N

In the above equation, xc and D are laser scan overlap length (in mm) and laser
spot diameter (in mm), respectively. In Fig. 2, it is observed that the two successive
beam scans i.e. (n − 1)th and nth produce an overlap length of xc during rotation of
workpiece and the workpiece moves lc in its axial direction.
348 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 2 Schematic representation of circumferential overlap between two consecutive rotations

(Kibria et al. 2012)

It has already been said that for three dimensional laser beam machining, two
intersecting laser beam sources are used (Chrysolouris et al. 1988). Each laser
produces the corresponding blind cutting kerfs which converges and results in the
solid stock removal from the machining zone. However, it is very difficult to
remove thin layer from cylindrical shaped work surface. Experimental as well as
theoretical research investigation into single and two dimensional laser beam
machining of advanced ceramics like aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, silicon car-
bide, magnesia etc. have been conducted successfully by researchers across the
globe (Samant and Dahotre 2008a, b; Dhupal et al. 2008). However, possibilities of
micro-turning of these ceramics are in developing stage. Hence, extensive research
is needed for developing laser materials processing technology for machining these
advanced engineering materials with required geometrical shape and higher
dimensional accuracy. To study and investigate the effect of various process
parameters during laser micro-turning process, which removes very thin layer from
work surface using single-laser beam and also to achieve desired surface profile on
machined components, in the present investigation, laser micro-turning of cylin-
drical shaped alumina ceramic material by pulsed Nd:YAG laser have been per-
formed based on various experimental schemes.
Figures 3a and b depict the schematic views for lower and higher values of
circumferential overlap at high and low value of workpiece feed rate, respectively.
From Fig. 3a, it is obvious that at low circumferential overlap percentage, the laser
micro-turning surface is rendered with lots of micro-peaks, which cause higher
surface roughness values. However, this generation of micro-peaks can be avoided
at higher circumferential overlap values (as shown in Fig. 3b).
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 349

Fig. 3 Schematic view of laser micro-turned surface for (a) low and (b) high percentage of
circumferential overlap for consecutive rotations (Kibria et al. 2013a)

3 Development of Laser Micro-turning System

To carryout laser micro-turning operation on cylindrical workpiece using the pulsed

Nd:YAG laser set-up, a separate work holding and rotating unit has been developed
indigenously. The complete work holding and rotating system consists of three
components, (i) servomotor and developed workpiece holding fixture, (ii) servo-
motor amplifier, and (iii) power supply and interfacing unit. Figure 4 shows the
complete schematic diagram of the developed workpiece rotating system. In
Table 1, the specifications of the servomotor used for developing the workpiece
rotating system are enlisted. A collet, which can grip cylindrical workpiece of
diameter ranging from 2 to 16 mm, is mounted to the shaft of the servomotor very
rigidly and accurately so that when the servomotor rotates in any desirable speed, it
produces minimum amount of eccentricity due to rotation. The eccentricity of
rotation was measured by using a dial gauge and the error was about 3 μm. The
workpiece gripped with the collet can be rotated by the signals coming from servo
amplifier at any rotational speed within the range of rotation of the servomotor.
350 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 4 Schematic representation of workpiece holding and rotating system (Kibria et al. 2012)

Table 1 Detailed Specifications Description

specifications of servomotor
used Servomotor type GYS101DC2-T2A
Input voltage AC 200 V
Rated output 100 W
Rated speed 3000 rpm
Encoder 17-bit INC
Winding insulation class IP67
Oil seal/shaft Without an oil seal

The base of the fixture was made in such a dimension so that the whole fixture can
be fixed by the slot provided on the X-Y worktable of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser
system.
The speed of the servomotor was controlled using a servo amplifier. In Table 2,
the detailed specifications of the servo amplifier are enlisted. The connections
between the servomotor and servo amplifier are already shown in Fig. 4. The servo
amplifier has four keys, (i) Mode change key (ii) Shift/Enter key (iii) Sub-mode
selection key (UP) and (iv) Sub-mode selection key (DOWN). The amplifier has
four-digit display. By systematic method and using the four keys, one can provide
the input speed to the servo amplifier to get a particular rotational speed of the
servomotor. Apart from the servomotor and servo amplifier, a power supply and

Table 2 Detailed Specifications Description

specifications of servo
amplifier Amplifier type RYC101D3-VVT2
Input voltage Single-phase 200–230 V
Rated output 100 W
Circuit breaker EA33AC/5
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 351

interfacing unit has been developed indigenously. The unit provides power to both
the servomotor and servo amplifier. Moreover, there are some additional switches
and knobs by which one can change the rotating speed of servomotor manually. In
addition, the user can alter the rotational direction of servomotor by various
switches. The power supply and interfacing unit gets power from the two-phase AC
power supply line. The servomotor and its fixture is placed on the CNC X-Y
worktable and by using CNC servo controller and personal computer system, feed
is given along the axis to the rotating workpiece during laser micro-turning oper-
ation. After one pass of laser scan along the desired length of turning, the focusing
lens was moved down by Z axis feed rate with the help of CNC controlled Z axis
motion so as to focus the laser beam to the laser micro-turned surface generated by
previous laser beam scanning. Thus, the desired depth and length of micro-turning
surface is generated on cylindrical workpiece of a particular diameter.

4 Experimental Methodology of Laser Micro-turning

The entire experimentation was performed in a CNC controlled pulsed Nd:YAG

laser system (manufactured by Sahajanand Laser Technology Ltd, India) as shown
in Fig. 5. The beam of the system operates in Gaussian mode (TEM00) and the
wavelength of the beam is 1064 nm. The pulse duration of the laser beam is in the
range of 120–150 ns. In the present pulsed Nd:YAG laser system, the polarization
of the laser is random. The beam was focused to spot size of 100 µm (measurement
of single spot on alumina workpiece surface) using a 50 mm focal length lens. The
indigenously developed work holding and rotating fixture, which was manufactured

Fig. 5 Photographic view of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser machining system (Kibria et al. 2012)
352 G. Kibria et al.

Table 3 Major thermo Properties Values and units

physical properties of
aluminium oxide ceramics Melting temperature 2050 °C
Creep rate 10−9 s−1 at 150 MPa
Density 3.984 g/cm3
Specific heat 755 J/kg K
Activation energy 325(25) kJ/mol
Thermal conductivity 33 W/mK
Tensile strength 267 MPa
Thermal diffusivity 0.111 cm2/s
Bulk modulus 257 GPa
Shear modulus 167 GPa
Grain size 5 μm

to facilitate the laser micro-turning operation, is used to hold and rotate the
workpiece. A collet attached to the axis of the motor was used to grip the cylindrical
work sample and the collet with the job was rotated through different speeds. Axial
feed to the sample up to the desirable length of turn was provided by the Y
directional feed rate of the CNC X-Y table operated by a personal computer
attached to the Nd:YAG laser system. To encompass layer-by-layer removal of
material from the cylindrical surface, after each scan of entire micro-turning sur-
face, the focusing lens was moved down to provide the focal point to the previously
machined micro-turning surface. Using the Multisawing software installed in the
computer attached to pulsed Nd:YAG laser system, the length of micro-turning was
selected as 5 mm. Moreover, the Y feed rate and Z feed rate was controlled by this
software. Cylindrical shaped aluminium oxide ceramic (99 % pure) of size 10 mm
in diameter and 40 mm in length was used as workpiece material. The major thermo
and physical properties of aluminum oxide are enlisted in Table 3.

5 Various Measurement Schemes

Laser micro-turning experimentation was conducted at various experimental

schemes. The process parameters involved during laser micro-turning operation were
laser average power, pulse frequency, workpiece rotational speed, assist air pressure
and Y feed rate. The average power of laser beam is measured using a laser power
measuring device (make: Ophir Optronics Solutions Ltd, Israel). The laser power
measuring device consists of power meter and the power sensor. To measure the
average power of the laser beam, the sensor was kept at defocusing plane of laser
beam and the power was directly noted from the digital display of the power meter.
After conducting each experiment at various parametric combinations,
machining depth and surface roughness (Ra and Rt) was measured. The machining
depth of the laser micro-turned surface was measured with the help of optical
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 353

Fig. 6 Scheme of micro-

turning depth measurement
using optical microscope

measuring microscope (Olympus STM6, minimum measurable dimen-

sion = 0.5 μm) using a 10 × magnification lens. The scheme of measurement of
depth of cut using the optical measuring microscope is shown in Fig. 6. As shown
in figure, at first, the lens of the microscope is focused onto the non-turned
workpiece surface such as point B and then focused onto the micro-turned surface
such as at point A. The values of these heights are measured by using a high
precision dial gauge kept on the Z-axis stage of optical microscope. The result of
these height difference measures the machining depth for the experiment. In
experimental scheme, where depth deviation was selected as response criterion, the
depth deviation was measured by simply differentiating the machining depth and
target depth (taken as 100 µm). The surface roughness (Ra and Rt) was measured
along the axis of the cylindrical work sample by using SURFCOM 120A-TSK
roughness measuring instrument. During roughness measurement, the cutoff length
(λc) has been carefully chosen so that variations due to form errors are excluded and
surface finish related to the closely spaced irregularities can be measured correctly.
During roughness measurement, the cut-off length and total length of measurement
were set as 0.25 and 2.5 mm, respectively.

6 Results and Discussion

Very few researches have been carried out in laser micro-turning process by the
authors (Kibria et al. 2010b, 2013a, 2014a). Kibria et al. (2010b) have introduced
the laser micro-turning operation as an advanced machining technology to machine
354 G. Kibria et al.

or micro-turn various hard-to-machine engineering ceramics. A very few research

work have been carried out on micro-turning process of alumina (Al2O3) ceramic
using pulsed Nd:YAG laser system. Authors have done basic experimental inves-
tigation describing the influence of lamp current, scanning speed and pulse fre-
quency on surface roughness (Ra) and depth of cut. In the experimentation, surface
roughness achieved was much higher i.e. in the range of 6.45–11.48 μm. Moreover,
the depth of cut was in the range of 38 and 223 μm. This amount of fluctuations in
the results of surface roughness and depth of cut reveals that process variables
involved in laser micro-turning operation are dynamic in nature and process
responses are significantly related with simultaneous variation of parameters during
experiments. The same group of authors carried out experimental investigation on
laser micro-turning process for machining various grades of Aluminum Oxide
(Al2O3) ceramics (60, 80 and 99 % pure Al2O3 ceramics) to study the effects of
various laser micro-turning process parameters on surface roughness (Ra) and depth
deviation criteria (Kibria et al. 2014a). The same group of authors performed
experimental study and multi-objective optimization during laser micro-turning
process to machine 99 % pure Al2O3 ceramics using combined approach of Taguchi
Methodology and Grey Relational Analysis (Kibria et al. 2013a). Experimentation
and analysis have also been performed varying the significant process parameters
revealed from Taguchi based experiments. All these experimentations deal with
basic study of laser micro-turning process to search out the significant process
parameters and their suitable working ranges. However for successful study and
analysis of laser micro-turning process, spot overlapping percentage (SOp) and
circumferential overlap percentage (COp) play major roles. Moreover, for suc-
cessful implementation of this novel process in various micro-engineering indus-
tries, surface roughness achieved as in (Kibria et al. 2010b, 2014a, 2013a) should
be reduced by considering some novel machining strategies during laser micro-
turning. The experimental results and analysis considering some novel machining
strategies are shown and described hereafter.

6.1 Study the Influences of Overlap Factors on Surface

Roughness Criterion

To study the effects of various percentages of spot as well as circumferential

overlap, experiments have been conducted at various parametric combinations of
process parameters, which are related to the overlap factors (Kibria et al. 2014b). A
well-designed set of experiments has been performed to vary one factor at a time
(OFAT) and surface roughness is measured. The levels and ranges of various
parameters like pulse frequency, workpiece rotating speed and Y feed rate for
achieving the spot overlapping percentage (SOp) and circumferential overlap
percentage (COp) is shown in Table 4. For each of the experiments, the number of
laser scan passes was 100. In each of the workpiece, three experiments were
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 355

Table 4 Experimental conditions and ranges of process parameters (Kibria et al. 2014b)
Condition Description
Average power, W 7, 8
Pulse frequency, Hz 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000
Workpiece rotating speed, rpm 200, 300, 400, 500, 600
Y feed rate, mm/s 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5
Pulse width, % of duty cycle variable
Air pressure, kgf/cm2 1.3
Z feed rate, mm/s 0.01

conducted. During the experiments, surface roughness (Ra) was measured as the
process criterion. A length of 5 mm was micro-turned on the cylindrical workpiece.
In the present experimental study, the levels of two process parameters i.e. pulse
frequency and workpiece rotating speed were chosen carefully so that the spot
overlapping percentages (SOp) of the successive laser spots have definite and
positive values. In Fig. 7 shows the variation of spot overlapping percentage while
varying workpiece rotating speed and pulse frequency values. Moreover, the axial
feed rate or Y feed rate of work sample was chosen carefully so that its values
compiled with workpiece rotating speed give positive values of circumferential
overlap percentages. The variation of circumferential overlapping percentage at
various parametric combinations of Y feed rate and workpiece rotating speed is
shown in Fig. 8. These two plots have been drawn based on the considered range of
all the related process parameters of spot overlap as well as Circumferential
overlap. It is shown in both plots of spot overlap as well as circumferential overlap
percentage that some points have been considered for negative overlap percentage
to show the effect of the conditions of no overlap on surface roughness criterion.

Fig. 7 Variation of spot

overlapping percentage at
various workpiece rotating
speed and pulse frequency
356 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 8 Variation of
circumferential overlapping
percentage at various Y feed
rate and workpiece rotating
speed

6.1.1 Influence of Spot Overlap on Surface Roughness (Ra)

Each experiment was repeated three times and the average of three surface
roughness values was taken to plot various graphs. Figures 9 and 10 show the
variation of surface roughness (Ra) for varying spot overlapping percentage at
different pulse frequency and workpiece rotating speed, respectively. It is already
described that the spot overlap percentage can be varied by two methods, (i) by
varying workpiece rotating speed keeping the pulse frequency at a constant value,
and (ii) by varying pulse frequency keeping the workpiece rotating speed at con-
stant value. For the results shown in Fig. 9, the average power and Y feed rate were
kept constant as 7 W and 0.3 mm/s, respectively. From this figure, it is observed
that roughness of the micro-turned surface reduces with the increase of spot overlap
for each of the pulse frequency settings. From Eq. 3, it is obvious that the reduction
in workpiece rotating speed results in high overlap value between successive laser
spots. This high amount of overlap results in even machined surface and reduces the

Fig. 9 Effect of spot

overlapping on surface
roughness (Ra) at different
pulse frequency (Kibria
et al. 2014b)
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 357

Fig. 10 Effect of spot

overlapping on surface
roughness (Ra) at different
rotating speed (Kibria
et al. 2014b)

surface roughness. It is also seen from the same plot that the surface roughness
value increases with pulse frequency at any particular spot overlap percentage
value. With the increase of pulse frequency, according to Eq. 3, the spot overlap
percentage increases. However, at high pulse frequency condition, the time duration
between two successive pulses is very less. Therefore, the material at the focused
zone on the sample gets adequate thermal energy for melting and vaporization
instantly. Thus, ultimately, the total amount of irradiated laser beam energy is high
enough and it results in more depth of crater formed on the surface, which results
higher value of surface roughness.
For the experimental results shown in Fig. 10, the average power and Y feed rate
were kept constant at 8 W and 0.3 mm/s, respectively. The figure clearly indicates
that with the increase of spot overlap percentage for any constant value of work-
piece rotating speed, surface roughness (Ra) decreases. Due to high percentage of
spot overlap, the material removal from the workpiece surface occurs uniformly
and therefore, high quality machining surface is achieved. Furthermore, for same
spot overlap percentage value, the micro-turned roughness is more for higher value
of workpiece rotating speed. At higher setting of workpiece rotating speed, con-
secutive spot overlap is less, resulting uneven micro-turning surface.

6.1.2 Influence of Circumferential Overlap on Surface Roughness (Ra)

In Figs. 11 and 12, the effect of varying circumferential overlap values on surface
roughness (Ra) is shown at different Y feed rate and workpiece rotating speed,
respectively. In Fig. 11, the surface roughness has been plotted keeping average
power at 8 W and laser pulse frequency at 5000 Hz. From Eq. 4, it is obvious that
the circumferential overlap percentage mainly depends onto two process parame-
ters i.e. Y feed rate and workpiece rotational speed. It is clear from this plot that the
increase in circumferential overlap percentages i.e. increase in workpiece rotating
speed with constant Y feed rate setting results in slight decrease in surface
358 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 11 Effect of
circumferential overlapping
on surface roughness (Ra) at
different Y feed rate (Kibria
et al. 2014b)

Fig. 12 Effect of
circumferential overlapping
on surface roughness (Ra) at
different rotating speed
(Kibria et al. 2014b)

roughness values. From Eq. 4, it is clear that circumferential overlap percentage

increases with increasing workpiece rotating speed and this phenomenon has
directly resulted for reduction of roughness of laser micro-turned surface. High
circumferential overlap percentage results in uniform removal of material from
laser irradiated surface and high finish surface is achieved. Moreover, it is also
clearly seen from Fig. 11 that for a constant value of circumferential overlap, the
increase in Y feed rate results in rougher micro-turned surface. Increase in Y feed
rate of sample is resulted more null and void spacing between two successive scan
widths and this phenomenon consequently results uneven and rough micro-turning
surface.
In Fig. 12, the influence of circumferential overlap on surface roughness is
shown at average power of 8 W and pulse frequency of 5000 Hz, respectively. It is
observed from this plot that with the increase in circumferential overlap, roughness
of the machined surface decreases for each workpiece rotating speed setting. Due to
high circumferential overlap, the laser scan widths for successive rotation of
workpiece come closer to each other and in turn, this phenomenon results in even
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 359

and regular micro-turning surface It shows that at higher workpiece rotating speed
settings, the amount of circumferential overlap is high and further it results lower
value of surface roughness of the surface profile produced during laser micro-
turning operation.

6.1.3 Microscopic Analysis of Laser Micro-turned Surface

Studies of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs of the laser micro-

turned surface have also been conducted to get a clear picture of the effect for
varying the laser micro-turning process parameters. Figure 13a–d show and com-
pare the micro-turned surface characteristics for different spot overlap and cir-
cumferential overlap values, accounted for varying the related process parameters
i.e. workpiece rotating speed, laser pulse frequency and Y feed rate of workpiece.
Comparing the experimental parametric settings and SEM micrographs in Fig. 13a
and b, it is seen that with increased spot overlap percentage from 21.43 to 73.81 %,
due to increase in pulse frequency from 4000 to 6000 Hz and decrease in workpiece
rotating speed from 600 to 300 rpm, the Ra value of micro-turned surface is
reduced from 6.72 to 6.18 μm. From Fig. 13c and d, it is observed that when the
circumferential overlap percentage is increased from 25 to 90 % by reducing the Y

(a) (b)

Ra = 6.72 µm Ra = 6.18 µm

(c) (d)

Ra = 7.77 µm Ra = 6.02 µm

Fig. 13 SEM micrographs of the laser micro-turned surface of work samples machined at
parametric combinations of average power, pulse frequency, workpiece rotating speed and Y feed
rate of (a) 7 W/4000 Hz/600 rpm/0.3 mm/s, (b) 7 W/6000 Hz/300 rpm/0.3 mm/s, (c) 8 W/
5000 Hz/400 rpm/0.5 mm/s and (d) 8 W/5000 Hz/600 rpm/0.1 mm/s (Kibria et al. 2014b)
360 G. Kibria et al.

feed rate from 0.5 to 0.1 mm/s and increasing the workpiece rotating speed from
400 to 600 rpm simultaneously, quite uniform micro-turning surface was realized.
Ra value is reduced from 7.77 to 6.02 μm.

6.2 Study of Defocusing Conditions at Multi-objective

Optimization to Achieve Better Quality Surface

Response surface methodology (RSM) based approach has been considered to carry
out micro-turning operation of cylindrical shaped alumina ceramic (Kibria et al.
2012, 2013b). A lot of pilot experiments have been conducted before selecting the
actual process parametric ranges. Five levels of each process parameters i.e.
average power, pulse frequency, workpiece rotational speed, air pressure, Y feed
rate were considered as shown in Table 5. The experimentation has been carried out
based on central composite rotatable second-order design (CCRD). After each
experiment, surface roughness (Ra) and micro-turning depth deviation have been
measured. The measurement scheme of surface roughness and machining depth are
already discussed in previous sections. The target machining depth was taken as
100 μm. The deviation in depth was calculated according to the following equation
(Kibria et al. 2013b).

Ydepth dev: ¼ Ytd  Ymd ð5Þ

where, Ydepth dev. is the amount of depth deviation, Ytd is the targeted depth and Ymd
is the machined depth accounted during experiments. MINITAB™ statistical
software was used to develop the design of matrix of experimentation and further
analysis of obtained values of responses from measurement schemes. Multi-
objective optimal parametric combination of process variables has been obtained
for achieving least values of responses i.e. surface roughness and depth deviation.
To achieve further high quality machined surface, machining was done at various
defocusing conditions of laser beam and also by varying the number of laser scan
passes. Other process parameters were kept constant at optimal parametric com-
bination obtained in multi-objective optimization.

Table 5 Factors and various levels of the process parameters for RSM experimentation (Kibria
et al. 2013b)
Parameters Unit Levels
−2 −1 0 1 2
Average power W 6 7 8 9 10
Pulse frequency Hz 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Rotational speed rpm 200 300 400 500 600
Air pressure kgf/cm2 0.3 0.8 1.3 1.8 2.3
Y feed rate mm/s 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 361

6.2.1 Multi-objective Optimization of Surface Roughness and Depth

Deviation

To achieve the targeted shape as well as machined surface during laser micro-
turning operation considering the performance criteria, multi objective optimization
has been performed (Kibria et al. 2013b). Figure 14 shows the multi response
optimization result during laser micro-turning operation of alumina ceramic with
pulsed Nd:YAG laser system. In the mentioned figure, columns of the plot repre-
sents each parameter with their ranges considered and each row of the plot repre-
sents the performance criteria measured in this experimentation. Moreover, each
cell shows how the process criteria changes as function of one of the process
parameters while keeping the other parameters fixed. From this figure, it can be
seen that the parametric combination for multi-objective optimization i.e. minimi-
zation of all the process responses was achieved as average power of 7.81 W, pulse
frequency of 5601.59 Hz, workpiece rotational speed of 435.60 rpm, air pressure
of 0.30 kgf/cm2 and Y feed rate of 0.4434 mm/s. During multi-objective optimi-
zation, all the responses were optimized with composite desirability (D) value of 1.
Due to the constraints of the existing machine settings, the parameters values were
taken nearer to the value obtained during optimization. Experimentation has been
conducted nearer the feasible setting of process parameters achieved during multi-
objective optimization to evaluate the actual process criteria values. The percentage
error of experimental results for the optimized responses were compared with RSM
based estimated results as obtained from developed empirical models and the results
are tabulated in Table 6. The percentage errors calculated are within acceptable
range (<5 %). This shows a good agreement of the optimized responses at the
optimal parameters setting during laser micro-turning of alumina ceramic.

Fig. 14 Multi objective optimization results for surface roughness (Ra) and depth deviation
(Kibria et al. 2014b)
362 G. Kibria et al.

Table 6 Comparison of experimental and RSM estimated results at optimal parametric

combination (Kibria et al. 2013b)
Optimization Experimental parameters Responses Experimental RSM Percentage
settings results estimated of error
Parameters Unit Value results (%)
Multi- Average W 7.81 Surface 5.91 µm 5.63 µm 4.78
objective power roughness, Ra −0.00021 mm −0.00020 mm 4.76
optimization Pulse Hz 5600 depth
frequency deviation
Rotating rpm 436
speed
Air kgf/cm2 0.30
pressure
Y feed rate mm/s 0.443

6.2.2 Study of Laser Defocusing Conditions During Laser

Micro-turning

Although, surface roughness has been considered as minimum is the best type
response, the value of optimal surface roughness is quite high (i.e. 5.63 µm in RSM
and 5.91 µm in validation). This amount of roughness may be due to generation of
micro-peaks on the machined surface. However, in actual practice, to produce an
acceptable machined surface and to manufacture durable and reliable products,
which can provide high-end performances, the roughness of machined surface
should be lowered down further. Therefore, it is felt that further experiments should
be carried out to minimize the surface roughness values without impeding the depth
deviation value. Therefore, to further improve the quality of machined surface and
to reduce the laser micro-turned surface roughness, experiments have been con-
ducted at RSM based multi-objective optimization setting as shown in Table 6
(Kibria et al. 2015). Two process parameters i.e. defocusing position and number of
laser scan pass were varied during defocused laser micro-turn machining. Fig-
ure 15 shows the process mechanism of laser defocused laser micro-turning oper-
ation. The optimal machined surface has lots of micro-peaks and by further
machining at various defocusing conditions and several laser beam scan passes,
these micro-peaks can be removed by lowering the laser beam energy density
through melting and vaporization of material from these micro-peaks. A lot of pilot
experiments have been conducted to select the range of defocusing planes in which
the workpiece surface to be kept and rotated during machining operation. The
defocus position is termed as upward when the laser focus point is above the
workpiece surface, whereas defocus position is called as downward when the laser
focus point is inside the workpiece or below the surface to be machined. The values
of defocus positions considered in the present experimentation are shown in
Table 7. At each defocusing planes, experiments have been carried out by varying
the number of laser scans. Here, surface roughness, Rt has been considered as
additional response to study the laser micro-turning surface features in more details.
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 363

Fig. 15 Process of removal of micro-peaks during defocused laser micro-turning process (Kibria
et al. 2013c)

Table 7 Factors and various levels for further experimentation (Kibria et al. 2013c)
Parameters Unit Levels
Defocus position mm Upward Downward
−0.2, −0.4, −0.6, −0.8 +0.2, +0.4, +0.6, +0.8
Number of passes – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

This response of surface roughness is much responsive to the high peaks or deep
scratches on the surface of assessment. It is defined as the vertical measurement of
distance between the highest peak and the lowest valley within the assessment
length of surface profile. It is the summation of maximum height of peak from mean
line (Rp) and maximum depth of valleys from mean line (Rv) of the surface profile
(Gadelmawla et al. 2002). Although, the present set of experiments have been
conducted to further reduce the surface roughness (Ra and Rt) criteria through
various experiments of varying the focal positions and number of laser beam
passes, as it is basically a laser micro-turning operation, therefore, the dimensional
accuracy features of the machined parts or components would be worsen, mainly
the depth deviation of micro-turning surface. The depth deviation of the machined
parts has been measured after conducting each two consecutive laser beam passes.
After each experiment, the surface roughness (Ra and Rt) and depth deviation of the
machined surface were measured by same technique as discussed in measurement
schemes. The depth deviation is measured using the following equation (Kibria
et al. 2015).

Depth deviation ¼ Machined depth  Machined depth achieved at optimal setting

ð6Þ

Based on the obtained results of responses i.e. surface roughness (Ra and Rt),
various plots have been drawn and shown in Figs. 16, 17, 18 and 19. In Fig. 16, the
effect of number of laser scan passes on surface roughness (Ra) is shown at various
upward defocusing positions. The other process parameters were kept constant at
364 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 16 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with number of laser scan passes at various upward
defocus positions (Kibria et al. 2013c)

Fig. 17 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with number of laser scan passes at various
downward defocus positions (Kibria et al. 2013c)

7.81 W/5600 Hz/436 rpm/0.30 kgf-cm−2/0.443 mm/s of average power, pulse

frequency, workpiece rotating speed, assist air pressure and Y feed rate, respec-
tively. In Fig. 16, it is observed that surface roughness of laser micro-turning
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 365

Fig. 18 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with number of laser scan passes at various upward
defocus positions (Kibria et al. 2013c)

Fig. 19 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with number of laser scan passes at various
downward defocus positions (Kibria et al. 2013c)

surface is decreasing with the increase in number of laser beam passes at each
setting of downward defocusing positions, i.e. 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm. During
machining in defocusing conditions, with the increase of number of laser scan
366 G. Kibria et al.

passes, the height of various micro-sized peaks on the machining surface reduces
due to melting and evaporation of material from micro-peaks and therefore, the
quality of the laser micro-turning surface is improved. The figure also depicts that at
various defocus positions, different values of surface roughness are achieved for
any particular number of laser passes. However, with the increase of defocus
position, surface roughness of the laser turning surface is decreasing due to ade-
quate laser beam energy, which removes the rough and irregular peaks from the
workpiece surface and makes the surface even. Conversely, it is also observed that
at higher value of defocus condition, i.e. at 0.8 mm, the roughness is much higher
than 0.4 and 0.6 mm defocus positions. It is so because at 0.8 mm position, the
energy density of the laser beam on the workpiece surface is very low and this
amount of energy is unable to remove the micro-peaks from the laser micro-turned
surface. These phenomena result in higher amount of surface roughness of the
machined surface.
The effects of variation of number of laser scan passes on surface roughness
(Ra) criterion is shown in Fig. 17 at various downward defocusing positions.
During these experiments, the other process parameters were kept constant at
7.81 W/5600 Hz/436 rpm/0.30 kgf-cm−2/0.443 mm/s of average power, pulse
frequency, workpiece rotating speed, assist air pressure and Y feed rate, respec-
tively. From this plot, it is obvious that the number of laser scan passes has
significant effect on surface roughness (Ra) criteria. The surface roughness value
decreases with the increase in number of laser beam passes at each of the defocus
positions. It is due to the removal of sharp micro-sized peaks from the workpiece
surface by the irradiated laser beam. However, after a certain number of laser beam
passes, the surface roughness increases to a little extent for each of the focusing
conditions. This is because, after certain number of passes, the removal of material
from workpiece surface is not uniform and due to the high intense laser beam, the
machined surface achieved is irregular and uneven. At higher setting of downward
defocusing position i.e. at 0.8 mm, the laser beam spot size is much high and
correspondingly the energy density on the workpiece surface is very low. This low
energy beam is rather incapable to remove the micro-sized peaks from the rough
workpiece surface. Therefore, at higher value of defocusing position, the surface
roughness is low compared to other defocusing conditions i.e. 0.4 and 0.6 mm.
Figure 18 shows the effect of varying the number of laser scan passes on surface
roughness (Rt) at various upward defocusing positions. The other process param-
eters were kept constant at 7.81 W/5600 Hz/436 rpm/0.30 kgf-cm−2/0.443 mm/s of
average power, pulse frequency, workpiece rotating speed, assist air pressure and
Y feed rate, respectively. It is observed from this plot that the surface roughness (Rt)
decreases with the increase in number of laser scan passes for all the settings of
defocusing positions. It is due to the removal of micro-sized peaks from the rough
laser micro-turning surface by the irradiated laser beam. From this figure, it is also
observed that at same number of laser beam passes, lower setting of defocusing
position results in higher value of surface roughness (Rt) compared to higher setting
of defocus positions. This is mainly due to differentiation of energy densities at
various focal positions and requirement of amount of laser beam energy to reduce
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 367

the height of micro-peaks. However, at 0.8 mm defocusing condition, the surface

roughness (Rt) is high compared to 0.6 and 0.4 mm defocus conditions. This is
because at 0.8 mm defocusing position, the energy density of laser beam is very
low, which is unable to remove or reduce the micron-sized peaks from the work-
piece surface.
The effect of variation of number of laser scan passes on surface roughness (Rt)
value is illustrated in Fig. 19, while machining at various downward defocusing
positions. The other process parameters were kept constant at 7.81 W/5600 Hz/
436 rpm/0.30 kgf-cm−2/0.443 mm/s of average power, pulse frequency, workpiece
rotating speed, assist air pressure and Y feed rate, respectively. The plot shows that
with the increase in number of laser scan passes results in decrease of surface
roughness (Rt) values up to a certain number of passes. With the increase of
number of passes of laser beam, the overall heights of the uneven peaks on the laser
micro-turned surface decreases. However, after certain number of passes, the
roughness of micro-turning surface does not significantly vary. In some defocusing
conditions such as 0.4 and 0.8 mm, the surface roughness increases after 7th
number of passes. It is due to generation of small sized uneven peaks again on the
laser micro-turned surface. The plot also shows that effect of defocusing positions
on surface roughness criterion is very random. The minimum surface roughness is
achieved at 0.4 mm defocus position and at 8th number of laser beam passes. At
high defocusing condition, the laser beam energy density is very low and this
amount of energy density is incapable of removing further micro-peaks from the
rough and uneven surface of the workpiece.
It has been observed from various plots of surface roughness (Ra and Rt) that
with the increase of number of laser beam passes, the surface roughness (Ra and
Rt) decreases at all settings of upward defocus positions. However, at the same
settings of downward defocus positions, the surface roughness (Ra) is having a
trend of decreasing, whereas Rt is moderately varying with number of laser beam
passes during the machining process. From various test results of the present set of
experiments, the individual parametric combinations have been identified for
achieving minimum values of individual responses and enlisted in Table 8. At
0.6 mm upward defocus position and 9th number of laser beam passes, the surface

Table 8 Parametric combinations to achieve minimum surface roughness (Ra and Rt) (Kibria
et al. 2013c)
Responses Parametric combination of Parametric setting of Minimum value
average power, pulse additional parameters of responses
frequency, workpiece Number Defocusing Surface Surface
rotating speed, air of position roughness, roughness,
pressure and Y feed rate passes Ra Rt
Surface 7.81 W/5600 Hz/436 rpm/ 9 0.6 mm 5.07 μm 35.08 μm
roughness, 0.30 kgf-cm−2/0.443 mm/s (upward)
(Ra, Rt) 8 0.4 mm 5.28 μm 34.65 μm
(downward)
368 G. Kibria et al.

roughness (Ra and Rt) values are 5.07 and 35.08 μm, which is the smallest value.
However, surface roughness, Rt is achieved as minimum as 34.65 μm
(Ra = 5.28 μm) at defocus position of 0.4 mm downward and at 8th number of laser
beam passes. Moreover, it is found from various test results that depth deviation of
the laser micro-turned surface increases with the increase in number of laser beam
passes for all the settings of defocusing positions. It is due to reduction of the
overall height of the small-sized peaks on the laser turning surface. With lower
setting of defocus value, higher value of depth deviation is achieved. With the
increase in defocus length, the beam energy density decreases due to increase in
laser beam spot size.

6.2.3 Analysis Based on SEM Micrographs of Laser Micro-turned

Surface

To study the laser micro-turned machined surface comparatively, the microscopic

analysis of the micro-turned surfaces machined at various parametric combinations
also been analysed to get a clear picture of the effect of laser beam defocusing
positions and number of laser passes during experiments. Figure 20a–f show SEM
images (different magnifications) of the laser micro-turned surface machined at
0.2 mm downward defocusing after 10th passes (Ra = 5.50 μm, Rt = 38.96 μm),
0.8 mm upward defocusing after 10th passes (Ra = 5.26 μm, Rt = 36.34 μm) and
0.6 mm upward defocusing after 10th passes (Ra = 5.10 μm, Rt = 34.91 μm) of
laser beam. Comparing these SEM images as well as surface roughness values, it is
obvious that the quality of micro-turned surface machined at 0.6 mm upward
defocus position and 10th number of laser beam passes is high compared to the
machined surface shown in Fig. 20d and f.
The high magnification SEM images of the laser micro-turned surfaces
machined at above-mentioned parametric combinations are shown in Fig. 21a–c,
respectively. In Fig. 21a, it is seen that still the machined surface has some micro-
peaks after machining at defocusing position of 0.2 mm and 10th number of laser
beam passes. However, it is seen in Fig. 21b, there is no such micro-peaks on the
machined surface. Because of irradiation of defocused laser beam on the surface,
the micro-peaks melted as well as evaporated and some melted materials resolid-
ified on the machined surface. On the other hand, the SEM image of the machined
surface shown in Fig. 21c has no such micro-peaks as well as resolidified materials
because of adequate laser beam energy irradiated on the material surface to com-
pletely evaporate and remove the micro-peaks from alumina surface.
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 369

(a) (b) Ra=5.50 µm, Rt=38.96 µm

(c) (d) Ra=5.26 µm, Rt=36.34 µm

(e) (f) Ra=5.10 µm, Rt=34.91 µm

Fig. 20 SEM micrographs of laser micro-turned surface of alumina ceramic machined at 0.2 mm
downward/10th pass (a and b), 0.8 mm upward/10th pass (c and d), and 0.6 mm upward/10th pass
(e and f) of defocusing position and number of passes of laser beam

6.3 Comparative Study of Surface Roughness Criteria

at Laser Focused and Defocused Conditions During
Laser Micro-turning

In this experimental scheme, comparative investigation and analysis is carried out at

focused and defocused conditions of laser beam during laser micro-turning process
of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) ceramics to explore the effects of various process
370 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 21 High magnification (a)

SEM micrographs of laser
micro-turned surface
machined at (a) 0.2 mm micro-peaks
downward/10th pass,
(b) 0.8 mm upward/10th pass
and (c) 0.6 mm upward/10th
pass of defocusing position
and number of passes of laser
beam

(b)
resolidified
material

(c)
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 371

Table 9 Process parameters Variable parameters

levels and other machining
conditions Process parameters Levels
Average power 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 W
Pulse frequency 4000, 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000 Hz
Rotational speed 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 rpm
Y feed rate 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 mm/s
Condition of lens Focused, defocused
Defocused 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 mm upward
Constant parameters
Air pressure 0.3 kgf/cm2
Mode of operation Q-switched (pulsed)
Type of Q-switch Acousto optic
Mirror reflectivity Rear mirror–100 %
Front mirror–80 %
Beam diameter 1/e2 1 mm
Laser beam spot diameter 100 μm

parameters such as average power, pulse frequency, workpiece rotating speed and
Y feed rate. The experiments have been conducted utilizing one factor at a time
(OFAT) experimental scheme. The target depth was set at 100 µm. Table 9 shows
the levels of process parameters considered. The table also shows the other process
parameters which were kept constant during experimentation. In the previous
experimentation, it is revealed that least surface roughness (Ra) is achieved as
5.07 μm at 0.6 mm upward defocusing condition. Therefore, all the experiments in
the present experimental scheme are carried out at various upward defocused and as
well as focused conditions. After each experiment, surface roughness (Ra and Rt)
has been measured.
Based on the results of surface roughness (Ra and Rt) values measured both the
machining conditions i.e. focused and defocused, various plots are drawn and
analysed in details hereunder. In Fig. 22, the effect of average power on surface
roughness (Ra) is shown at focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The
other process parameters were kept constant at pulse frequency of 5000 Hz,
workpiece rotating speed of 400 rpm and Y feed rate of 0.4 mm/s. From this plot, it
is observed that low value setting of average power results in high surface finish
due to a smaller amount of melting and/or ablation of materials from work sample.
As average power increases, the roughness of micro-turning surface also increases.
It is also seen from the same plot that surface roughness values are less when laser
micro-turning is carried out in defocused conditions compared to focus condition
machining. In defocus machining condition, the energy density of laser beam is
low, therefore, material from top surface micro-peaks is removed through melting
and evaporation and surface conditions of machined surface is improved. The figure
372 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 22 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with average power at focused and various upward
defocus conditions

also depicts that at various defocus positions, different values of surface roughness
are achieved for any particular average power value. With the increase of defocus
position, surface roughness of the laser turning surface is decreasing due to ade-
quate laser beam energy, which removes the rough and irregular peaks from the
workpiece surface and makes the surface even.
Figure 23 shows the effect of pulse frequency on surface roughness (Ra) at
focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process parameters
were kept constant at average power of 8 W, workpiece rotating speed of 400 rpm
and Y feed rate of 0.4 mm/s. It is evident from this plot that surface roughness (Ra)
slightly increases at focused and other defocused conditions. According to the
Eq. 7, it is clear that with the increase of pulse frequency, peak power of laser beam
decreases (Kibria et al. 2013b). However, the time interval between two consecu-
tive pulses of laser beam is very small, therefore the top surface of the workpiece
gets adequate energy to melt and vaporize rapidly and it results in more peaks and
valleys on the micro-turned surface.

Average power ðPA Þ

Peak power ðPP Þ ¼ ð7Þ
Pulse frequency ðFP Þ  Pulse duration ðlÞ

It is also seen in the same plot that the values of surface roughness (Ra) is less at
all parametric combinations during machining at all defocus conditions compared to
machining at focused condition. It is due to adequate thermal energy consumed by
the workpiece surface and as a result of this, the height of micro-peaks is less. The
surface roughness values are less at higher defocused machining conditions i.e.
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 373

Fig. 23 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with pulse frequency at focused and various upward
defocus conditions

more defocused, more quality surface and it is due to adequate laser power density
at laser material interaction zone.
In Fig. 24, the effect of workpiece rotating speed on surface roughness (Ra) is
shown at focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process
parameters were kept constant at average power at 8 W, pulse frequency of

Fig. 24 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with rotating speed at focused and various upward
defocus conditions
374 G. Kibria et al.

5000 Hz and Y feed rate of 0.4 mm/s. From this plot, it is observed that surface
roughness values are less for the micro-turned surface machined at defocused
positions compared to focused conditions. It is known that at various defocused
conditions, the irradiated laser beam energy density is less; therefore, the heights of
micro-peaks generated on the machined surface are less. It is also revealed that
increase of rotating speed results in lower values of surface roughness. It is due to
the fact that increase of rotating speed results in increase of circumferential overlap
value according to Eq. 4. Therefore, more even surface is achieved. Moreover,
higher defocused conditions result in higher surface finish and it is mainly due to
melting and instant solidification of workpiece material on the machined surface.
Figure 25 shows the effect of Y feed rate on surface roughness (Ra) at focused
and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process parameters were kept
constant at average power of 8 W, workpiece rotating speed of 400 rpm and pulse
frequency of 5000 Hz. It is evident from this plot that the increase of Y feed rate
results in deterioration of surface finish of work sample. As increase of Y feed rate
results in reduction in circumferential overlap over two successive laser scan tracks
and this phenomenon creates uneven surface profile over the micro-turned surface
and therefore, the roughness of machined surface deteriorated. It is also observed
that the surface roughness (Ra) is high at focused condition laser micro-turning
operation compared to machining at all defocused positions. With the increase of
defocusing of the laser beam, the laser beam energy density decreases, and as a
result, the material removal from the workpiece surface is less.

Fig. 25 Variation of surface roughness (Ra) with Y feed rate at focused and various upward
defocus conditions
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 375

Fig. 26 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with average power at focused and various upward
defocus conditions

In Fig. 26, the effect of average power on surface roughness (Rt) is shown at
focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process parameters
were kept constant as same as Fig. 22. From this plot, it is revealed that with the
increase of average power, the surface roughness (Rt) is slightly increases and it is
due to generation of micro-peaks and valley on the machined surface. It is also
observed from the same plot that defocused condition machining results in lower
value of surface roughness compared to surface roughness (Rt) achieved during
machining at focused condition. However, at higher value of defocused machining
i.e. at 0.4 and 0.8 mm defocusing, the average power has no such effect on Rt
values.
Figure 27 shows the effect of pulse frequency on surface roughness (Rt) at
focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process parameters
were kept constant as same as Fig. 23. It is evident from this plot that surface
roughness (Rt) slightly increases at focused condition machining. However, there is
no such increment of Rt value of the machined surface at defocused conditions. Rt
value lie in the range of 30–33 µm. Moreover, the values of Rt is less at defocusing
conditions compared to machining at focused position.
In Fig. 28, the effect of workpiece rotating speed on surface roughness (Rt) is
shown at focused and various upward defocusing conditions. The other process
parameters were kept constant as same as Fig. 24. It is observed from Fig. 28 that
with the increase of workpiece rotating speed, surface roughness value decreases.
376 G. Kibria et al.

Fig. 27 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with pulse frequency at focused and various upward
defocus conditions

Fig. 28 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with rotating speed at focused and various upward
defocus conditions
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 377

Fig. 29 Variation of surface roughness (Rt) with Y feed rate at focused and various upward
defocus conditions

It is mainly due to the increase of circumferential overlap percentage during

machining. From this plot, it is also revealed that there is no such effect of amount
of defocusing conditions. However, the value of Rt is higher at focused condition
compared to machining at defocused conditions. Figure 29 shows the effect of Y
feed rate on surface roughness (Rt) at focused and various upward defocusing
conditions. The other process parameters were kept constant as same as Fig. 25.
The figure depicts that the increase of Y feed rate results in increase of Rt values at
focused as well as all defocused machining conditions. It is due to decrease of
circumferential overlap percentage according to Eq. 4. The values of Rt are less at
defocused machining conditions compared to focused machining.
To analyse the laser micro-turned surface qualitatively, Scanning Electron
Microscopic (SEM) images were captured for the surfaces machined at various
parametric combinations. In Fig. 30, the exhibited photographs show the surfaces
obtained through laser micro-turning on alumina at parametric setting of average
power of 8 W, workpiece rotating speed of 400 rpm and pulse frequency of
5000 Hz, Y feed rate of 0.4 mm/s both at focused and defocused machining con-
dition. The surface roughness (Ra) values are 5.46 and 5.1 µm, respectively for
focused and defocused (=0.6 mm) machining conditions. The corresponding Rt
values are 33.6 and 31.4 µm, respectively. From these figures and obtained results
of Ra and Rt, it is obvious that laser micro-turned surface obtained at defocused
machining conditions are qualitatively high compared to focused machining con-
dition. There are lots of micro-peaks observed on the laser micro-turned surface
obtained during focused condition machining.
378 G. Kibria et al.

Ra=5.46 µm, Rt=33.6 µm

Focused condition

Ra=5.1µm, Rt=31.4 µm

Defocused condition = 0.6 mm

Fig. 30 SEM views of laser micro-turning surfaces machined at average power of 8 W, workpiece
rotating speed of 400 rpm and pulse frequency of 5000 Hz, Y feed rate of 0.4 mm/s
Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Micro-turning Process of Alumina Ceramics 379

7 Conclusions

The pulsed Nd:YAG laser machining system has the competence to perform micro
machining process like laser micro-turning operations on difficult-to-machine
ceramic materials such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3) to achieve a particular depth and
surface finish of the cylindrical workpiece. In this chapter, Nd:YAG laser micro-
turning operation has been successfully performed to produce laser micro-turning
surface up to desired depth on cylindrical workpiece of aluminium oxide (Al2O3)
ceramic. By proper controlling of the various laser beam parameters like average
power and pulse frequency and various process parameters like workpiece rotating
speed, assist air pressure and Y feed rate, the desired machined surface features like
accurate dimensional aspect in terms of micro-turning depth and surface roughness
were achieved. The present set of research findings will open up new insights and
directions to the fundamental and applied research in the area of laser micro-turning
to achieve and improve the accuracy, repeatability and finally the reliability of this
novel material machining technique in the context of cylindrical micro part fabri-
cation in modern shop floor. The present chapter opens up further future scope of
research work related to analysis of surface structure, surface morphology and
micro-hardness of the machined surface during laser micro-turning process of
various engineering ceramic materials such as zirconia (ZrO2), aluminium titanate
(Al2TiO5), magnesia (MgO2) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) under various process
parametric conditions. Laser micro-turning can be carried out for examining the
phase transformation as well as crack formation on laser micro-tuned surface at
various machining conditions.

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support and assistance provided by
CAS Ph-IV programme of Production Engineering Department of Jadavpur University under
University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India.

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A Literature Review on CO2 Laser
Welding

Rakesh Bhadra, Pankaj Biswas and M. Ravi Sankar

Abstract Laser welding is a sophisticated, high accuracy and high speed welding
process. Laser welding is a process of joining components where laser beam used as
a heat source. In this present study a literature review on welding by laser as a heat
source has been addressed. In the present review, emphasis has been given espe-
cially on the laser welding numerical and experimental temperature field analysis,
thermo-mechanical analysis. The time frame of the review is 1992–2013.

Keywords Laser welding Numerical and experiment temperature distribution



Deformation Microstructure

1 Introduction

The continuous development and demands of various parts for products assemble
operation such as automotive components, aerospace structures and various other
machine component and production of those parts at high rate is possible by
automation. Accuracy is an important demand for manufacturing process (Kim
et al. 2011; Geoffray et al. 2011). Any assemble operation joining is one of the most
significant manufacturing requirements. Welding is an improved conventional
joining process so welding can be applied to joining of various dimensional
machine components. There are several welding method already been established
(Sakagawa et al. 2011). The welding offers some benefits over mechanical fasteners

R. Bhadra (&)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, India
e-mail: r.bhadr@tezu.ernet.in
P. Biswas
M. Ravi Sankar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwhati, Guwhati 781039, India
e-mail: pankaj.biswas@iitg.ernet.in
M. Ravi Sankar
e-mail: evmrs@iitg.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 381

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_19
382 R. Bhadra et al.

Fig. 1 Keyhole and plasma formation during laser welding (Belhadj et al. 2010)

such as weight reduction and absence of notches induced by machining operations.

Several welding process have establish for joining of several parts. The laser
welding is one of the important welding process because laser has provide high
energy density in ambient air, the laser can be used to perform high-precision, high
speed, deep penetration welding under low-strain conditions and easy to welding
process automation. Figure 1 shows a schematic of keyhole and plasma formation
in laser welding.
Applications of high power density laser have been increasingly utilized in
industrial cutting and joining process. Laser is use due to lower width and shape
distortion of laser beam as well as greater control and high velocity of laser beam
movement at the time of laser welding. The CO2 laser is one of the earliest gas
lasers to be developed by CO2 gas. At the earliest development of CO2 laser has
been used for cutting but after continuous development of laser quality and
applications, it has been used for welding of various thickness plates. It was seen
that the development of high-power laser systems 20–50 kW class CO2 lasers,
expected to the establishment of deep-penetration and high-speed welding method.
Welding of various parts by using laser, it quality can have a little satisfying, but it
has many problems for controlling the laser source’s stabilization, laser beams
quality, focus dimension, pulse energy, pulse width, waveform, defocusing amount
power supply’s stabilization and trigger frequency, etc. in the aspect of precisions
(Hess et al. 2011).
The present book chapter is focused on analysis of current achievement and gaps
in the CO2 laser joining process applications.

2 Laser Welding

2.1 CO2 Laser Welding

This is a non-contact process that requires access to the weld zone from one side of
the parts being welded. The weld is formed as the intense laser light rapidly heats
the material typically calculated in milliseconds. Laser welding is a joining process
where lasers are used as a heating source for joining the two metal parts. The
advantages of laser welding technology such as high speed welding process and
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 383

non-contact welding process make the use of the technology more attractive in the
automotive industry. A number of researchers work have been studied on CO2 laser
welding. Tu et al. (2003) have used 20 kW CO2 laser for welding of mild steel to
determine the plasma absorption in the keyhole, based on photodiode measure-
ments and spectroscopic measurements.
Kurosaki et al. (2009) have developed a CO2 laser welding method for over-
lapped welding of PFA polymer film sheet. The procedure feasibility was con-
firmed by joining of thinner 0.3 mm PFA film sheet.
Liu et al. (2006) studied on the welding of low carbon steel by using the 4 kW
CO2 laser. The welding parameters were laser power 4 kW, welding speed 1.2 m/
min, shielding gas Helium and its flow rate 11 l/min. Authors observed that the
isogrey lines of the image behaviour on the basis of the high-speed photography
which was taken by NAC-10 made in Japan. Shanmugarajan and Padmanabham
(2012) studied on CO2 laser welding of dissimilar Ti–SS (304) combination. They
have used continuous wave 3.5 kW CO2 laser for the autogenously as well as using
vanadium (V) and Tantalum (Ta) as interlayer for welding studies. The experi-
mental results was exhibited that the welding with vanadium as interlayer provide
less cracking compared with autogenously welding. Zhu et al. (2005) investigated
welding of AZ31 alloys by using 1.5 kW diode laser and 2.0 kW CO2 laser.
Observation was made on keyhole welding and conduction welding mode for both
CO2 and diode lasers. It was proposed that the CO2 laser can produce a keyhole
weld with good quality but diode laser was limited to conduction welding, due to its
spot size limitation. In both cases Mg vaporization was inevitable and oxygen
content increases in the welding zone and protecting from weld zone oxidation
glove box are more effective.
Sibillano et al. (2006) studied the effect of helium shielding gas on AA5083
aluminium alloys welding by CO2 laser under different operating conditions. It was
noted the effect of helium gas based on the microstructures of welded specimen and
variation of intensity of emission lines and found that welding nozzle can affect the
welding quality as well as the shielding gas flow rate.

2.2 Hybrid Laser Welding

Welding by using CO2 laser with other welding heat sources also being used for
welding of several components, this type of welding process is called hybrid laser
welding process. Casalino (2007) has developed the MIG-CO2 laser beam welding
of 5005 aluminium alloy (0.6 % magnesium). Author has used Al 5356 as a filler
material, which contains up to 5 % Mg. The bead appearances were evaluated and
the weld penetrations were measured. The hybrid welding processes wear inves-
tigated on the basis of the regression model and factorial experiment output. The set
of data was interpolated and the blanks in a four levels factorial design were filled
and full factorial statistical analysis have been performed. It was observed the weld
penetration is deeper when higher laser power and the position of the workpiece at
384 R. Bhadra et al.

focus height was used, as well as smaller inclinations for the MIG torch and
interactions between other parameters have no effect on weld penetration.
Zhu et al. (2005) have made a comparative study on diode laser (1.5 kW) and
CO2 laser (2.0 kW) welding of studied for the welding of AZ31 alloys. It was
observed that the effect on keyhole and conduction mode on both welding process
and characterizes in both welding modes. It was investigated the welding process
characteristics and mechanisms involved in CO2 laser and diode laser welding of
AZ31 alloy. Authors proposed that the CO2 laser can produce a keyhole weld with
good quality but diode laser was limited to conduction welding, due to the spot size
limitation. The diode laser welded specimens has less porosity relative to CO2 laser
welded specimens, less under-cut also one of the positive side of diode laser over
CO2 laser. In both cases Mg vaporization was inevitable and oxygen content
increases in the welding zone and protecting from weld zone oxidation glove box
are more effective.

3 Studies on Mechanical Properties of Welded Joints

The by using CO2 laser with other welding heat sources also being used for welding
of several components, this type of welding process is called hybrid laser welding
process. Zhu et al. (2005) have made a comparative study on diode laser (1.5 kW)
and CO2 laser (2.0 kW) welding of studied for the welding of AZ31 alloys. It was
observed that the effect on keyhole and conduction mode on both welding process
and characterizes in both welding modes. It was investigated the welding process
characteristics and mechanisms involved in CO2 laser and diode laser welding of
AZ31 alloy. Authors proposed that the CO2 laser can produce a keyhole weld with
good quality but diode laser was limited to conduction welding, due to the spot size
limitation. The diode laser welded specimens has less porosity relative to CO2 laser
welded specimens, less under-cut also one of the positive side of diode laser over
CO2 laser. In both cases Mg vaporization was inevitable and oxygen content
increases in the welding zone and protecting from weld zone oxidation glove box
are more effective.
Gao et al. (2007) have investigated the effect of shielding gas parameter on CO2
laser-tungsten inert gas (TIG) hybrid welding method for SS-316L stainless plate
welding. They observed that the shielding gas parameter can be effect on the
process stability as well as weld penetration. The welding penetration is depending
on the shape of the plasma which is mostly depending on plasma interacting height.
The experimental results was shown that increasing of the interacting height of
plasma provide shallower the weld penetration. The effect of shielding gas
parameters on the plasma shape is achieved by two ways: laser-arc plasma inter-
action and gas flowing direction and velocity. For full penetrated welding, the
hybrid welding protecting method combining the torch and paraxial nozzle was
very narrow, but that of the hybrid protecting method coupling the torch and coaxial
nozzle was considerably wide.
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 385

4 Microstructural Studies of Welded Joints

The quality of weld is depending on the microstructures of various weld zones. The
physical properties of welded portion have change due to change of various phases
as well as change in the dimension of grin size of the materials. Perez-Medina et al.
(2013) observed the metallurgical development of CO2 laser welding of TRIP-800
steel, where they found that the laser promoted the development of up to 23 %
martensite in the fusion zone (FZ) and up to 30 % of the heat-affected zone (HAZ).
Figure 2 shows the micrographs of the weld zones of TRIP-800 steel.
Author observed the microstructure using by optical, scanning, and transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) and did the tensile test of the welded specimen, results
indicated that the strength and ductility decreases in the welded region. The relative
amounts of RA in the BM, FZ and HAZ were also determined using XRD and Cu–
Ka radiation by considering the expression as,

1:4Ic
Va ¼ ð1Þ
Ia þ Ic

where, Ia the average intensity of the austenite is peaks, and Ic is the highest
intensity of the ferrite peak.
Liu et al. (2013) compared the microstructure and mechanical properties of the
CO2 laser-metal active gas (MAG) hybrid welding and MAG welding of iron-based
powder metallurgical steels. The micro structure of hybrid weld zone was columnar
dendrite and fine acicular dendrite grain between the columnar dendrites grains well
as narrow compare with MAG weld zone but for MAG there were only one zone
that was columnar dendrite grain. Authors also observed that the hardness of hybrid
CO2 laser weld samples was better than the MAG weld sample. Kim et al. (2011)
investigated on lab joint of galvanized steel plate (i.e. with 54 gm/m2 zinc coating
of approximately 50 μm thickness) which was welded by CO2 laser, plasma arc,
laser-TIG, laser-micro plasma hybrid welding. Authors studied the effect of process

Fig. 2 Optical micrographs of the AHSS TRIP800 in a BM, b FZ, and c HAZ. Etchants: Nital,
Picral, and KlemmÕs I, B bainite, F ferrite, M martensite, RA retained austenite (Perez-Medina
et al. 2013)
386 R. Bhadra et al.

parameters and the laser-arc interspacing distance on welding quality. It was also
found that the laser-micro plasma hybrid welding with zero gap gives good weld
bead shape and obtained 40 % smaller arc heat input than that found in laser-TIG
hybrid welding.
Honga et al. (2008) studied that the CO2 laser welding characteristics of Inconel
718 having two different grain sizes ASTM #4 and #10 under optimum conditions of
welding power, welding speed and focused position of laser and uses pre-heat and
post-heat treatment by 955 °C solution treatment, and 955 °C solution treat-
ment + aging (955STA) for improving weld quality. Authors have analyzed micro-
structures of HAZ and fused zone using optical microscope and scanning electron
microscope (SEM). Authors suggested that the modified cyclic solution heat treat-
ment showed reduction of micro-fissures. Chen et al. (2009) studied CO2 laser
welding of hot-dip galvanized steel sheets, pre-drilled have used by pulsed Nd:YAG
laser to form vent holes along the weld line. The liquid metal flows into the vent holes
freely, thus creating rivet-shaped welds along the weld seam. The weld quality was
evaluated through optical and scanning electron microscopy and tensile/hardness
tests. It was also established that the using this process with no gap produced welding
without defect such as porosity, spatter, and loss of penetration and possible to
neglect the difficult to produce gap between welding plates. Boutarek et al. (2009)
studied on CO2 laser welding of zirconium alloy i.e. Zircaloy-4. Authors investigated
the optimum process parameter to minimize the defect. The material characterization
was done by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and
micro hardness test. It was found that the micro-structure in different zone is Wide-
mansttäten structure. Wang et al. (2011b) studied on effect of side assisting gas on
2 kW CO2 laser welding of zinc coated steel sheets. Authors investigated the effect of
side assisting gas based on the two set of experiments i.e. (1) Absence and presence of
side assisting gas and (2) With different flow rates of side assisting gas. The optical
emission and spectrum signals from the laser-induced plasma were obtained and
compared. The metallurgical characterizations of various phase present in the various
zones investigated on the basis of microstructure by using scanning electron
microscopy and X-ray diffraction technique. The hardness determined by the Vickers
micro hardness test showed that the variation of grin size did not exhibit significant
difference of hardness in the welded zones.
Shanmugarajan and Padmanabham (2012) investigated on continuous wave
3.5 kW CO2 laser welding of dissimilar Ti–SS (304) combination. The welding was
done autogenously and with interlayer’s such as Vanadium (V) and Tantalum (Ta)
in the form of laser cladding. The welding wear conducted to recognize and opti-
mized laser welding parameters using depth of penetration as criteria. The welding
quality investigated on the basis of macrostructure analysis, SEM/EDAX and XRD
and as well as tensile test. From the experimental results and microstructure anal-
ysis, it was found that the autogenous laser welding of Ti–SS dissimilar combi-
nations is not possible but welding with interlayer’s gives better result and less
defect. Yu et al. (2011) studied the CO2 laser lap welding of dissimilar metals of
5A05 aluminum alloy and ST04Z galvanized steel sheet (both 1 mm thick). The
welding quality was tested and analyzed on the basis of microscopic structure,
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 387

mechanical performance of weld joints. Authors found that the time of welding
5A05 aluminium alloy part was melted but ST04Z sheet part was not melted and
fractures occurred in heat-affected zone (HAZ) of 5A05 aluminum alloy. Vedan-
tAkgun et al. (1995) studied on effect of heat treatment on corrosion behaviour of
laser surface melted 304L stainless steel at the time of welding. The improved
properties due to laser surface melting were attributed to removal and/or redistri-
bution of sulphur based inclusions as well as micro-structural changes that come
about as a result of rapid cooling. Micro-structural and compositional changes were
investigated by the electrochemical behaviors. It was observed that chemical
composition rather than micro-structural changes that took place during laser sur-
face melting had a greater effect on corrosion behavior. Kawaguch et al. (2006)
developed a high power (20 kW) CO2 laser welding technology for preventing
defects in welds at a penetration depth of more than 20 mm. They used nitrogen as a
shielding gas for preventing porosity. Authors studied the effects of various welding
parameters on plasma generation, penetration depth, porosity and as well as the
effect of nitrogen shielding gas on the depth of penetration. It was found that the
penetration depth inversely proportional to the welding speed and directly pro-
portional to the formation of porosity. It also found that the penetration depth
sharply decreases under the effect of periodic nitrogen plasma generation on the
basis of micro structure, beam characteristics and power fluctuation response.
Lakshminarayanan and Balasubramaniam (2012) studied on welding of 409 M
stainless steel by using 3.5 kW CO2 laser and evaluated the micro-structural and
mechanical properties of weld zone. Figure 3 shows the SEM fractographs of
tensile and impact tested specimens. Base material was observed to have coarse

Fig. 3 SEM fractographs of tensile and impact tested specimens (Lakshminarayanan and
Balasubramaniam 2012). a Base metal tensile; b base metal impact; c LBW tensile; d LBW impact
388 R. Bhadra et al.

grain structure, whereas welded reason was seen to have fine dendritic structure and
equiaxed axial grains of ferrite. Impact toughness of laser welded joint was found to
be higher than base metal due to existence of equiaxed and dendritic grain per-
pendicular to the crack path.
El-Batahgy (1997) observed the effect of welding parameters on CO2 laser
(maximum 5 kW) welding of 304L stainless steel on fusion zone shape and
solidification structure. It was found that the Laser power have more pronounced
effect on penetration depth (directly proportional to the laser power) in comparison
to its effect on weld profile and HAZ. With increase of welding speed, depth/width
ratio was found to increase and the fusion zone therefore was found to be decreased.
In terms of defocusing distance, maximum penetration and acceptable weld profile
was obtained using defocusing distance of 0 to + and −1. Authors observed that the
shielding gas is most effective due to its high ionization energy. It reduced plasma
effect to a great extent and therefore helped laser power to reach work-piece better.
Study of micro structure showed that high welding speed and low laser power
resulted in finer structure, though effect of welding speed was more significant.
High cooling rate supported directional nature of microstructure around the laser
beam axis.

5 Modelling of Laser Welding Processes

The modelling can be possible by analytical methods as well as numerical methods.

Several numerical methods are widely used for either modelling or optimizing the
performance of the manufacturing processes, which has been advanced due to the
large diffusion of the personal computer and the numerical algorithms. The
knowledge of these methods and the ability in integrating their functions can make
both the manufacturing engineer and the researcher ace their duties.

5.1 Analytical Modelling for Laser Welding

The mechanism of the laser plasma and characteristics of laser is providing a

mathematical relation, which is used in weld quality estimation. Abderrazak et al.
(2008) investigated the weldability of magnesium alloy (WE43) by using an
industrial (CO2) laser source. Authors provide an analytical thermal model which is
the function of the penetration depth and the bead width, aiming at predicting the
joint shape. Where, the weld bed width is the function of the incident laser power
and welding speed. It was also considered the convection, conduction and radiation
phenomena and a protecting gas from avoiding joint oxidation in the analytical
thermal model of welding area. The thermal model based on the Davis thermal
approach where largely considered for the characterization of the liquid zone
average radius. Studying the effect of the laser beam power and welding speed.
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 389

The capillary size and the bead width in the work piece were among the priorities of
this analysis. The consideration of convection and radiation phenomena is an
important factor because this amount is about 20 % of laser power. It was also
compared the result of thermal model with the experiment results and a satisfactory
correlation was observed, indicating the reliability of the model. Park and Rhee
(1999) observed that the effect of welding speed, laser power and flow rate of assist
gas on light intensity and spatter formation in the CO2 laser welding. The light
emitted from the laser and spatter generation has been detected by photo-diodes.
Authors have made a suitable relationship among the plasma, spatter and the bead
shape along with the analysis of mechanism of plasma and spatter. It was also found
that the volume of plasma in the keyhole and spatter increase with the increase of
heat input and signals abruptly decrease at full penetration. Plasma plume signal
decreases with the increase of heat input because of the effect of assist gas. The
relationship between the bead shape and the plasma and spatter signal have certain
patterns that can be used for estimation of bead shape.
Piekarska and Kubiak (2011) developed a analytical and finite element model for
computational analysis process which can estimate the temperature field and
velocity field of melted material for the laser–arc hybrid welding. The results from
the numerical and analytical models were validated with the experimental results.
Authors proposed that the developed analytical and numerical model can be used
for analyzing welding parameter such as welding speed and distance between arc
and laser beam.

5.2 Numerical Modelling for Laser Welding

Cho et al. (2010) have developed a numerical model by considering the physical
assumptions for predicting the molten metal flow and allowing element distribution
at the time of CO2 laser-GMA hybrid welding. The three-dimensional transient
simulations was conducted on the basis of combining arc welding and laser welding
model without interaction between the two heat sources and modified it to introduce
the optical geometry of the laser system and conservation equation. It was found
that theoretical ɛ (strain) value of 0.08, rather than numerically compensated ɛ value
of 0.2. The bead shape can be predicted very accurately by numerical model and
flow of alloying element can be predicted along with the excess amount of alloying
element flow at the rear part of the keyhole. Casalino and Ghorbel (2008) simulated
thermo-morphological and mechanical behaviour by means of the finite element
method (FEM) of moulded thermoplastic polymers during CO2 laser welding.
Keyhole and conduction welding for butt and overlap configurations were analyzed.
It was collected data from the available literatures for validating the result from
simulated FEM model. Under the variation of welding speed and power, recrys-
tallized zones and penetration depth were calculated. Authors investigated that the
thermoplastic polymers can be reasonable modelled by FEM. The mechanical,
thermal, optical and solid-state characteristic was observed in this model.
390 R. Bhadra et al.

Fortunato et al. (2012) studied nanosecond pulsed laser welding using two eu-
tectoid steel components of 1 mm thickness of 1070 normalized sheet metal plates,
which were used and about 1 mm long bead was maintained on plate weldments. It
was performed with different welding process parameters. The Pulse duration
(100 ns) and maximum energy per pulse (1 mJ) were kept constant with the
variation of welding speed, frequency, laser power. It was observed that lower
welding speed results in higher penetration depth. The pulse frequency and scan-
ning velocity determined the number of pulses in the weld bead for a particular
penetration depth. The specific energy per unit volume of heat source was required
for achieving micro-welding with pulse nano-second, which was found to be in
between 0.3 and 10 MJ/cm3. Above specific energy of 10 MJ/cm3, high value of
specific energy per pulse resulted in pure ablation whereas low specific energy per
pulse resulted in depression of the top of weld bead. For a given specific energy the
higher penetration was obtained at the minimum specific energy per pulse (high
pulse number), while for a given laser power high pulse frequency and high pulse
duration lead to higher penetration depth. Also it has been seen that with respect to
the amount of time, the material remained above the eutectoid temperature was less
than that of required for the transformation. Finally no cracks were observed in the
test specimens. Arif et al. (2011) studied on laser welding of mild steel tube under
the nitrogen assisting gas ambient. For predicting the temperature and stress field
they have used finite element method (FEM) along with incorporation of temper-
ature-dependent thermal and mechanical properties with 3D volumetric moving
heat source. Sharp increase in Von-mises stress was observed in the region of the
laser heat source due to attainment of high temperature gradient. The residual stress
developed in the welding region was measured using the XRD technique and
results were compared with the predictions. Optical microscopy and SEM were
used for metallurgical examination of the welding site. Increase of welding speed
with constant laser power resulted in reduction of the width of high stress zone.
Deng and Kiyoshima (2010) have studied the effect of existing residual stresses
before welding on residual stresses produced by laser welding of SUS316 stainless
steel pipe. Two cases were considered one without prior heat treatment and one
with prior heat treatment to induce residual stresses. At the time of heat treatment
the heat exchange was simulated using conduction, convection, and radiation laws.
A volumetric heat source with uniform density distribution was used. The
numerical simulation was done based on thermal elastic plastic FEM. The results
showed that both the hoop and axial stress distribution were independent of the
central angle around the pipe. For both inside and outside surfaces of pipe it was
seen that within the critical length of plastic strain, only laser welding governed the
hoop residual stresses and thus residual stress in both the cases are almost similar.
But beyond plastic strain critical length, the difference between residual stresses of
both the cases increases. Also beyond this point residual stresses induced by laser
beam were observed up to a point after which the stresses became equal to that
induced by heat treatment only. This point was referred to as critical length of hoop
residual stress induced by laser beam welding and axial stress has same results.
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 391

GuoMing et al. (2007) studied the dynamic temperature field of laser welding on
stainless steel. The thermo-mechanical properties of the material changed rapidly
with the change in temperature. It was dynamically simulated by the FEA software
—ANSYS using transient heat conduction equation. Surface thermal source with
gauss distribution was adopted. Position of thermal source was based on time. The
radiant heat exchange and convection contact with the difference of temperature on
the surface of object were considered with the total exchange of heat coefficient in
the calculation for convenience. The moving load was implemented by circulation
of APDL language. With the help of calculation it was shown that the simulation
results of weld shape were in concurrence with the experimental results. Duggan
et al. (2011) developed a 2D numerical model for laser spot welding of an alu-
minium alloy at meso-scale by using FORTRAN 90/95. This model deals with
temperature distribution during melting and solidification phenomenon at the time
of welding process. An enthalpy method and Gaussian distribution was used for
predicting melting and heat distribution phenomena. Authors were observed the
formation of metallurgical structure after welding on the basis of heat distribution
and it was incorporated in the numerical model. A mechanical blocking criterion
was used to define dendrite coherency and the columnar-to-equiaxed transition
within the weld pool was predicted. Smith et al. (2000) developed a model for
determining residual stress after welding. Authors have used thermo-mechanical FE
analysis, using the ABAQUS code for predicting residual stresses and compared
with deep hole residual stresses measuring method in thick weld joints. Experi-
mental tests were also conducted and were compared with the analysis results. Both
the analytical results were observed to be in good agreement with each other which
are slightly higher than experimental ones.
Belhadj et al. (2010) worked on finite element simulation of laser beam welding
on magnesium alloys. A three dimensional finite element model was developed for
simulating thermal history. Moving heat source was applied as load, which is
dependent on process parameters such as power density, laser beam dimensions and
welding speed. Experimental studies were conducted for validating numerical
model simulation. The temperature measurement results and metallurgical inves-
tigations were in good agreement with thermal model. Wang et al. (2011a)
numerically simulated the transient temperature field during laser welding of 304
stainless steels by using FLUENT software. Figure 4 shows the temperature profile
obtained during numerical simulation. A volumetric heat source with Gaussian
distribution was assumed. Phenomena such as phase transition, heat and mass
transfer, fluid flow etc. were modeled analytically. According to the simulated
results, recoil pressure played a vital role in the keyhole formation and the large
temperature gradients were observed in front vicinity of this keyhole. Good
agreement was made between the numerical simulation and experimental data.
Mert (2009) worked with analysis software ANSYS for the study of the effect of
weld toe radius and root gap in T-fillet welded joint on fatigue life. In all cases,
maximum von-Misses equivalent stresses were observed at weld toe. It was
observed that small toe radius; small and big root gap promoted stress concentration
and therefore decreases in fatigue life. Big toe radius and medium root gap was seen
392 R. Bhadra et al.

Fig. 4 Comparison of weld

shape by experiment with that
by calculation (Wang et al.
2011a)

to give best results in terms of fatigue life. These results were verified experi-
mentally well.

6 Studies on the Laser Welding Process Parameters

Optimization

Welding process parameter optimization is widely depending on its application.

Ruggiero et al. (2011) investigated the butt welding on the dissimilar metal of low
carbon steel and austenitic steel AISI316 with full depth of penetration by CO2
laser. It was also investigated the effect of laser power (1.1–1.43 kW), welding
speed (25–75 cm/min) and focal point position (−0.8 to −0.2 mm) on the shape of
weld bead geometry using response surface methodology (RSM). Authors proposed
that the optimal welding combination such as laser power of 1.1 kW, welding speed
72.6 and 75 cm/min and focused position being around −0.44 mm that would
minimize the middle width, the weld-bead area and the cost. Welding speed is the
parameter that most significantly influences the weld bead dimensions. Hamatani
et al. (2005) studied the CO2 laser welding of mild steel SS45 with a thickness of
0.8, 2.0, or 3.2 mm with TIG used for applying the voltage potential to increase the
bead root width. It was also investigated enhancement of the welding speed and the
butt joint gap tolerance and the influences of the experimental conditions such as:
supplied voltage between plates and backside electrode, welding speed, plasma
operates gaseous species, and the butt joint gap on the bead root. Authors found that
the welding root bead width enhanced at optimal welding condition and applied
suitable current is about 30 A. Olabi et al. (2006) have used neural network and the
Taguchi approach for the optimization of the welding speed, the laser power and the
focal position for CO2 laser keyhole welding of medium carbon steel butt joining.
The penetration-to-fuse-zone-width (p/w) and the penetration-to-HAZ-width (p/w)
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 393

ratios were the process metrics used for the optimization. The training of the neural
networks, welding parameters is being used from literature. They have found that
the optimized solution is valid up to used parameters. Analysis of data from this
approach is reasonably correct. They did not found any drawbacks to the use of this
approach.
Olabi et al. (2013) optimized welding parameters such as welding speed, laser
power and focal length of 1.5 kW CO2 laser joining process, when dissimilar
materials [316 stainless steel and low carbon steel (160 × 80 × 3 mm)] are involved.
Charpy impact test and tensile strength tests were performed. Increase in parameters
i.e. welding speed, laser power and focal length, all resulted in decrease of tensile
strength. It has been observed that welding speed being the most significant
parameter and focal length being the least. While in case of impact strength, laser
power and welding speed were found to have opposite effect i.e. with increase in
laser power impact strength increased proportionally, whereas with increase in
welding speed it was found to decrease. Mathematical model involving important
parameters was determined by design expert software. A laser power of 1.1 kW and
welding speed of 72.66 cm/min was found optimum under given conditions.

7 Study the Effect of External Process Parameters on Laser

Welding

Apart from the above important studies on laser welding, the other important
parameters which affect the weld quality in case of laser welding were also studied.
They are:
• Study the effect of assistance gases.
• Study the effect of electric, magnetic field and electrical potentia.

7.1 Study the Effect of Assistance Gases

Several researchers have been observed the effect of shielding gas that is protect the
welding zone from oxidation and other un-desirable effects. Wang et al. (2011b)
studied the role of side assisting gas on plasma and energy transmission during CO2
laser welding of galvanized steel sheet. The plasma volume was found to decrease
sharply with initial increase of gas flow rate, after which stable plasma was
observed. This resulted in inference that the plasma consists of two parts one was
diffusive plasma, which could be easily blown away and another was stable residual
plasma which could not be blown away by strong gas flow rate. This assumption
was supported by the photographs taken by high speed camera. Sathiya and Ab-
dulJaleel (2010) studied on micro-structural characterization of CO2 laser welded
394 R. Bhadra et al.

on AISI904L super austenitic stainless steel. The laser welding employing two
shielding gases namely Argon and Helium was carried out. The Helium shielded
weld metal aspect ratio was slightly higher than Argon shielded weld metal aspect
ratio. Also hardness value for He shielded weld metal was observed to be higher.
The ratio of Cr/Ni was less than 1.35 for both the cases and hence all the weld metal
solidifies in austenitic mode. The Helium shielded weld metal comprised of finer
and more equiaxed grains. All this was attributed to the higher ionization potential
of He gas.

7.2 Study the Effect of Electric, Magnetic Field and Electrical

Potential

Tse et al. (1999a, b) have investigated the effect of magnetic field on the shielding
gas helium, at the time of CO2 laser welding on AISI 304 stainless steel. It was
investigated the effect of magnetic field strength, laser power, welding speed, field
direction and shielding gas helium and argon on depth of penetration and weld bead
width. Authors proposed that the effect magnetic field on helium shielding gas is
increased the penetration depth about 7 % but no significant effect on weld bed
width. It was also observed that the penetration depth was significantly increases at
low magnetic field strength with argon shielding gas. Tse et al. (1999a, b) inves-
tigated on feasibility of using electric and magnetic fields as a plasma control during
CO2 laser welding of AISI 304 stainless steel sheet. It was found that the pene-
tration depth was increases for both field and it can be increased by more than 13 %,
week field strength penetration depth can be improve with decreasing the bead
width. Authors make the interrelation between the field direction, penetration depth
and the width of bead. It was found that the optimum field strength was directly
proportion to the laser power. Authors also observed that the penetration depth was
decreases with increases field strength above the optimum value.
Tse et al. (2000) observed that the effect of magnetic field on the CO2 laser
welding of AISI 304 stainless-steel (8 mm thick) plate. They have also observed
that the effect of the magnetic field strength and direction with Helium shielding gas
on the weld bead profile and laser power. They also observed that the penetration
depth for shielding gas Helium, Argon and Helium with magnetic field. They wear
found that the penetration depth 16 and 8 % increases for Argon and Helium with
magnetic field compared with only use of Helium. The penetration depth maximum
increases at optimum field strength but it was decrease at lower and higher then that
the optimal field strength. They also observed that the negative electric field was
increases the penetration depth but the improvement was smaller with compared to
positive electric field.
A Literature Review on CO2 Laser Welding 395

8 Image Processing and Feature Extraction

Characterization of welding quality image processing and feature extraction is

playing a vital role in welding process. Li et al. (2009) have studied on the effect of
surface oil Metaflux 70-03 and blowing gas Helium flow rate on CO2 laser welding
of E-grade ship-building steel. Authors have developed a method to acquire the
stability information from plasma images taken by high-speed photography. It was
found that the presence of surface oil and less or more than the optimum gas flow
rate reduces the stability of the welding process. Cheng et al. (2012) observed that
the key-hole characteristic by a high-speed camera during deep penetrated CO2
laser welding on aluminum alloy 6016. The spectrograph, plasma spectra was used
for calculating the electron temperature. Authors also compute electron density by
using Lorenz nonlinear fitting, the FWHM of Stark broadening lines. It was found
that the key hole plasma electron temperature gradually decreases towards edge and
bottom of the key hole and electron density increases at the keyhole depth but
approximately same along radius.
Seto et al. (2002) observed on the porosity formation in CO2 laser welding of
SUS304 stainless steel. The micro-focusing X-ray transmission imaging device was
used to perform real time observations. The results showed that the porosity for-
mation readily in partially penetrated welds but did not form in fully penetrated
welds. The larger pores were seen with high laser power and less welding speed.
The Nitrogen was found successful in suppression of porosity by increasing fluidity
of molten metal. The metal flow observation suggested that bubbles not only
migrate under their own buoyancy, but are also transported along hot metal flow.

9 Summary

Although CO2 laser welding have been successfully used to join various materials,
it is still at an early stage. So far, the development of the CO2 laser welding process
for each new application has remained largely empirical. The numerical and
experimental studies are significant help in understanding the CO2 laser welding
process.
In this book chapter, the research activities and progress to date in the devel-
opment of CO2 laser welding are reviewed. In the present review, emphasis has
been given, especially on the laser welding numerical and analytical modelling, soft
computing approaches and welding characterization of the present technique.
There are several gaps remaining in the experiment and numerical analysis of
CO2 laser welding. Accurate and reliable experimental and numerical analysis of
the CO2 laser welding is still having some difficulties. The main objective of the
book chapter is to review recent progress in CO2 laser welding and to provide a
foundation for further research.
396 R. Bhadra et al.

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Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert
Gas Atmosphere: An Experimental
and Numerical Investigation

Yadaiah Nirsanametla, Swarup Bag, C.P. Paul and L.M. Kukreja

Abstract In fusion welding, thermo-chemical reactions may take place among

surrounding atmosphere particles and molten weld pool at high temperature gra-
dients. The atmosphere particles such as oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen may
become part of final weld joint that severely affects the weld joint quality and weld
metal properties. Therefore, the welding atmosphere and protection of weld pool
plays a noticeable role on the quality of the final weld joint. Henceforth, in this
chapter, fiber laser welding of austenitic stainless steel plates have been examined
in two different ambient atmospheres. Firstly, the experiments are conducted in
open atmosphere and in argon ambient atmosphere to study the characteristic dif-
ference between them. The experimental investigation specifies that the weld bead
dimensions and aspect ratio are higher in case of argon atmosphere as compared to
open atmosphere. The microstructures of heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone
(FZ) at both atmospheric conditions are analyzed. It is obvious from the experi-
mental results that the top surface profile is smoother and very clear in case of welds
at argon atmosphere. Moreover, in this work, the authors also reported an efficient
conduction mode finite element based heat transfer model of linear fiber laser
welding process using a volumetric heat source. The calculated weld bead
dimensions using finite element model are compared with the experimentally
measured results at similar process variables. Relatively fair agreement of the
experimental results with model results entitles the robustness of the modeling
approach followed here and reported in this work.

Keywords Fiber laser

Fusion welding

Inert gas atmosphere Open




atmosphere Metallographic analysis Volumetric heat source Heat transfer


Finite element method

Y. Nirsanametla (&)
S. Bag

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati, Assam 781039, India
e-mail: yadaiah@iitg.ernet.in
C.P. Paul
L.M. Kukreja
Laser Material Processing Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology,
Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452013, India

© Springer India 2015 399

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_20
400 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

1 Introduction

In recent past, high energy beam welding processes, like laser welding have been
progressively employing in industrial manufacturing with respect to traditional
welding processes due to its advantages such as lower dimension and shape dis-
tortion of pieces, greater processing speed, high energy density, deep penetration,
focalization, and high efficiency. Currently, gas, solid-state and semi-conductor
lasers are used for joining of different materials. Recently, fiber lasers have been
receiving greater attention and emerging because of its advantages like high beam
quality which can produce an ultra-high peak power density of MW/mm2 levels
corresponding to a focused electron beam, and is favorable to become one of the
desirable heat sources for deep-penetration and high-speed welding. Moreover, the
advantage of fiber laser is that the beam transmitted from the fiber is usually of very
high quality and can be focused to a small spot size. Furthermore, in a fiber laser the
active gain media is an optical fiber doped with rare earth elements, such as
ytterbium, erbium, dysprosium, praseodymium, thulium and neodymium. They are
related to doped fiber amplifiers, which deliver light amplification without lasing. A
fiber laser creates the beam inside the fiber; therefore, the delivery of the beam does
not necessitate any sensitive or complicated optics. This makes it very suitable and
easy to use. In fiber laser, the beam is generated and confined inside the small core
of the fiber. During high power density fusion welding processes there is the
possibility of thermo-chemical reaction among welding atmosphere particles and
molten weld pool. These inclusions become part of final weld joint and initiate the
weld defects such as pinholes. Therefore, most of the fusion welding processes
involve protection of weld molten pool from the atmosphere by several means such
as shielding gas or flux to avoid the reaction of molten pool with welding
atmosphere.
Various molten pool protection techniques offer different degree of protection
from atmosphere. Several shielding methods such as slag, gas, gas and slag, self-
protection and vacuum offer different degree of weld molten pool protection from
the surrounding atmosphere during various welding processes (Kim et al. 1998;
Kou 2002). Sahoo et al. (1988) have studied the influence of the surface active
elements such as sulphur and oxygen in blocking vaporization sites on weld pool
surface. The presence of oxygen and sulphur in weld metal leads to increase in
metal vaporization rate. Ramirez et al. (1994) have investigated the influence of
welding process parameters on solidification substructure to cause weld metal
porosity. In their investigations, the amount of porosity increases with increase of
nitrogen gas introduced in argon shielding gas atmosphere. Dong et al. (2003) and
Dong et al. (2005) have studied the nitrogen absorption and desorption during CO2
laser welding of stainless steel in controlled atmosphere of Ar-N2 mixed gas. Ra-
mazan and Koray (2005) have studied the influence of the welding atmosphere
during gas metal arc welding (GMAW) of low carbon steel. In their study, the
authors realized that the toughness of the weld metal is higher and mechanical
properties of the weldment are better due to less porosity in controlled atmosphere
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 401

of argon when compared with the classical GMAW. Bayram et al. (2008) have
studied the influence of the welding atmosphere and heat input during resistance
spot welding of 316L austenitic stainless steel. In their study, the authors observed
that the tensile shear load bearing capacity increases when heat input increases due
to the enlargement of the nugget size. This occurrence is slightly higher in nitrogen
atmospheric conditions as compared to welding in open atmosphere conditions.
Dursun (2008) have investigated the influence of welding atmosphere and welding
current during resistance spot welding of 304L austenitic stainless steel. In their
study the author determined that in a nitrogen atmosphere welding, an optimum
weld quality was achieved by using 9 kA peak weld current. Kang et al. (2009)
have studied the GMA welding process with various shielding gases and its
combinations such as helium, argon, mixture of argon and helium, and supplying
pure argon and pure helium alternatively. In their study, the authors observed that
the lowest degree of weld induced distortion is obtained if an alternative supply of
shielding gas is used for molten weld pool protection when compared to individual
supply and mixture of them with similar welding conditions. Ostsemin (2009) have
studied the temperature measurement of the electrode-metal drop during carbon
dioxide controlled atmosphere of arc welding. A critical review of literature survey
suggests that the way of protection of molten weld pool and welding atmosphere
plays a significant role in the weld metal properties and weld joint quality. Fur-
thermore, the degree of molten weld pool protection can be enriched by avoiding
poor methods of shielding media. Argon gas ambient atmosphere or self-protective
atmosphere of argon welding process avoids chemical reaction among open
atmosphere particles and molten weld pool. This type of self-created inert gas
atmosphere leads to less degree of weld defects.
Laser welding process is an expensive process where the trial-and-error method
of investigation is not appropriate. Therefore, prior to welding manufactured goods
a comprehensive understanding of the operating process conditions and variables
are necessary, which can only be realized by using modeling and simulation. The
modeling and simulation provides an enhanced understanding of the manufacturing
process and the interaction between the process variables. The utmost widespread
analytical methods for calculating the thermal cycles in fusion welded plates was
started in late 1940s by Rosenthal (1946, 1947) and Rykalin (1974) based on
fundamental theory of heat flow for linear welding process. The heat source models,
like point and line used by Rosenthal and Rykalin are subject to serious errors for
predicting temperatures in and around the fusion and heat affected zones. In reality,
the fusion welding heat sources either arc or beam should not be either a point or a
line in nature. Moreover, the heat sources should be spread over some area. Pavelic
et al. (1969) introduced a Gaussian distributed ‘disc’ heat source model on the
surface of the work piece. Even though Pavelic’s ‘disc’ model is undoubtedly an
important step forward in modeling of fusion welding heat source models, the
digging action in plate thickness direction was not reflected in this model. Goldak
et al. (1984) proposed a three dimensional non-axisymmetric heat source model of
‘double ellipsoid’ configuration with Gaussian distribution. This type of heat source
402 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

model is most appropriate for linear welding process modeling and which include
the digging action of the welding heat source. Wu et al. (2006) developed a new
heat source model based on conical heat source model for deep penetration plasma
arc welding. However, the conical shape is more appropriate for high aspect ratio
and deep penetration welds.
Several investigators studied the numerical modeling of fusion welding process
for measuring the weld thermal cycles and macrographs using an appropriate heat
source models (De et al. 2003; Frewin and Scott 1999). Bag et al. (2009) inves-
tigated the conduction mode laser spot welding process using an adaptive volu-
metric heat source model with finite element method which is one of the forward
step in simulation of conduction based heat transfer model that does not need the
weld pool dimensions a priori. Prior definition of heat source model parameters is
one of the major hindrances in widely used double ellipsoidal heat source. The
model parameters of Gaussian distributed double ellipsoidal heat source model can
be realized from the experimentally measured weld bead dimensions. Moreover, if
the experimental weld bead dimensions are not available in advance; the model
parameters can also be calculated using the non-dimensional model presented by
Christensen et al. (1965). However, the rear and front lengths of double ellipsoidal
heat source model changes with welding speed which is independent of measured
weld dimensions. Yadaiah and Bag (2012) studied the influence of the rear and
front length ratio with respect to welding speed using a kernel of genetic algorithm
based optimization module and recommended a cubic functional form of this ratio.
To reduce the model parameters such as front and rear length selection in double-
ellipsoidal heat source model, Yadaiah and Bag (2014) developed a new heat
source model for simulation of linear fusion welding process. The flow of molten
material in weld pool plays a significant role in the assessment of heat transport
within weld pool and subsequently the weld joint quality. However, in the present
work the thermal conductivity of molten material is increased artificially for several
folds to account the enhanced heat transfer due to high convective flow of liquid
molten metal within the weld pool. Few researchers also investigated the heat
transfer and fluid flow in fusion welding process using finite element method along
with optimization of uncertain model parameters (Bag and De 2010; De and
DebRoy 2005, 2006; Yadaiah and Bag 2013). Transport phenomena based heat
transfer and fluid flow models in fusion welding process are always more realistic
than conduction heat transfer analysis. However, conduction heat transfer based
heat transfer analysis is often preferred due to their benefits in terms of a reduced
amount of computational time, ease of modeling and its simplicity, and ease of
coupling with stress analysis model.
In this chapter, the authors have investigated and reported the influence of
ambient welding atmosphere during fiber laser welding of austenitic stainless steel
(SS 304 and SS 316) plates of 5 and 3 mm thickness. The fiber laser welding
experiments are conducted in argon gas atmosphere as well in open atmospheric
conditions to study the characteristic difference between them in terms of weld bead
dimensions, weld bead profile, microstructures and top surface appearance.
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 403

The depth of penetration is more in argon inert gas atmosphere and weld bead
profile on top surface is smoother than that in open atmospheric conditions.
Moreover, finite element based conduction heat transfer model is developed for
simulation of fiber laser welding in open atmospheric conditions using volumetric
heat source model. Furthermore, the molten material flow has been approximated
by an artificially increased thermal conductivity within weld pool cavity accounting
enhanced heat transport for temperatures above the melting point.
This chapter is organized into five different sections to elaborate and refer to all
the aspects of fiber laser welding process. In the ‘introduction’ section, a general
background and critical literature review of existing efforts on the influence of
different welding atmospheres in fusion welding process are reported. Moreover, a
brief literature in the direction of heat transfer and fluid flow analysis in fusion
welding process are incorporated along with overview of the present work. In
section ‘materials and methods’, a detailed experimental procedure of fiber laser
welding in a controlled atmosphere of argon and in open atmospheric conditions
under similar welding conditions are presented. Furthermore, the authors also
reported in this section the materials used, experimental requirements for controlled
atmosphere and process variables. In the ‘theoretical background’ section, a
detailed mathematical overview for developing conduction heat transfer model
using finite element method is presented. In section ‘results and discussion’, the
experimental observations in both open and controlled atmosphere are presented.
The numerically computed results and validation of the same with experimentally
measured data are testified. Subsequently, concluding remarks of the present work
are presented at the end of the chapter followed by selective references used to
construct the foundation of the chapter.

2 Materials and Methods

A 2.0 kW continuous wave fiber laser based welding system was used to perform
bead-on-plate welding on commercially available type 304 and 316 stainless steel
plates of 5 and 3 mm thickness respectively. The experimental setup used for
controlled atmosphere welding is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The welding
experimental setup consists of four major subsystems. They are computerized
numerically controlled (CNC) workstation in a Glove box, 2 kW ytterbium con-
tinuous wave fiber laser source, vacuum pump and CNC controller. The experi-
ments were conducted with similar welding process variables both in controlled and
open atmospheric conditions to determine the characteristic difference between
them. Table 1 depicts the welding process variables for both controlled atmosphere
of argon and open atmospheric conditions. A mixed mode fiber laser beam power
which is the mixture of two fundamental modes, 60 % of TEM01, and 40 % of
TEM00, which gives a near flat top beam profile (Kumar et al. 2008, 2012), is
considered (refer Fig. 2). The combined intensity profile for a mixed mode laser
beam is given by following equation:
404 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of controlled atmosphere welding experimental setup

Table 1 Fiber laser welding process variables corresponding to a SS 304, 5 mm plate and b SS
316, 3 mm plate (Yadaiah et al. 2014)
(a) Data set Laser power (W) Velocity (mm s−1) Heat input per unit length (J/mm)
1 2000 18.33 109.11
2 2000 16.67 119.98
3 2000 15.00 133.33
4 2000 13.33 150.04
(b) Data set Laser power (W) Velocity (mm s−1) Heat input per unit length (J/mm)
1 1000 18.33 54.55
2 1000 13.33 75.00
3 900 18.33 49.09
4 900 13.33 67.50
5 800 18.33 43.64
6 800 13.33 60.00

2Pfl 2r 2 2r 2
Ifl ðr Þ ¼ ½ay þ ð1  ay Þ 2 exp½ 2  ð1Þ
profl
2 rofl rofl

where Pfl, rofl, ay and r depict the fiber laser power on the substrate (W), radius of
the Gaussian (TEM00) beam component (m), fraction of the lower mode (TEM00)
in mixed mode laser beam and the distance from the center of the laser beam (m)
respectively.
The workstation is CNC controlled and positioned stationary during welding
process where as the laser head is mounted in Z-direction vertically and movable.
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 405

Fig. 2 Schematic representation of intensity profiles of two different fundamental modes and their
mixture

Prior to the welding operation the work pieces were cleaned to remove oil, grease,
and water vapour using an organic solvent such as acetone. The work piece is kept
normal to heat source. The laser welding workstation is also equipped with laser
power on/off mode and gas on/off mode to preserve the necessities. The fiber laser
welding experimental setup characteristics during performance of the welding
experiments are specified in Table 2.
During welding in controlled atmosphere of argon, the five axes CNC work-
station was in a glove box. The glove box is essential for controlling atmospheric
conditions during processing. To protect the weldment from the atmosphere, the
welding experiments were performed inside a high purity argon gas filled glove
box. Air and moisture particle are the main impurities in atmosphere which affects
the properties of the weld joint. Henceforth, a controlled atmosphere of argon fiber
laser welding system was also integrated with oxygen and moisture analyzers. The
desired purity levels are accomplished by purging high purity grade argon gas. The
purity level of the glove box is retained by keeping the differential pressure just
above the atmospheric pressure.

Table 2 Experimental setup

conditions Laser spot diameter 200 µm
Mode of beam Multi-mode and flat on top surface
Laser power mode Continuous wave
Wavelength 1080 nm
Beam angle 90°
Focal point 1 mm below to the top surface
Fiber core diameter 50 µm
Shielding gas Argon
406 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

After carrying out the welding experiments in both atmospheres, the metallo-
graphic analysis was done to measure the weld pool shape and dimensions, and
microstructure for welded samples of both atmospheres. In the course of metallo-
graphic analysis, the welded samples were sectioned perpendicular to welding
direction, polished with different grades of polishing papers (220, 400, 600, 800,
1000 and diamond polish) and etched with Villella’s reagent. The etched samples
were analyzed on optical microscope to take macro and microstructures. The weld
bead shape and dimensions are calculated for each welded sample. Top bead
profile, appearance of the weld joint and microstructures for various welding speeds
under both the atmospheric conditions are also examined.

3 Theoretical Background

The conservation of energy is the fundamental principle in heat transfer analysis of

fusion welding process. The general heat conduction equation in Cartesian coor-
dinate system for linear laser welding process, if the heat source moves along Y-
axis is

2 

@ T @2T @2T _ ¼ qCp @T þ v @T
km þ þ þ Q ð2Þ
@x2 @y2 @z2 @t @y

where (x, y, z) is coordinate system attached to the heat source, km is the thermal
conductivity of the material (W m−1 K−1) and is given by the following equation to
compensate the fluid flow of the molten material as

ko T\Tm
km ¼ 0 ð3Þ
ko þ k T  Tm
0
where ko is the thermal conductivity of the material used; k is the additional value
by which the convection heat transfer capability is equally considered in the present
proposed thermal modeling; Tm is the melting point of the material used. T is the
temperature variable (K), Q_ is the rate of heat generation per unit volume (W m−3),
ρ is the density of the material (kg m−3), Cp is the specific heat capacity of the
material (J kg−1 K−1), t is time variable (s) and v is the welding velocity (m s−1).
Figure 3 schematically represents the weldment transverse cross-section along with
applied thermal boundary conditions. Because of symmetric nature of the welding
process, the half of the weld plate was considered for simulation. The temperature
gradient is zero at symmetric surface which is normal to the weld interface. The top
surface of the work piece subjected to a specified heat flux due to fiber laser beam
and the remaining surfaces, (except symmetric surface) are subjected to convection
and radiation heat losses. The natural boundary condition can be represented
mathematically as
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 407

Fig. 3 Schematic representation of solution domain and applied boundary conditions

@T  
kn  qs þ hðT  To Þ þ re T4  T4o ¼ 0 ð4Þ
@n

where kn is thermal conductivity normal to the surface, qs is the imposed heat flux,
h is the convection heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1), σ is Stefan-Boltzmann
constant, ε is emissivity and To is ambient temperature (K). To avoid the non-linear
nature of the Eq. (4), ‘a lumped heat transfer coefficient’ is considered in this
simulation, this include the convection and radiation heat losses. A lumped heat
transfer coefficient can be represented mathematically below (Goldak et al. 984)

heff ¼ 2:4  103  e  T1:61 ð5Þ

where heff, T, ε depict the lumped heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1), temper-
ature (K) and emissivity respectively. Henceforth, the Eq. (4) can be modified by
combining Eqs. (4) and (5) as given below

@T
Kn  q þ heff ðT  To Þ ¼ 0 ð6Þ
@n

The representation of the heat source in the present work has been considered a
double ellipsoidal volumetric heat source model with Gaussian distribution (Goldak
et al. 1984). The main characteristics of this heat source model are the digging
action and the movement of the heat source by nonsymmetrical distribution of heat
flux density in the front part and rear portions of the heat source. When the finer
408 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

laser heat source move along the Y-axis, the power density distribution inside the
front (f) and rear (r) portions are given by following equations


3x2 3y2 3z2
 þ þ 2
6  sqrtð3Þ  f f  Q b2 a2 c
qf ðx; y; zÞ ¼ e f
ð7Þ
p3=2  af bc
h
i
6  sqrtð3Þ  fr  Q  3x2
þ 3y2 3z2
þ 2
qr ðx; y; zÞ ¼ e b2 a2r c
ð8Þ
p  ar bc
3=2

where ν, τ, t, ff and fr depict the welding speed (m s−1), lag factor, time (s), the
fractions of heat deposited in the front and the rear portions respectively. af, ar, b, c
are heat source model parameters which are chosen based on experimental weld
bead dimensions. Accurate results are obtained when the computed weld pool
dimensions are slightly larger than the ellipsoid dimensions. Moreover, heat
intensity Q can be expressed as

Q ¼ gP ð9Þ

where η is the laser absorption coefficient and P is the fiber laser beam power (W).
The fraction of heat deposition parameter should satisfy below equation

f f þ fr ¼ 2 ð10Þ

Nevertheless, the actual heat input as a result of laser beam is replaced by

double-ellipsoidal volumetric heat source. Figure 4 represents the Gaussian distri-
bution double ellipsoidal heat source model. From Fig. 4 it is obvious that peak heat
intensity is at the Centre of heat source and the distribution is Gaussian in nature
over the volume of ellipsoid.

Fig. 4 Schematic representation of volumetric double ellipsoidal heat source model

Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 409

4 Results and Discussion

Bead-on-plate welds were generated on commercially available SS 304, 5 mm plate

and SS 316, 3 mm plate using a 2 kW ytterbium continuous wave fiber laser source.
Then, metallographic analysis was performed to obtain weld bead dimensions and
microstructure of the welds for both welding atmospheric conditions and various
process variables.
Figure 5 describes the measured weld macrograph corresponding to laser power
2000 W and welding speed, 18.33 mm/s in open and controlled atmosphere of
argon respectively. From this figure it is observed that the weld bead dimensions
and aspect ratio is more in case of controlled atmosphere corresponding to similar
welding conditions. Moreover, the weld bead dimensions increases with decreasing
the welding speed at constant laser power. However, the weld bead shapes and
dimensions of open atmosphere and controlled atmosphere of argon welds are
dissimilar. Figure 6 refer to the experimental weld macrographs corresponding to
SS 316 of laser power 1000 W and laser scan speed 18.33 mm/s. It is obvious that
irrespective of weld material, the weld bead dimensions and aspect ratio is more in
controlled atmosphere of argon as compared to open atmospheric condition.
The most notable observation in this experimental investigation is the appear-
ance of weld bead surface quality. Figure 7 represents the top view weld bead
appearance corresponding to data set 1 and data set 2 given in Table 1a, respec-
tively. More neat and clean surface is obtained in controlled atmosphere of argon
welding as compared to open atmosphere welds with similar welding process
variables. In case of welding in open atmospheric condition, air particles such as
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen react with molten weld pool at high temperature
gradients. These reactions with atmosphere particles may result in high degree of
porosity, rough surfaces and gas pores. However, welding in argon controlled
atmosphere, the appearance of weld surface is clean with less porosity and low
degree of surface roughness, when compared with the open atmosphere weld

Fig. 5 Weld macrographs (b)

(a)
corresponding to data set 1
given in Table 1a; a open
atmosphere and b controlled
atmosphere welding
410 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

(a) (b)

Fig. 6 Comparison of experimental weld macrographs corresponding to SS 316 of data set 1

given in Table 1b; a open atmosphere and b controlled

(a)

(b)

Fig. 7 Top view appearance comparisons for open and controlled atmosphere welding
corresponding to a data set 1 and b data set 2 given in Table 1a

surface. In open atmosphere welding the air particles may dissolve in molten weld
pool and they may try to escape from the weld pool during solidification. This may
leads to cracking of the weld joint and reduces the weld joint quality. In case of
controlled atmosphere, the defects due to the reaction of molten pool with oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen present in the ambient atmosphere can be minimized or
nullified.
Microstructure of the as-received material is shown in Fig. 8a. In general the
transverse section of weld sample after fiber laser welding shows that the extension
of the heat affected zone is very small. However, this is the distinctive advantageous
effect associated to a highly focused welding heat source (Zambon et al. 2006). The
microstructure analysis reveals that there are no cracks formed in any one of the
specimens examined. Even though some isolated pores were found mostly in open
atmosphere weldment rather than a controlled atmosphere welds. No noticeable
inclusions are observed in a controlled atmosphere of argon welds when compared
to open atmosphere welds. In both atmosphere welds, the obvious feature is the
highly directional nature of the microstructure around the axis of the fiber laser
beam due to the solidification of weld metal at high cooling rate. Figure 8b, c
describes the optical micrographs of heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone (FZ)
in open atmosphere weld made using laser power is 2000 W and welding speed is
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 411

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 8 Optical microstructure of weldment in open atmospheric condition corresponding to data

set 1 given in Table 1 at various zones, a parent material (PM), b heat affected zone (HAZ and
c fusion zone (FZ)

18.33 mm/s. Controlled atmosphere of argon welds microstructure (Fig. 9) show

that the solidification structure is dendritic and contains austenite and a few percent
of delta ferrite at the dendritic boundaries.
Figure 9a, b illustrates the HAZ and FZ micrographs of weld metal in a con-
trolled atmosphere of argon corresponding to data set 1 given in Table 1a. The
variation of the microstructure in open and a controlled atmosphere of argon from

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 9 Microstructure of weldment in controlled atmosphere of argon corresponding to a data set

1, HAZ, b data set 1, FZ, c data set 4, HAZ and d data 4, FZ
412 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

Figs. 8b, c and 9a, b with the similar process variables is clearly detected. This
difference in the microstructure may be due to the solidification of the weld metal
varies for both the atmospheres; in addition to this, the chemical reactions between
the molten weld pool and surrounding atmosphere can be avoided in a controlled
atmosphere of argon. This elimination of chemical reaction with atmosphere par-
ticle such as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen lead to minimum porosity or pin-holes
formation in controlled atmosphere welds. Figure 9c, d represents the HAZ and FZ
optical micrographs of weld metal made using the laser power of 2000 W and
welding speed of 13.33 mm/s in a controlled atmosphere of argon. It can be found
that the trend of the influence of the laser welding speed in a controlled atmosphere
is following same trend of open atmosphere welds. However, the microstructures in
the both welds are not same. From Fig. 9a–d, it is obvious that at the higher welding
speed the dendritic structure is finer as compared to lower welding speed structure.
Due to fine protection of weld pool in a controlled atmosphere; oxide, nitride,
porosity and inclusion were formed at minimum level in the weld metal. This may
lead to the high efficiency of the formed weld joint in controlled atmosphere.
Moreover, the finer dendritic structure is observed when the welding speed is
relatively higher; since the cooling rate is higher at high welding speeds.
Figure 10a–c describes the quantitative comparison of the weld bead dimen-
sions, depth of penetration, bead width and aspect ratio between open and con-
trolled atmosphere of argon welds corresponding to welding conditions given in
Table 1a. For each data set index/number given in Table 1a, weld bead dimensions
and aspect ratio are more in case of controlled atmosphere of argon as compared
with open atmosphere welds. This resembles the fact that argon helps to constrict
the laser beam and results in more concentrated heat flux. The maximum weld bead
dimensions are achieved for the data set 4 given in Table 1a. The aspect ratio which
is well-defined by the ratio of weld depth of penetration to bead width of a weld
joint is a characteristic quantity to specify the effectiveness of the formed weld joint.
The maximum aspect ratio, 2.998 is achieved in controlled atmosphere of argon
welding (data set 4 in Table 1a) whereas the minimum is 2.02 (data set 1 in
Table 1a). In case of the welding in open atmospheric conditions, the maximum
aspect ratio is 2.8 and the minimum is 1.8 for the data set 4 and 1, respectively
(Table 1a). The aspect ratio achieved in controlled atmosphere of argon welding
process is more when compared with the process of welding under open atmo-
spheric conditions for the similar welding conditions given in Table 1.
A Gaussian distributed double ellipsoidal heat source model is implemented
using ANSYS APDL (ANSYS 14.0) for determining the transient thermal behavior
and weld bead dimensions during fiber laser welding process of SS 316. Element
SOLID 70 (ANSYS 14.0), which is eight node brick element with single degree of
freedom, temperature, at each node has been used in thermal analysis. The thermal
properties vary with temperature. In modeling, the temperature dependent materials
properties provide accurate results as compared to temperature independent material
properties. A significant influence of material properties during modeling of fusion
welding process was studied by Zhu and Chao (2002). The temperature dependent
material properties of SS 316 used in the present work are taken from an
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 413

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 10 Comparison of weld bead dimensions of open and controlled atmosphere welding
corresponding to welding conditions given in Table 1a

independent literature (Wang and Felicelli 2007; Lindgren et al. 1999) and the same
are given in Fig. 11. The density of the material SS 316 is considered as
7200 kg m−3.

Fig. 11 Temperature
dependent thermal
conductivity and specific heat
of SS 316 material (Yadaiah
et al. 2014)
414 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

Figure 12 refers to three dimensional (3D) transient temperature distributions

corresponding to data set 2 given in Table 1b at three different welding times.
Figure 12a–c represents 3D temperature distribution at 0.9, 2.25, and 3.45 s
respectively. The region surrounded by the liquidus temperature, 1727 K, signifies
the weld pool dimensions; and its intercepts along X, Y and Z axes represents the
half bead width, weld length and depth of penetration, respectively. It is also being
seen from Fig. 12 that the temperature distribution is symmetrical about YZ plane;

Fig. 12 3D transient (a)

temperature distribution
corresponding to data set 2
given in Table 1b at three
different times; a at 0.9 s, b at
2.25 s and c at 3.45 s
(Yadaiah et al. 2014)

(b)

(c)
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 415

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 13 Comparison of experimental and calculated transverse cross-section weld macrographs

corresponding to a data set 2, b data set 4 and c data set 6 (Yadaiah et al. 2014)

on the other hand, it is asymmetric nature with respect to other planes as a result of
the laser beam movement along the positive Y-axis.
Figure 13a–c indicates the comparison of experimentally measured weld macro
with equivalent computed weld macrographs corresponding to data set 2, 4 and 6
given in Table 1b respectively. Moreover, the area enclosed by the base material
liquidus temperature, 1727 K, specifies the molten pool and its intercepts along X-
and Z-axes depict half bead width and depth of penetration respectively. A fair
agreement between actual and computed weld macrographs is achieved at similar
processing variables.
Figure 14 illustrates the quantitative comparison of calculated and experimental
weld bead dimensions along with percentage error corresponding to welding pro-
cess variables given in Table 1b. It can be noticed from these results (refer Fig. 14)
that keeping laser power as constant and decreasing the welding velocity; the weld
depth of penetration increases substantially while bead width increment is nominal.
Furthermore, when welding velocity is constant and decreases the fiber laser power;
weld bead width decreases substantially whereas weld depth of penetration
decreases nominally.
The maximum weld depth of penetration achieved corresponding to data set 2
given in Table 1b and is 1.64 mm. as well as minimum penetration is observed for
data set 5 given in Table 1b and is 0.6 mm. The percentage error between calculated
and experimental weld bead dimensions are below 8 % and this can be realized
from Fig. 14a, b. A fair agreement of calculated weld bead dimensions with
measured results enables the robustness of the finite element model.
416 Y. Nirsanametla et al.

Fig. 14 Comparison of experimental and computed weld bead dimensions along with percentage
error corresponding to welding conditions given in Table 1b, a depth of penetration and b bead
width (Yadaiah et al. 2014)
Fiber Laser Welding in a Controlled Inert Gas … 417

5 Conclusions

This work demonstrates the performance of fiber laser welding in two different
atmospheres, namely, argon and open atmospheres. The characteristic difference
between two different atmospheres fiber laser welding on SS 304, 5 mm thickness and
SS 316, 3 mm thickness plates are reported. The results showed that in controlled
atmosphere of argon, the weld bead dimensions, depth of penetration and bead width
are more as compared to open atmosphere welds. Moreover, the aspect ratio is also
more in case of controlled atmosphere of argon. The most significant outcome of this
investigation is the top surface profile and top view appearance that is clean and neat
in controlled atmosphere of argon. The full depth of penetration is achieved in
controlled atmosphere for welding speed, 13.33 mm/s and laser power, 2000 W for
SS 314, 5 mm thickness plate. The metallographic analysis revealed that micro-
structure of welds in controlled atmosphere has less porosity as compared to open
atmosphere welds. This is due to a fine protection of molten weld pool from oxygen
and hydrogen etc. atmosphere particles. This may lead to high efficiency of formed
weld joint in controlled atmosphere. The microstructure, at higher welding speed, the
dendritic structure is finer as compared to relatively lower welding speed structure in
both welding atmospheres. From this experimental investigation, it is recommended
that the welding in controlled atmosphere of argon is far better than open atmospheric
condition. In the present work, the authors also developed an efficient 3D transient
heat transfer model using finite element method for open atmosphere welding of SS
316. From the numerical modeling it is concluded that: the inclusion of temperature
dependent material properties along with effective thermal conductivity of liquid
material enhances the scope and utilization of conduction mode heat transfer model.
Moreover, laser power and welding velocity are most significant process variables in
fiber laser welding that actually estimates the input energy per unit length to the
process. At constant laser power, depth of penetration and bead width increase with
decrease in weld velocity. However, the change of weld depth is more as compared to
bead width. A fair agreement between computed weld bead dimensions with
experimental results show the robustness of numerical model.

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Sci-
ence & Engineering Research Board, India (Grant no. SERB/F/0797/2013-2014 dated 20.05.2013)
to carry out this research work. The authors also express thanks to Dr. Fanrong Kong affiliated
with Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing, Southern Methodist University, Dallas,
United States for his help at some stages of numerical work.

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A 3-D Finite Element Analysis
of Transient Temperature Profile
of Laser Welded Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

Chandan Kumar, Manas Das and Pankaj Biswas

Abstract In this work, a numerical investigation of transient temperature profile of

Laser beam welding process is carried out. A 3-D finite element modelling is
developed considering combined double-ellipsoidal heat source model for both spot
and moving heat sources. The temperature dependent thermo-physical material
properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy are incorporated. The effect of latent heat of fusion
and convective and radiative boundary conditions are considered. The effect of laser
beam power on the transient temperature profile and the dimensions of the heat
affected zone are analysed. From finite element simulation, it is observed that the
peak temperature in the fusion zone increases with increased laser beam power.
Also, the size of the heat affected zone strongly depends on the power of the laser
beam.

Keywords Laser beam welding
Power density
Titanium alloy
Thermal

analysis

1 Introduction

Titanium is the ninth most copious element on the planet and fourth most abundant
structural material after aluminium, iron, and magnesium. Titanium name comes
from the word “Titan” who is the powerful son of the earth according to Greek
methodology. It was discovered simultaneously in England and Germany in 1790
and purified in early 1900s. Unalloyed titanium exists in two crystal forms i.e. low

C. Kumar
M. Das (&)
P. Biswas

Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, Guwahati, India
e-mail: manasdas@iitg.ernet.in
C. Kumar
e-mail: chandan.kumar@iitg.ernet.in
P. Biswas
e-mail: pankaj.biswas@iitg.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 421

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_21
422 C. Kumar et al.

temperature α phase having hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure, and high
temperature β phase having body centered cubic structure (BCC). The allotropic
transformation takes place in unalloyed titanium at above 882 °C known as tran-
sition temperature (Moiseyev 2006). Different alloying element are added in pure
titanium to enhance its mechanical properties. The alloying elements for titanium
alloys are classified in two categories i.e. α stabilizer and β stabilizer depending on
their effects on α and β phases. The alloying elements either stabilize α phase by
raising the α-β transition temperature or stabilize the β phase by suppressing the α-β
transition temperature, and can act as solid solution strengtheners, without affecting
the transition temperature. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are more soluble in α
phase and thus known as α stabilizer. These elements form interstitial solid solution
with titanium. Hydrogen is more soluble in the β phase, and it behaves as a β
stabilizing element (Pederson et al. 2001). Some of the most common alloying
elements and their stabilizing effects are discussed in the next paragraph.
Aluminium and tin are the most common alloying elements which stabilize the α
phase and their concentration (in wt%) in Ti alloy are in the range of 2–7 % and 2–
6 %, respectively. Some of the most common β phase stabilizing elements in Ti
alloy are vanadium (2–20 wt%), copper (2–6 wt%), chromium (2–12 wt%), and
molybdenum (2–20 wt%) etc. Whereas, silicon is a neutral element having con-
centration in the range of 0.2–1 wt% and it is mainly used to improve the creep
resistance of Ti alloy. Also, zirconium (2–8 wt%) is used for strengthening both α
and β phase of Ti alloy (Matthew and Donachie 2000).
The interstitial elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen etc. are the
impurities that contaminate titanium during welding. Nitrogen is the most effective
strengtheners for unalloyed titanium. Oxygen is next in effectiveness, followed by
carbon. In two-phase, α + β titanium alloys, the action of interstitial elements
becomes more complex. The strengthening effect of interstitials on α + β alloys is
greatly dependent on the relative amount and distribution of α phase. Hydrogen is
slightly soluble in titanium at room temperature. β titanium dissolves substantially
more hydrogen than α titanium. α + β alloys are able to dissolve a considerable
amount of hydrogen without the formation of hydrides.
Titanium and its alloys serve as a bridge between the ideal properties of alu-
minium and steel. Titanium alloys are divided into four categories, alpha (α) alloy,
near alpha alloy, alpha and beta (α + β) alloy, and beta alloy (β). Table 1 shows the
qualitative comparison of characteristics for different types of titanium alloy. α alloy
shows higher ductility, but lower strength. On the other hand, β alloys exhibit
higher strength but lower ductility and poor weldability. In contrast, α + β titanium
alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) shows a good balance between strength and ductility.
Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) alloy is very popular and its production is about half of all
titanium alloys. Ti64 is a α + β alloy in which 6 wt% aluminium which stabilizes α
phase and 4 wt% vanadium which stabilizes β phase. At room temperature, the
microstructure in equilibrium consists of mainly α phase (HCP) with some retained
β phase (BCC). The β transus temperature for Ti64 alloy is approximately 995 °C.
Depending on the cooling rate and the prior heat treatment condition, the micro
constituents and microstructures are divided into several types, namely grain
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 423

Table 1 Comparisons of α, α Mechanical properties α β α+β

+ β, and β titanium alloys
Ductility Moderate Low High
Strength Moderate Very high High
Weldability High Low Moderate
Data source Leyens and Peters (2003)

boundary allotriomorph α, globular or primary α (called bi-modal microstructure

when the globular α is surrounded by Widmanstatten platelets), Widmanstatten,
basket weave, and martensitic. A recently described microstructure is the bi-
lamellar, in which the retained β phase, lying between α platelets in a Widmanst-
atten structure, itself contains thinner secondary α platelets. The length and width of
these α platelets depend on the cooling rate. An increase in cooling rate, the length
and width of α platelets are reduced. However, the nucleation rate is increased
which decreases the growth rate. If quenched from the β phase, the β grain will fully
or partially transform into a martensitic α, denoted as α′ (Wanjara et al. 2005). The
minimum cooling rate for full martensitic structure of 410 °C/s is reported for Ti64
(Ahmed and Rack 1998).
Ti64 alloy is characterized by its high specific weight, better corrosion resis-
tance, and excellent biocompatibility. Therefore, it is widely used in many areas
such as defence, aerospace, nuclear, chemical, and medical industries, etc. The
thermal conductivity of Ti64 alloy is very poor. However, the heat of fusion and the
heat of vaporization of Ti64 alloy are almost double of iron. Due to these properties,
the welding of Ti64 alloy using conventional welding technique is very difficult
because of its higher tendency to react with atmospheric gases such as H2, O2, and
N2 above 550 °C which increases the weld defects (Yang et al. 2010).

1.1 Weldability of Titanium Alloy

The weldability of an alloy is defined as the ability to produce a good quality weld
joint using specific welding process parameters. During welding of the materials,
the microstructural and mechanical properties of the base materials change at the
welded region. Titanium and its alloys generally require advanced joining tech-
niques i.e. Laser beam welding, electron beam welding, and plasma welding. The
study of weldability and characterization of the welded joints of titanium and its
alloys is a promising challenge for research and development sector.
Destefani (1992) reported that unalloyed titanium and all α titanium alloys have
good weldability, toughness, and strength. (α + β) titanium alloys show good
formability and weldability, and their properties are highly influenced by the heat
treatment. Ti64 is reported as the best weldable among all α + β titanium alloys. β
alloys show bad weldability due to the degradation of strength after welding. Some
interesting properties of welding of titanium alloys are their low thermal
424 C. Kumar et al.

conductivity which prevents heat dissipation during welding. Due to the lower
value of coefficient of thermal expansion of titanium alloy, less residual stress, and
thermal distortion are observed during welding. Proper joining technique for Ti64
can make the joint ductile and corrosion resistant like the base metal however
improper joining process may lead to the embrittlement of the welded structure
(Costa et al. 2007).
Titanium alloys also possess high rate of laser beam absorption (0.4 %) and a
high melting point (around 1670 °C). These properties show that high energy is
required for welding these alloys. Hence, welding of titanium alloy by using laser
beam is the most suitable process as it allows small size of fusion as well as heat
affected zone (Quintino et al. 2007).
There are some specific requirements for welding of titanium alloys using laser
heat source. The cleaning of samples before welding is very crucial due to the high
reactivity of titanium alloy with gases like, oxygen and nitrogen at high temperature
which results in contamination by the interstitial impurities in the weld. Titanium
alloys have high reactivity with grease, dirt, refractories, and with other materials at
high temperature which results in the embrittlement of the welded joint (Costa et al.
2007). The use of shielding gas is compulsory during Ti welding to prevent oxi-
dation of weld metal pool. Insignificant oxygen contamination occurs during Laser
beam welding under shielding gas environment.

2 Literature Survey on Welding of Ti Alloy

Welding is the most important materials processing technology in manufacturing

industries. It is defined by the American Welding Society (AWS) as a localized
coalescence of metals or non-metals produced by either heating of the materials to a
suitable temperature with or without the application of pressure, or by the appli-
cation of pressure alone, with or without the use of filler metal (Mackerle 2002).
Various advanced welding technologies have been evolved for last few years to
achieve better weld quality, higher weld efficiency, reduced welding cost, envi-
ronment-friendly features, and to ensure the safety and reliability of the welded
structures.
Laser beam welding (LBW) is the most widely used process in industry as it is
versatile and cost effective. The theoretical and experimental study of laser beam is
started in 1962. However, the use of LBW is reported in 1971 using CO2 laser heat
source. Since, then the use of LBW has grown rapidly in the manufacturing
industries (Banas 1971).
LBW is one of the most important types of non-conventional and advanced
welding methods for joining similar or dissimilar materials. In LBW process, high-
power density heat source is utilized which is absorbed by the materials to be
joined. LBW process can weld a variety of metals or plastics ranging from thin
sheets of about 0.01 mm thickness to thick plates of about 50 mm in the presence of
shielding gas such as helium, argon or sometimes nitrogen under atmospheric
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 425

condition. The process parameters that can be controlled during LBW process are
spot size, focused position of the laser beam, volumetric flow rate of the shielding
gas, laser beam power, and welding speed. A hemispherical weld bead and heat
affected zone (HAZ) is formed during LBW similar to conventional fusion arc
welding processes. Due to the rapid change in thermal cycles during LBW, it
produces fine-grained weld bead with excellent mechanical properties (Sakagawa
et al. 2011).
LBW gained great popularity among all welding processes as a promising
joining technology having high quality, high precision, high performance, high
speed, good flexibility, and low deformation (Hongping et al. 2011). LBW is
capable of joining carbon steels, HSLA steels, stainless steel, aluminium, titanium,
and its alloys.
Depending on the availability of the input energy, two different modes of LBW
process are mentioned in the literature (Nath et al. 2002). These are conduction
mode and keyhole mode of LBW process. Conduction mode of welding is a low
energy input process having laser beam power density below 103 W/cm2. In this
mode of welding, the laser energy is absorbed at the material surface and it is
distributed to the bulk material by conduction only. Here, the bead depth to width
ratio is generally less than 0.5. Laser conduction mode of welding produces low
welding depth, small aspect ratio, and low coupling efficiency (Chen et al. 2009).
The conduction mode of Laser beam welding process is shown in Fig. 1a.
The keyhole mode of welding is a high energy input process having power
density in the range of 105–107 W/cm2. At the centre of the focused laser beam, the
vaporization of metal takes place which creates a hole into the molten pool i.e. a
keyhole is generated. In this mode of welding, the bead depth to width ratio is
generally more than 0.7. The small size of keyhole is responsible for producing
relatively small fusion and heat affected zone. Due to the generation of the highly

Fig. 1 a Conduction, and b Keyhole mode of Laser beam welding process

426 C. Kumar et al.

localized heat on the workpiece surface, the simultaneous heating up and the
cooling down of the fusion and heat affected zones takes place very rapidly leading
to the minimization of grain growth in the welded region. The keyhole mode of
welding produces high welding depth, high aspect ratio, high coupling efficiency,
and narrow HAZ (Manonmani et al. 2007). The keyhole mode of LBW process is
shown in Fig. 1b.
The schematic diagram of LBW experimental setup is shown in Fig. 2. LBW is a
complex process since large number of process parameters are involved which must
be controlled for better functioning of the process. Also, due to the stochastic nature
of LBW process, achieving optimum process parameters by doing experiments using
trial-and-error method is difficult. During LBW, non-uniform temperature distribu-
tion takes place throughout the workpiece. The temperature distribution depends on
several factors such as heat input, temperature depended material properties, latent
heat of fusion, and rate of convective heat flow in the fusion zone. The heat loss to the
surrounding takes place by convection and radiation. Due to these large number of
variables, the experimental determination of all input parameters is very difficult for
achieving higher welding performance. Hence, the demand of finite element method
(FEM) based numerical simulation is progressively increasing.
Now a days, modelling and simulation have become powerful tools for welding
research and development. Through combining the software based simulation
approaches with less experimental validations, welding technology can be trans-
formed from the earlier mode “theory-experiment-production” to the newer mode
“theory-computer simulation production”. During last two decades many of the
existing welding processes have been simulated by numerical methods, especially
by the finite element methods. The numerical simulation of a welding process is a
complex process involving the interaction of thermal, mechanical, electrical, and
metallurgical phenomena.
The use of FEM in product development is now well established and became a
part of the manufacturing industries. Its use in manufacturing industries is
increasing day-by-day to improve the quality of the products. It is also useful for

Fig. 2 a Schematic diagram of LBW setup. b Gaussian distribution heat source

A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 427

better understanding of the effect of different process parameters on the quality of

the products. The thermal cycle in welding is studied by analytical and numerical
methods by many researchers.
The most popular analytical model for predicting transient temperature profile
during welding was developed by Rosenthal in 1946 for moving heat source
considering the quasi-stationary state where the heat source is concentrated at a
point. The temperature dependent material properties are not included in his model.
This point heat source model was incapable to explain the transient temperature
profile (Rosenthal 1946).
Goldak et al. (1984) considered a 3-D non-axisymmetric double-ellipsoidal heat
source model in order to simulate the welding phenomena. Na and Lee (1987)
analysed the transient temperature distribution in GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding)
process by using a 3-D FEM model. The combination of the convection and the
boundary conditions were varied during simulation.
Frewin and Scott (1999) developed a 3-D FE model to calculate the transient
temperature history at the fusion zone and HAZ considering Gaussian energy
distribution of laser beam. The simulated result was in close agreement with the
experimental data. Tsirkas et al. (2003) developed a finite element SYSWELD code
to simulate the Laser welding process using non-linear heat transfer analysis. This
model is used for coupled transient thermo-mechanical analysis considering tem-
perature dependent material properties of AH36 shipbuilding steel plates.
Nguyen et al. (2004) derived an analytical solution for a double ellipsoidal heat
source model for finite thick plate. Their solution can be used effectively to predict
the thermal history of a thick welded plate and also the shape of weld pool.
Zhu and Chao (2004) developed an inverse analysis method to determine
transient temperature history of friction stir welding (FSW) of 304L stainless steel
based on the experimental data of transient temperature history at several specific
locations. After the transient temperature field is determined, the residual stresses in
the welded plate are then calculated using a three-dimensional elastic–plastic
thermo-mechanical simulation. The effect of fixture release after the welding on the
residual stresses is also studied. Comparison with the residual stress fields measured
by the neutron diffraction technique shows that the numerical simulation results
have good agreement with the test data.
Deng and Murakawa (2006) developed both 2-D and 3-D finite element codes to
measure the transient temperature and residual stress in multi-pass welding of
SUS304 stainless steel pipe. The simulated results shows that the 2-D model saves
large amount of computational time and it can be effectively used to simulate the
temperature fields and residual stresses for SUS304 stainless steel pipe. Experi-
ments are carried out to verify simulated results and they found that both 2-D and 3-
D models are in good agreement with the experimental results. Spina et al. (2007)
developed a 3-D finite element model to predict the displacement of AA5083 thin
sheets during LBW process at different welding speeds.
Yang et al. (2010) developed a finite element model to measure the size of heat
affected zone in laser heating of Ti-6Al-4V plate. They concluded that the size of
the HAZ decreases with increasing laser scan speed. Biswas et al. (2010) developed
428 C. Kumar et al.

a 3-D FEM model for double-sided fillet SAW process and successfully compared
with the experimental results. The temperature distribution obtained from both
FEM analysis and experimental results fairly compared well with a variation of 8 %
for the peak temperature.
Shanmugam et al. (2010) employed a FEM code (SYSWELD) to study the
thermal field and to determine the bead shape during the LBW of T-joint. Proper
fusion of base material (horizontal and vertical sheets) is achieved when the laser
system is operated at 60° beam incident angle irrespective of the beam power and
welding speed. A weld defect is found in the macro-graph at 30° beam angle.
Comparison between experimental and simulated results reveals a very good cor-
relation for depth of penetration and bead width with an error of 2.78 and 1.9 %,
respectively.
Ranjbarnodeh (2011) developed a 3-D FEM model to predict the temperature
profile during welding of dissimilar materials (CK4 and AISI 409) using automatic
TIG welding process. Also, experimental measurements were performed to assess
the effect of welding parameters on grain growth in HAZ. It was concluded that the
grain size and its distribution were strongly dependent on the heat input during
welding. The sample with the highest welding heat input (i.e. 583 J/mm) showed
larger grain size (250 µm), more homogenous grain size distribution in the HAZ for
AISI 409.
Double-ellipsoidal volumetric heat source with Gaussian distribution of heat
intensity is most popular and it is used for the modelling of fusion welding process.
It is very difficult to find out the optimum length of the front and rear part of the
double-ellipsoidal volumetric heat source model. Till date, the length of these
parameters are taken arbitrary.
Yadaiah and Bag (2012) suggested an optimum value of ratio of front and rear
length of a double ellipsoidal heat source model over a wide range of welding
current and velocity in GTAW process. They considered that this ratio is a function
of weld velocity. Integrated optimization algorithm was used to optimize the ratio
of front and rear length of double ellipsoidal heat source model and a good
agreement between simulated and experimental results are observed for GTAW
process.
Shanmugam et al. (2012) developed a 3-D FE model using AnsysTM to obtain
the transient temperature profile and the shape of the molten pool. They considered
a 3-D conical Gaussian heat source distribution for performing a non-linear tran-
sient thermal analysis. The thermo-physical material properties of AISI 304 stain-
less steel were also included in the model. Good agreement between the simulation
and experimental results were observed.
Moreover, only conduction based heat transfer models are not sufficient for an
accurate measurement of thermal cycles and weld bead dimensions. Transport
phenomena based on heat transfer and fluid models are required for an exact
estimation of transient thermal history in molten weld pool (Bag and De 2010;
Yadaiah and Bag 2013).
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 429

Yadaiah and Bag (2014) proposed a new heat source model, namely, ‘egg’
configuration heat source model for the simulation of linear GTA and laser welding
processes. The advantage of this model is having less number of heat source model
parameters as compared to double ellipsoidal heat source model. This model was
used to measure the transient temperature history for predicting the size of weld
pool with an error of 10 % with the experimental results.
Akbari et al. (2014) developed a 3-D FEM model for the prediction of transient
temperature profile of laser welded Ti64 alloy considering Gaussian energy dis-
tribution of laser beam. The average absorptivity value of 0.34 for Ti64 alloy was
considered by them. The thermo physical property of Ti64 alloy was also incor-
porated in the model. The model prediction error was found in the range of 2–17 %.
Various works on LBW process including the prediction of weld bead geometry,
simulation of temperature distribution, and mechanical behaviour of laser welded
sheet at different welding process parameters are carried out by many researchers.
Following conclusions are observed from the above literature survey.
• Finite element analysis is the most accurate and flexible method for solving
transient thermal analysis and structural analysis of LBW process.
• The use of thermo physical material properties play an important role for the
estimation of the temperature distribution in different regions of the plates.
• The size of fusion zone and HAZ can be predicted by temperature distribution
profile.
It is also observed that researchers used different heat source models for FE
simulation of fusion welding process. Further researches are still going on to define
a reliable heat source model. It is observed that double ellipsoidal heat source model
yields better result than other heat source model.
From literature, it is noticed that very few literatures are available on LBW of
Ti64 alloy having plate thickness between 3 and 6 mm. Also, very few experi-
mental and simulation works on LBW process especially on transient thermal and
structural analysis of Ti64 alloy are available in the literature.
Considering above mentioned literature gap, the main objectives of the present
simulation work are defined as follows: Feasibility study of double ellipsoidal heat
source model for the simulation of LBW of Ti64 alloy in both conduction and
keyhole mode of welding; to generate transient temperature profile of Laser beam
welded Ti64 alloy; and to study the effect of laser beam power and welding speed
on the weld bead geometry and on the size of fusion zone and HAZ.

3 FEM Simulation of LBW Process

FEM is mostly used to simulate the transient thermal, structural as well as heat
transfer phenomena in LBW process. The finite element modeling procedure
consists of the following steps as shown in Fig. 3.
430 C. Kumar et al.

Preprocessing Solution Post processing

• Element type • Defining initial • Viewing results

• Material model condition
• Meshing • Define boundary
condition and load
• Solve

Fig. 3 Steps in finite element modelling

3.1 Preprocessing

In the preprocessing step, solid modelling or workpiece geometry is generated. For

the present case, the workpiece dimension is 30 × 30 × 3 mm3. AnsysTM provides
an option of creating solid model of the workpiece on its GUI (Graphical User
Interface) or it may be imported from any CAD software. After that the whole
domain of the workpiece is divided into a number of small elements.

3.1.1 Element Type

AnsysTM library contains large number of different elements. The selection of

proper element and its size are very crucial for obtaining higher accuracy and
reducing solution time during analysis. In the present thermal analysis, ‘solid 70’
element (Shanmugam et al. 2012) having eight nodes and single degree of freedom
is selected.

3.1.2 Material Properties

Temperature dependent thermo physical material properties yield better results. The
titanium alloy of Grade 5 (Ti64) is selected for the transient thermal analysis. The
mechanical properties of α–β titanium alloy depend on the distribution of α and β
phases. The melting point of Ti64 ranges from 1650 to 1690 °C. The chemical
compositions and mechanical properties of Ti64 alloy at room temperature and
under annealed condition are listed in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. The temperature
dependent material properties (i.e. thermal conductivity, enthalpy, density, specific
heat, and emissivity) of Ti64 alloy are assumed to be isotropic and homogeneous
(Yang et al. 2010).

Table 2 Composition of Ti64 titanium alloy Data source ASTM B265 (2006)
Element Fe Al V C H O N Ti
wt% <0.30 5.5–6.75 3.5–4.5 <0.08 <0.015 <0.25 <0.03 Bal.
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 431

Table 3 Mechanical properties of Ti64 titanium alloy

Yield strength Ultimate tensile Young’s modulus % elongation Hardness
(MPa) strength (MPa) (MPa) (HV)
800–1100 900–1200 110–140 13–16 300–400
Data source Leyens and Peter (2003)

3.1.3 Meshing

The accuracy and the convergency of the FEM results depend on the type of element
and the mesh size at different zones. In the present thermal analysis, the geometry of
the workpiece is meshed with a fine meshing near the weld line and coarser meshing
away from the weld line (Fig. 4). Also, convergency tests are carried out for selecting
suitable number of elements particularly around the weld line and along the thickness
direction. It is observed that five elements along the thickness direction give rea-
sonable convergency with less solution time and good accuracy.

3.2 Solution

In the solution module of AnsysTM, the applied load (i.e. heat source), initial
condition, and boundary conditions are specified. The boundary conditions may be
absolute, natural or a function of time. The absolute boundary conditions define the

Fig. 4 Finite element

meshing with fine meshing
along the weld line and coarse
meshing away from the weld
line
Weld region

Sheet 1 Sheet 2

Coarse Fine meshing Coarse

meshing meshing
432 C. Kumar et al.

values of primary variables at the boundary, whereas, the natural boundary con-
ditions define the gradients of the primary variables (Ansys 14.5 manual).
In LBW process, the natural boundary condition is specified by the application
of heat flux on the elements. The ambient temperature of 27 °C is set as initial
condition. The governing equation and boundary conditions for LBW process are
discussed in Sect. 4.

3.3 Post Processing

In post processing of LBW process, transient temperature profile, shape of the

molten zone and weld bead profile are obtained. From both temperature profile and
the weld bead profile, the size of the fusion zone and HAZ are measured.

4 Governing Equation and Boundary Conditions

The 3-D transient non-linear heat transfer equation for LBW process can be rep-
resented by


     
@T @T @ @T @ @T @ @T
qc þ ðvÞ ¼K þ þ þ Qðx; y; zÞ ð1Þ
@t @y @x @x @y @y @z @z

where, Qðx; y; zÞ is volumetric heat source and it varies with beam power, beam
incident angle, beam exposure time, and welding speed. K, c, q, and v are the
thermal conductivity, specific heat, density of the material, and the velocity of the
laser heat source, respectively. The initial condition at time t = 0, during FE sim-
ulation is given as,

Tðx; y; z; 0Þ ¼ T0 ðx; y; zÞ ð2Þ

The top surface of the plate is subjected to heat flux produced by laser beam and
the remaining surfaces are subjected to heat losses by convection and radiation
only. The natural boundary condition is given as,
 
Kn ð@T=@nÞ  q þ hðT  To Þ þ re T 4  To4 ¼ 0 ð3Þ

where, Kn is thermal conductivity, q is heat flux (W/m2 K), r is Stefan-Boltzmann

constant, e is emissivity, h is heat transfer coefficient, and To is the ambient
temperature.
With the addition of radiative boundary condition in the model, it is observed
that the solution time is increased. Hence, a lumped heat transfer coefficient is used
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 433

in the present analysis, which combines both radiative and convective heat transfer
phenomena (Frewin and Scott 1999). It is given as

hlump ¼ 2:4  103 eT 1:61 ð4Þ

In Eq. (4) hlump is lumped heat transfer coefficient. Equation 3 can be modified
by combining it with Eq. 4 and it is given as,

Kn ð@T=@nÞ  q þ hlump ðT  To Þ ¼ 0 ð5Þ

4.1 Heat Source Model

The double-ellipsoidal Gaussian-distribution of volumetric heat source model is

most suitable for the simulation of fusion welding process and it is considered in the
current FE simulation (Fig. 5). The front and the rear part of this heat source model
are given in Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively.
pffiffiffi ( !)
6 3fef Q 3x2 3y2 3z2
qe ðx; y; zÞ ¼ exp  þ 2 þ 2 ð6Þ
ae be cef p3=2 a2e be cef
pffiffiffi  2 

6 3fef Q 3x 3y2 3z2

qe ðx; y; zÞ ¼ exp  þ þ ð7Þ
ae be cer p3=2 a2e b2e c2er

The parameters, fef, and fer are the fractions between the front and rear quadrants
in the ellipsoid. To obtain continuity between the front and rear quadrants of the
functions, they must obey the following relationships.

fef þ fer ¼ 2 ð8aÞ

2cef
fef ¼ ð8bÞ
cef þ cer

Fig. 5 Double-ellipsoidal
heat source model
434 C. Kumar et al.

Table 4 Values of heat source parameters

Parameter ae be cef cer
Value (mm) 1.7 0.2 0.2 3

The values of the heat source parameters are given in Table 4. The total length of
heat source and the length of the front ellipsoid are considered as 2 × 10−3 and
0.5 × 10−3 m, respectively.

5 Finite Element Modelling

The transient thermal analysis is performed in commercial FE package ANSYSTM

14.5. FE simulations are performed at laser beam power of 500, 1000 and 1500 W
to study its effect on the workpiece temperature profile at a constant welding speed
of 312 mm/min. Laser spot welding simulation is also performed on Ti64 work-
piece at 500, 1000, and 1500 W laser beam power. The double ellipsoid heat source
model for 25 ms duration is considered during simulation. The simulation is per-
formed in two steps. In the first step, the heat flux is applied on the surface of the
workpiece. In the second step, the heat flux is removed and the heat is dissipated
from all the boundaries of the workpiece by convection and radiation. Eight-noded
quadratic 3-D solid element “SOLID70” is considered for performing the transient
thermal analysis.
During welding, the temperature in the fusion zone reaches beyond the boiling
point of the material. Hence, a phase change phenomenon during welding is
implemented in FE simulation by considering enthalpy as a function of temperature
as,
Z
E¼ qcdT ð9Þ

The initial temperature of the workpiece is considered as 27 °C. Following

assumptions are considered for the FE simulation.
• Thermo-physical material properties are temperature dependent.
• Heat source is moving and workpiece is fixed.
• Vinokurov empirical relationship is used i.e. hlump ¼ 2:4  103 eT 1:61 . It
combines both radiation and convection.
• Forced convection due to shielding gas is neglected.
• The physical phenomena like viscous force, buoyancy force, convective melt
flow, and Marangoni effect are neglected.
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 435

6 Results and Discussion

The transient temperature profiles for laser welded Ti64 workpieces are shown in
Fig. 6a–c for 500, 1000 and 1500 W beam power, respectively at a constant
welding speed of 312 mm/min, 90° beam incident angle, and 0.4 mm spot diameter.
From Fig. 6a–c, it is observed that the temperature profile around the laser heat
source increases rapidly from ambient temperature of 27 °C to peak temperature of
around 2593, 3205 and 5946 °C at beam power of 500, 1000 and 1500 W,
respectively for 0–3 s time interval. At the end of 3 s, the position of the heat source
reaches approximately to the middle of the workpiece.
During this time period, the temperature gradient in the front of the heat source is
comparatively lesser than the rear part of the heat source. At this stage, the
workpiece is subjected to three modes of heat transfer i.e. conduction, convection,
and radiation.
It is observed that the peak temperature and the temperature gradient increase
while increasing laser beam power from 500 to 1500 W. It can be attributed to the
fact that at higher beam power, the laser beam power density is highly concentrated
over a small area (*0.4 mm spot diameter). The size of the weld bead also
increases with the increase in the laser beam power. It can be attributed to the fact

Fig. 6 Temperature distribution plot after 3 s at a 500 W b 1000 W, and c 1500 W beam power
436 C. Kumar et al.

Fig. 7 Temperature distribution plot after 6 s at a 500 W b 1000 W, and c 1500 W beam power

that with the increase in the laser beam power, the power density distribution widely
spreaded over the top surface of the workpiece. Therefore, a slight increment in
bead geometry is observed.
Figure 7a–c shows the temperature distribution on the top surface of the
workpiece for a time interval of 0–6 s at 500, 1000 and 1500 W beam power,
respectively. At the end of 6 s, the position of the heat source reaches to the end of
the workpiece. Comparing Figs. 6 and 7, it is observed that the temperature in the
fusion zone at 6 s falls down to 1667, 2030 and 3684 °C (Fig. 7) from its peak
temperature at 3 s (Fig. 6) for 500, 1000 and 1500 W beam power, respectively. At
this final edge, the temperature decreases since the heat source is turned off and the
temperature profiles are influenced only by the convective and radiative boundary
conditions. It is also noticed that the cooling rate is relatively smaller than the
heating rate.
The transient temperature profiles at a particular node along the weld line are
shown in Fig. 8 for laser beam power of 500, 1000 and 1500 W. It is observed that
when the heat source is applied on the surface of the workpiece, temperature in the
fusion zone increases rapidly and reaches to the melting point at around 0.9 s. Also,
the temperature at a particular point in the fusion zone increases from the ambient
temperature to the peak temperature of 2492, 3047 and 5548 °C for 500, 1000 and
A 3-D Finite Element Analysis of Transient Temperature … 437

Fig. 8 Comparison between 60

transient temperature histories 55 500W
at a point in the weld line at 50 1000W

Temperature (°C) x 102

different laser beam power 45 1500W
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (sec)

1500 W beam power, respectively after that the temperature decreases

continuously.
A non-linear relationship between the peak temperature and the laser beam
power is noticed as shown in Fig. 8. The possible reason is due to the variation of
absorption coefficient of the Ti64 alloy with temperature. The absorptivity plays an

Fig. 9 Temperature distribution plot along the cross section of the workpiece for laser spot
welding process after heating for 20 ms at a 500 W, b 1000 W, and c 1500 W beam power
438 C. Kumar et al.

important role on the thermal field since it controls the heat input to the workpiece.
Also, absorptivity is a function of surface temperature.
Figure 9a–c shows the distribution of temperature along the cross section of the
workpiece for laser spot welding process at 500, 1000 and 1500 W beam power,
respectively after heating for 20 ms. From Fig. 9, it is observed that the temperature
in the fusion zone increases from ambient temperature to the peak temperature of
2492, 3047 and 5548 °C for 500, 1000 and 1500 W beam power, respectively.

7 Conclusions

In the present work, a FEM based simulation of LBW process of Ti64 workpiece
for both spot welding and moving heat source is carried out. From simulation
results, it is observed that the double ellipsoidal heat source model gives reasonable
result for both conduction and keyhole mode of welding. The non-uniform finite
element mesh save solution time during simulation and yields better results with
reasonable convergency. The temperature dependent thermo physical material
properties play an important role in thermal analysis of LBW process. It is observed
from the transient temperature profiles that the peak temperature increases with
increasing laser beam power at constant welding speed. A nonlinear relationship
between the laser beam power and the peak temperature of the welded workpiece is
observed. It is also observed from the weld bead profile that the weld bead
geometry is affected by the laser beam power and it increases with increasing laser
beam power density. The present model can be useful to reduce the number of trial
experiments before performing the actual experiment which helps in reducing
experiment costs.

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Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study
of Tungsten Carbide and Cobalt Powder
Sintering by Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser

Subrata Kumar Ghosh, Alok Kumar Das and Partha Saha

Abstract In the present study, tungsten carbide (WC) and cobalt (Co) powder
mixture was sintered through selective laser sintering process using a pulsed Nd:
YAG laser. Two different compositions of the powder mixture having 85 wt%
WC + 15 wt%Co and 80 wt% WC + 20 wt% Co were used in the experiments. The
optimum level of parameters, such as, composition of powder, layer thickness,
hatching distance, pulse energy, pulse width and distance from focal plane were
obtained by using the Taguchi method for achieving higher density, higher micro-
hardness and minimum porosity. The Taguchi design of experiments involving an
L-18 orthogonal array was followed. The effects of various sintering parameters
were investigated on various responses like density, microhardness and porosity.
The composition of the powder mixture and the pulse energy were found to have
significant role on the microhardness. Hatching distance and cobalt percentage were
the main influencing parameters on density and porosity. Surface morphology and
formation of intermetallic compounds were analyzed through scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques.

Keywords Selective laser sintering Taguchi method Micro-hardness Density



Porosity SEM XRD

S.K. Ghosh (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Agartala, Agartala
Tripura 799055, India
e-mail: subratagh82@gmail.com
A.K. Das
Department of Mechanical Engineering, ISM Dhanbad,
Dhanbad, Jharkhand 826004, India
e-mail: eralok@yahoo.co.in
P. Saha
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India
e-mail: psaha@mech.iitkgp.ernet.in

© Springer India 2015 441

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8_22
442 S.K. Ghosh et al.

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

Earlier, hard metal sintering operations were generally carried out in controlled
environment which was created by purging hydrogen gas. But, in certain cases,
control of carbon percentage in metal and hydrogen embrittlement posed difficulties
which lead to inconsistent material properties in different directions of the sintered
part (Upadhyaya 1998). With the advancement in vacuum furnace technologies, the
sintering of metal powder in vacuum became possible (Upadhyaya 1996). But
sintering of very hard materials, such as, cemented carbide, within short period is
still a challenging task. The progress in vacuum furnace technology cannot address
this problem as a sintering cycle typically takes 15–20 h. Moreover, the sintering of
micro parts is also a big challenge in this process. Powder metallurgy is another
alternative for sintering of hard metal parts. However, it is difficult to sinter irregular
or complex shaped parts with this process. Rapid prototyping (RPT) is the ultimate
solution wherein components of any complex shape can be fabricated within a short
interval. Rapid prototyping is the generic name of a machine which can be clas-
sified depending on the methods adopted by it to produce the desired component.
The methods include solid ground curing (SGC), selective laser sintering (SLS), 3-
dimensional printing (3DP), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), solid creation
system (SCS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective adhesive and hot press
(SAHP), solid object ultraviolet-laser plotter (SOUP), direct shell production
casting (DSPC), multi-jet modeling system (MJM), ballistic particle manufacturing
(BPM) and multiphase jet solidification (MJS) (Chua et al. 1998; Yan et al. 1996).
The SLS method can produce near-net shaped products. The method is highly
applicable in batch as well as in small volume production. It is a leading com-
mercial process to fabricate patterns for investment casting, metal moulds for
injection moulding and die casting, moulds and cores for sand casting (Ghosh et al.
2010; Gu and Shen 2006; Kruth et al. 2003; Simchi 2006; Wang et al. 2002; Zhu
et al. 2003). The SLS process has wide applications in bioengineering, such as, in
making scaffolds (Williams et al. 2005; Tan et al. 2003, 2005; Berry et al. 1997;
Wiria et al. 2007; Chua et al. 2004; Zhou et al. 2008), for dental replacements, etc.
Many materials are processed by this technique and it does not require any spe-
cialized tooling as in the conventional sintering process (Wang et al. 2002). The
SLS process also has applications in fabrication of components for MEMS. For
example, Kathuria (1999) has fabricated 3D micro-structures on different materials
with SLS. Ko et al. (2007a, b) have fabricated organic field effect transistor through
this process.
In this chapter, the SLS process for producing the sintered parts from the
tungsten carbide and cobalt (WC + Co) powder mixture will be explained. Tungsten
carbide–cobalt composite is broadly used as a heat-resistant and wear-resistant
material for cutting tools, moulds, drills for mining and geological explorations,
nozzles and other applications. These applications are feasible because of the
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 443

unique combination of high hardness and toughness of the WC–Co (Upadhyaya

et al. 2001). The SLS technique may emerge to be the most viable one to develop
the WC–Co composite. It can adopt the continuous wave and pulse mode laser. In
case of pulse laser, there are a number of input parameters, such as, laser pulse
energy, scan speed, pulse width, powder layer distance from focal plane, hatching
distance and layer thickness. These parameters may be controlled to obtain better
mechanical properties of the laser sintered specimen.
In this study, powder mixtures of tungsten carbide and cobalt in two different
proportions, (i) 85 wt% WC + 15 wt% Co, and, (ii) 80 wt% WC + 20 wt% Co, were
sintered. The density, micro-hardness and porosity were measured and optimized to
achieve the suitable parameters. Micro-structural characterization and the XRD
analysis were also carried out.

1.2 Principle of SLS Process

SLS is one of the recently developed RPT technologies by which the direct fab-
rication of components of arbitrary geometry can be attained in a single-step pro-
cess from any materials, such as, metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. The
materials should be in the form of powder mixture which may contain the binding
agent or sacrificial polymer binder (Kruth et al. 2003). In the SLS process, the laser
beam scans over the thin layer of powder having uniform thickness. With this, the
temperature of the powder crosses the temperature of the glass transition, resulting
in bonding/fusing of the particles. This leads to the consolidation of particles at the
top layer and with the previous layer (Chua et al. 1998). The success of the SLS
process can mainly be attributed to its ability to fabricate components of compli-
cated shape within a short time.

1.3 Laser Material Interaction in SLS Process

SLS can be used to process almost any material, provided the material is available
in powder form and that the powder particles tend to fuse or sinter when heat is
applied. Powders that possess low fusion or sintering properties can be laser sin-
tered by adding a sacrificial binder material (typically a polymer binder) to the basic
powder. After sintering the full part, the sacrificial binder can be removed by
debinding the ‘green’ part in a thermal furnace. However, the range of materials
(powder) that can be laser sintered without sacrificial binder is quite large as
compared to the other rapid prototyping processes.
The materials which can be used for developing laser sintered solid freeform
fabricated (SFF) products are polymer coated low carbon steel, thermoplastics,
bronze-nickel blend, powder, pre-alloyed bronze powder, etc. The components
developed from these materials have low mechanical strength and durability.
444 S.K. Ghosh et al.

In most cases, they are hardly used for functional prototypes of any engineering
components. In a few cases, post-processing operations are necessary for achieving
full density. Single metal powders have been proved to be difficult materials for
SFF by laser sintering because they tend to ‘ball up’ in molten form. Solutions to
this problem have been tried out by either pre-alloyed single phase powder system
or a powder mixture of two phases with different melting temperatures instead of
one so that one phase melts while the other remains solid. This is known as liquid
sintering where one metal acts as a binder.

1.4 Sintering Mechanism of WC–Co Powder

The SLS process is more effective with the mixture of two metal powders com-
prising high and low melting points. The low melting point powder acts as a binder.
The laser energy is adjusted in such a way that the temperature at the laser and
metal powder mixture interaction zone crosses the melting point of one powder but
does not reach the melting temperature of the other powder. The melted material
flows through the void in between the powder particles, consolidating powder
particles in the process. In this way, the laser scans over the powder layer, con-
verting it to a solid layer. The density of the sintered part can be increased by
reducing the porosity which can be accomplished by selecting the binding material
with smaller particle size than that of the structural material. The bigger particle size
of binder material has higher melting enthalpy because of its large mass which leads
to partial melting. Therefore, the void is not filled up. As a result, the density of the
component reduces. On the other hand, smaller particle size leads to complete
melting and the melt flows through the void and forms cluster structures. In this
way, the density of the sintered object can be increased in the SLS process.

1.5 Process Parameters of SLS Process

The SLS process can be performed using both continuous wave (CW) and pulse
wave (Modulated) laser. Table 1 presents a few characteristics of the laser systems.
The parameters of the SLS process with different lasers are given below:

1.5.1 Process Parameters for Continuous Wave Lasers (Fiber/CO2)

• Beam energy density—it is the energy carried by the laser beam per unit area. It
is denoted by J/cm2
• Scan speed—it is the travel length of laser beam on the work piece per unit time.
It is denoted by cm/s or m/min.
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 445

Table 1 Characteristics of different laser systems

Laser Power Wavelength Typical industrial applications
range (W) (µm)
CO2-flowing gas 500–45,000 10.6 Cutting, welding, cladding, free
(continuous wave and forming, and hardening
pulsed)
CO2-sealed (pulsed) 10–1,000 10.6 Micro-welding, cutting, scribing and
drilling
Nd:YAG (continuous 1000–5000 1.06 Welding, cutting, cladding and
wave) hardening
Nd:YAG (pulsed) 10–2000 1.06 Micro-welding, cutting, drilling,
scribing and marking
Nd:YAG diode pumped 10–500 1.06 Cutting, drilling, scribing, marking
(pulsed) and micro-machining
Excimer (pulsed) 0.001–400 0.157–351 Micro-machining, marking and
photolithography

• Scan spacing (mm)—it is distance between two consecutive laser scan lines.
• Layer thickness (µm)—it is powder layer thickness deposited on substrate
during the laser sintering process.
• Spot size (mm): it is spot size on work piece after interaction between laser and
material.

1.5.2 Process Parameters for Modulated/Pulse Wave Lasers

(Fiber/Nd:YAG)

The energy density, scan speed, scam spacing, spot size and layer thickness are the
common parameters to control the sintering process while continuous or pulsed
laser are used. Beside these parameters, few more parameters which are described
in below are also important in case of pulsed lase used.
• Pulse energy (J)—it is laser energy per each pulse.
• Pulse width (ms)—it is duration of each pulse. It is denoted by millisecond (ms).
• Pulse off time (ms)—it is idle time between two consecutive pluses.
• Repetition rate—it is number of pulses per second.

1.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of SLS

1.6.1 Advantages of SLS

The SLS is one of a few rapid prototyping (RP) techniques which can be used to
process wide range of powder materials. It is not considering the conductivity of the
material. Since it is producing the product directly and process lasts for less time,
446 S.K. Ghosh et al.

overall time to obtain product will be less. The porosity and density of the parts can
be controlled since the powder is deposited layer-by-layer fashion. The 3-D objects
with complex shape and size can be processed easily with the use of CAD mod-
eling. Highly accurate parts can be produced. Since the whole the process are fully
automatic, it requires less skillful operator.

1.6.2 Disadvantages of SLS

Beside the advantages, few disadvantages are to be mentioned. It is costly operation

because the capital cost is high. Laser produces harmful radiation which is very
harmful to eyes. Temperature control in the sintering process is critical. During
solidification, shrinkage can create serious residual stresses which can cause dis-
tortion or cracking. Sometimes, metallic balls are produced due to rapid cooling and
high surface tension of molten material. Inert atmosphere is always required to
avoid oxidation, fire or explosion. Sometimes, surface roughness of the sintered
parts becomes high.

1.7 Applications of Selective Laser Sintering Process

This process is used to fabricate various parts in automotive and aerospace industry.
It can produce the tool inserts of hard material. Very hard material like ceramic can
also be sintered by this process. This process finds application to produce near-net-
shape fabrication of prototypes and several tooling such as molds, dies etc. for
injection molding and die casting. Very complicated shapes like impeller of a
turbine, piston, crank shaft etc. can be produced by the process. Parts for
mechanical and thermal tests and series of small plastic parts can be fabricated by
the process.

2 Experimental Details

2.1 Experimental Setup for Pulsed Laser Sintering

Different components of the experimental setup are as follows:

• Pulsed laser source (Nd:YAG)
• NC machine table
• Powder spreading device
• Sintering chamber with inert gas purging facility
• Powder spreading device
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 447

Table 2 Technical specifications of Nd:YAG laser system

Manufacturer Baasel Laser Tech., Germany
Type of laser Solid state laser
Nd:YAG Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet
Chemical formula Nd3+:Y3Al5O12
Crystal structure Cubic
Mass density 4.5 (g/cm3)
Wavelength 1064 (nm)
Minimum pulse width 0.5 (ns)
Maximum pulse space 1000 (ns)
Pulse length 0.1–20 (ms)
Pulse energy, max 25 (J)
Average power, max (W) 50 (W)
Pulse power 4.8 (kW)
Beam diameter 0.6 (mm)
Beam divergence 6 (milli-rad.)
Spot size at focus point 620 (µm)

Technical specifications of the Nd:YAG laser source which has been used in the
experimentation are presented in Table 2. The setup for the pulsed laser sintering
process is shown in Fig. 1.

2.2 Inert Gas Chamber with Powder Spreading Arrangement

An inert gas chamber (IGC), manufactured by Perspex, contained the powder bed
and was mounted on the NC machine table (Fig. 1). The laser entered through a
quartz window mounted on the top plate of the chamber. Argon gas was fed into the

Fig. 1 Setup for pulse laser

SLS process
448 S.K. Ghosh et al.

Fig. 2 Schematic of sintering chamber with powder spreading arrangement

IGC through a brass nozzle at a rate of 5 L/min in order to create inert atmosphere
inside the chamber. The powder bed was in the form of a drawer that could be slid
out of the box for spreading the powder layer.
The distribution of powder on the substrate surface with uniform layer thickness
is very crucial for good quality sintered part. In order to accomplish this, powder
spreader was fabricated. Figure 2 represents the schematic of the inert gas chamber
with powder spreading arrangement. The substrate is fixed on the base and the
powder was distributed layer by layer on the substrate and the laser beam fell over
the surface of powder bed due to which the projected corner of the particles melted
and stuck to other particles, forming a block. In this way, the first layer of the
powder bed was consolidated. After consolidation of the first layer, the second layer
of powder with the same thickness was put over the previously consolidated
powder layer and the same process was repeated a number of times. Figure 3 shows
the nomenclature of the selective laser sintering.

Fig. 3 Nomenclature of the pulse laser sintering process

Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 449

Table 3 Controlling parameters and their levels

Parameters Levels
1 2 3
Composition 85 wt% WC + 15 wt% 80 wt% WC + 20 wt% –
Co Co
Layer thickness (μm) 300 400 500
Hatching distance (μm) 400 500 600
Pulse energy (J) 15 17 19
Pulse width (ms) 14 17 20
Powder layer distance from focal 400 450 500
plane (μm)

2.3 Design of Experiments

Based on the Taguchi design, L18 orthogonal array was chosen for carrying out the
experiment. The controlling parameters, such as, composition, layer thickness,
hatching distance, pulse energy, pulse width and powder layer distance from focal
plane were the variable parameters. The parameters and their levels are reported in
Table 3. Table 4 presents different combinations of parameters for the L18
orthogonal arrays (Phadke 1989; Ross 1996).

2.4 Procedure

Two homogeneous powder mixtures of tungsten carbide (with average particle size
of around 50 µm) and cobalt were prepared. One contained 85 wt% WC + 15 wt%
Co and the other had 80 wt% WC + 20 wt% Co powder. The loose powder
mixtures were spread over a mild steel substrate of size 10 mm × 10 mm × 8 mm.
The extra amount of powder was scraped off in order to maintain the layer thick-
ness. The scraper was moved to the top of two slip-gauge-stacks of equal heights
placed on two sides of the substrate. The substrate was then positioned into the inert
gas chamber exactly below the quartz window on top (Fig. 1). Argon gas was
continuously purged through a nozzle to eliminate air content inside the sintering
chamber and to maintain an inert environment. Laser pulses were irradiated and
scanned over the powder layer. After completion of one layer, the process was
repeated to achieve the required height of the sintered specimen. All the eighteen
experiments were conducted in a similar manner and one of the specimens is shown
in Fig. 4. After carrying out all the experiments, the properties, i.e., density and
micro-hardness of all specimens, were measured. The surface porosity was mea-
sured with the help of Image Pro software. At first, the sintered specimens were
450 S.K. Ghosh et al.

Table 4 Design of experiments as per orthogonal array

Exp. no. Composition Powder layer Layer Pulse Pulse Hatching
(wt% of WC + distance below thickness (μm) width (ms) energy (J) distance (μm)
wt% of Co) focal plane (μm)
1 85 + 15 400 300 14 15 400
2 85 + 15 400 400 17 17 500
3 85 + 15 400 500 20 19 600
4 85 + 15 450 300 14 17 500
5 85 + 15 450 400 17 19 600
6 85 + 15 450 500 20 15 400
7 85 + 15 500 300 17 15 600
8 85 + 15 500 400 20 17 400
9 85 + 15 500 500 14 19 500
10 80 + 20 400 300 20 19 500
11 80 + 20 400 400 14 15 600
12 80 + 20 400 500 17 17 400
13 80 + 20 450 300 17 19 400
14 80 + 20 450 400 20 15 500
15 80 + 20 450 500 14 17 600
16 80 + 20 500 300 20 17 600
17 80 + 20 500 400 14 19 400
18 80 + 20 500 500 17 15 500

Fig. 4 One fabricated

specimen

sectioned with the help of wire-cut electro discharge machine and then polished to
the mirror finishing. The microscopic view of the surfaces was captured at low
magnifications with the help of stereo zoom microscope. These images were pro-
cessed with the Image Pro software for finding the percentage of pores (porosity)
present in the sintered specimen.
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 451

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Taguchi Analysis for Density, Micro-hardness

and Porosity

The Taguchi method was applied to study the parametric effect and to find out the
optimum experimental conditions for the best material properties. The S/N ratios
were calculated based on the nature of quality characteristics. In the present study,
‘the-larger-the-better’ quality characteristic was desirable for both density and
micro-hardness. ‘The-smaller-the-better’ quality characteristic was essential for
porosity. Parametric optimization was achieved with the main effects plot which
establishes a relationship between factor and S/N ratios. Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) was used to select significant parameters and estimate the percentage of
contribution of each parameter on the responses. The significance of factors is
represented in terms of F-test values or percentage of contribution.

3.1.1 ANOVA for Density

ANOVA table was analyzed according to the Taguchi method. F-test values, F-
tabulated values and percentage of contribution of each factor on density are
reported in the Table 5. It was observed that F-test values for hatching distance and
composition were more than the F-tabulated values. Therefore, these were con-
sidered to be the most significant parameters. Hatching distance has a major con-
tribution (58.79 %) among the all parameters. Although composition is a significant
parameter based on F-test value, contribution of layer thickness (10.44 %) is
slightly more than that of the composition (9.60 %).

Table 5 Analysis of variance for density

Factorsa DF SS MS Percentage of F-test F-tab
contribution
Composition 1 2.370117 2.370117 9.60 6.24 5.99
Distance below focal 2 1.370132 0.685066 5.54 1.80
plane (μm)
Layer thickness (μm) 2 2.581380 1.29069 10.44 3.40
Pulse width (ms) 2 0.342555 0.171277 1.39 0.45
Pulse energy (J) 2 1.241931 0.620965 5.02 1.63
Hatching distance (μm) 2 14.533098 7.266549 58.79 19.13 5.14
Error 6 2.279436 0.379906 9.22
Total 17 24.718649 100
a
DF degrees of freedom, SS sum of squares, MS mean squares, F-test F-test value, F-tab F-
tabulated value
452 S.K. Ghosh et al.

3.1.2 Optimal Parameters for Higher Density

Main effects plot between S/N ratios for density and levels of the factors is shown in
Fig. 5. The highest S/N ratio in the graph was chosen to select the optimum level of
factors in case of higher density. It was observed that the second level of compo-
sition (80 wt% WC + 20 wt% Co), the second level of layer distance below focal
plane (450 μm), the first level of layer thickness (300 μm), the first level of pulse
width (14 ms), the first level of pulse energy (15 J) and the first level of hatching
distance (400 μm) are the optimum combination of parameters within the domain.
Predicted density of the sintered part is 12.42 g/cc.

3.1.3 ANOVA for Microhardness

ANOVA table for micro-hardness was analyzed. F-test values, F-tabulated values
and percentage of contribution of each factor on density are shown in the Table 6. It
was found that F-test values for composition were more than the F-tabulated values.
Hence, this was considered to be the most significant parameter. Composition had
the maximum contribution of 40.40 % on microhardness among all the parameters.
Pulse energy also had significant contribution of 21.90 %.

3.1.4 Optimal Parameters for Higher Microhardness

Main effects plot between S/N ratios for microhardness and levels of the factors is
shown in Fig. 6. The highest S/N ratio in the graph was chosen to select optimum

Fig. 5 Main effects plot for S/N ratios (for density)

Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 453

Table 6 Analysis of variance for microhardness

Factors DF SS MS Percentage of F-test F-tab
contribution
Composition 1 3.256473 3.256473 40.40 12.84 5.99
Layer distance below 2 0.79468 0.39734 9.86 1.57
focal plane (μm)
Layer thickness (μm) 2 0.051002 0.025501 0.63 0.10
Pulse width (ms) 2 0.281628 0.140814 3.49 0.56
Pulse energy (J) 2 1.76559 0.882795 21.90 3.48
Hatching distance (μm) 2 0.390116 0.195058 4.84 0.77
Error 6 1.522097 0.253683 18.88
Total 17 8.061587 100

level of factors in case of microhardness. It was observed that the first level of
composition (85 wt% WC + 15 wt% Co), the third level of layer distance below
focal plane (500 μm), the third level of layer thickness (500 μm), the second level of
pulse width (17 ms), the third level of pulse energy (19 J) and the third level of
hatching distance (600 μm) were the optimum combination of parameters within the
domain. Predicted microhardness was 20.72 GPa.

3.1.5 ANOVA for Porosity

Table 7 presents the ANOVA for porosity of the sintered components. It was found
that the F-test values for hatching distance and composition were more than the F-

Fig. 6 Main effects plot for S/N ratios (for microhardness)

454 S.K. Ghosh et al.

Table 7 Analysis of variance for porosity

Factors DF SS MS Percentage of F-test F-tab
contribution
Composition 1 11.033 11.034 15.35 9.62 5.99
Distance below focal 2 6.600 3.300 9.18 2.88
plane (μm)
Layer thickness (μm) 2 5.400 2.699 7.51 2.35
Pulse width (ms) 2 1.495 0.747 2.08 0.65
Pulse energy (J) 2 4.531 2.265 6.30 1.97
Hatching distance (μm) 2 35.946 17.973 50.00 15.68 5.14
Error 6 6.877 1.146 9.57
Total 17 71.883 100

tabulated values. Hence, these were considered to be the significant parameters to

influence the porosity of the specimen. The hatching distance has major contribu-
tion of 50 % as compared to all the other parameters. The composition has a
contribution of 15.35 %. It is a common knowledge that if the hatching distance is
increased, then the percentage of overlapping decreases. Hence, the waviness in the
specimen was increased. This kind of waviness is filled by the subsequent powder
layer deposit in the previous layer. But if higher hatching distance persists, then the
depth of waviness increases. Subsequently, filling of the entire depth of waviness is
stopped by the rapid cooling and solidification of molten material as the interaction
time between powder and laser lasts for a very short period. Although composition
is also a significant parameter, its contribution is less. In this process, Co is melted
due to its low melting point and spreading and holding of the WC particles. As a
result, a compact product can be obtained. Subsequently, the porosity may be
reduced as well.

3.1.6 Optimal Parameters for Lower Porosity

Main effect plot between S/N ratios for porosity and levels of the factors is shown in
Fig. 7. Since ‘the-lower–the–better’ quality characteristic was chosen, the highest S/
N ratio in the plot was chosen as well to select the optimum level of parameters in
case of lower porosity. It was observed that the second level of composition (80 wt
% WC + 20 wt% Co), the second level of layer distance below focal plane
(450 μm), the first level of layer thickness (300 μm), the first level of pulse width
(14 ms), the third level of pulse energy (19 J) and the first level of hatching distance
(400 μm) were the optimum combination of parameters within the domain.
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 455

Fig. 7 Main effects plot for porosity

3.2 Micro-structural Characterization

The SEM micrographs of the top surfaces of three specimens (1, 2 and 3) are shown
in Fig. 8a–c. The influence of the hatching distance is clearly visible in the figures.
These figures exhibit that if the hatching distance is increased, then the porosity
increases as well.
The WC–Co sintered specimen was initially etched with Chaporova’s solution
(HCl saturated with FeCl3) to “darken” the cobalt-rich portion. Then Murakami’s
reagent was applied on the surface to outline the WC grains.
SEM micrographs of the specimen are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. It is evident
from Fig. 9 that white phases (spot 1) spread in the micro-structure like particles.
Based on spot EDS results, these were found to be W-rich material with elemental
composition of 98.10 % W and 1.10 % Co. In comparison, although black phases
(spot 2) were W-rich material as well, percentage of Co in them increased with an
elemental composition of 59.41 % W and 40.59 % Co. The difference in the values
of coefficient of thermal expansion of Co and WC may lead to thermal stress in the
agglomerate during rapid cooling when the laser pulse is put off. The cooling rate is
dependent on the laser parameters and may result in generation and propagation of
micro cracks as seen in Fig. 9.
It was observed that microstructure of specimen 7 (Fig. 9) was almost the same
as specimen 2 (Fig. 10). Only elemental composition of phases was slightly
changed. Black phases (spot 4) were found to be containing 64.31 % W and
35.69 % Co. White phases (spot 3) were found to be comprising 98.83 % W and
1.17 % Co.
456 S.K. Ghosh et al.

Fig. 8 SEM micrograph of a specimen 1, b specimen 2 and c specimen 3

Fig. 9 SEM micrograph of

specimen 7

3.3 XRD Analysis

XRD analysis was done for the laser sintered specimen to investigate the phase
generated by the reaction between the constituents of the material. One XRD
pattern is shown in Fig. 11. It was observed that occurrence of peaks for WC was
the maximum. Some inter-metallic compounds, i.e., CW3, Co2C, and Co3W9C4,
were detected from the pattern.
Selective Laser Sintering: A Case Study of … 457

Fig. 10 SEM micrograph of

specimen 2

Fig. 11 XRD pattern for

specimen 2

4 Conclusions

In this investigation, laser sintering of WC–Co was successfully carried out. During
the laser sintering, it was observed that cobalt melts first due to its low melting
point. Molten material spreads, engulfs the solid WC particles and makes a bond
following resolidification. Density of the sintered part mainly depends on the
hatching distance and composition. But, hatching distance has greater influence
than the composition. Microhardness is mainly influenced by the percentage of WC
present in the sample. Both composition and the hatching distance are influencing
parameters for porosity. The composition has the highest contribution of 50 % as
compared to the other parameters. The reduction in hatching distance and increase
of percentage of Co content in the powder mixture may lead to a decrease of the
porosity of the specimen. The SEM micrographs and XRD analysis confirm the
bonding between WC and Co. Further studies are required for determining the
influence of the process parameters on sintering characteristics so as to learn about
the other effective properties, such as, wear resistance, fatigue strength, etc.
458 S.K. Ghosh et al.

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Author Index

A K
Acherjee, B., 317 Kant, Ravi, 69
Akhtar, Syed Nadeem, 201 Kant, Rishi, 221
Khare, Alika, 179
B Kibria, G., 343
Bag, Swarup, 399 Kuar, A.S., 317
Balasubramaniam, R., 157 Kukreja, L.M., 399
Bhadra, Rakesh, 381 Kumar, Chandan, 421
Bhattacharya, S., 221 Kumar, Subrata, 239
Bhattacharyya, B., 255, 283, 343
Bhuyan, Parag M., 69 M
Biswas, Pankaj, 93, 381, 421 Maji, Kuntal, 55
Masanta, Manoj, 117
D Mitra, S., 317
Das, Alok Kumar, 441
Das, Biplab, 93 N
Das, Manas, 421 Nath, A.K., 55
Dixit, Uday S., 1, 17, 41, 107 Nirsanametla, Yadaiah, 399
Doloi, B., 255, 283, 343
P
E Paul, C.P., 399
Echempati, Raghu, 1 Paul, Santanu, 139
Eideh, A., 1 Peter, Josephine, 283
Prakash, Shashi, 239
F Pratihar, D.K., 55
Fetene, Besufekad N., 41
R
G Ramkumar, J., 201
Gautam, Sachin S., 17 Ravi Sankar, M., 381
Ghosh, Subrata Kumar, 441 Roy, N., 317
Gupta, Ankur, 221
S
J Saha, Partha, 441
Jacob, James, 157 Sahoo, Chinmaya Kumar, 117
Jiru, Woldetinsay G., 107 Sahu, Jageshwar Kumar, 117
Joshi, S.N., 69, 179 Sankar, Mamilla R., 107

© Springer India 2015 461

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8
462 Author Index

Sen, A., 255 Singh, Sunil K., 17

Shanmugavelu, P., 157
Sharma, Shashank, 201 Y
Singh, Ramesh, 139 Yan, Wenyi, 139
Singh, Ramesh K., 157
Singh, Sanasam Sunderlal, 179
Subject Index

A Experimental study, 69, 90, 191, 192, 330, 354,

Ablation rate, 206, 207, 215 355, 424
Alumina (Al2O3), 354
Aluminium, 107, 109, 116, 117, 125, 126, F
128–135 Finite element method (FEM), 2–4, 42, 45, 59,
Aluminum alloy, 79 60, 78, 171, 187, 188, 389, 390, 402,
Assist gas, 157 403, 417, 426, 428, 429, 431, 438
Fiber laser, 256–258, 260, 264, 266, 268, 271,
B 275, 279
Buckling mechanism, 72–74 Finite element analysis, 55
Finite element model, 139, 143, 144, 151, 153
C Fusion welding, 399–403, 406, 412, 428, 429,
Cement coating, 26, 29, 31, 33, 38 433
Circumferential overlap, 347, 348, 355, 357,
359, 374, 375 G
CO2laser, 107, 109, 221–223, 227, 228, 230, Gaussian laser heat source, 144
237 Grey relational analysis, 323, 326, 333, 339
CO2laser beam machining, 239, 252
Contact angle, 221, 235 H
Copper powder, 107, 109, 110, 115, 116 HAZ width, 331, 333, 336, 339
Curvilinear irradiation, 78 Heat transfer, 43, 44, 58, 122, 145, 148, 149,
152, 187, 226, 261, 402, 403, 406, 407,
D 417, 428, 432, 433, 435
Defocusing conditions, 360, 362, 365, 366, Hole taper, 321, 323, 330, 331, 336, 339
372, 373
Deformation, 3, 5, 20, 38, 56, 57, 60, 63–66, I
69–72, 76, 78, 84, 88 Inert gas atmosphere, 403
Density, 444, 449, 452, 457 Inverse problem, 13
Dome shaped surfaces, 33
Doubly curve surface, 101, 104, 105 L
Laser beam welding, 424, 425
E Laser bending, 41, 42, 69, 72, 74, 76–78, 83,
Edge effect, 76, 81, 83, 86, 89 84, 86, 88, 89
Elastic-plastic bending, 1 Laser cladding, 139–145, 152, 153
Element birth technique, 143, 148 Laser forming, 1–3, 14, 20–22, 24, 33, 37
Energy analysis, 239 Laser induced micromachining, 179, 180,
Excimer laser, 157–162, 165–173, 175, 176, 182–184, 186–195
201, 202, 205–208, 211, 212, 218

© Springer India 2015 463

S.N. Joshi and U.S. Dixit (eds.), Lasers Based Manufacturing,
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2352-8
464 Subject Index

Laser marking, 284–287, 290–292, 295, 296, Porosity, 443, 446, 449, 453, 455
298, 305, 313, 315 Power density, 425, 435, 438
Laser micromachining, 157, 159, 163, 167, Pulsed laser forming, 55–58, 65, 66
168, 172, 173, 176 Pulsed Nd:YAG laser, 117, 126, 128, 129, 134,
Laser micro-turning process, 344, 346–348, 345, 348, 351, 354, 361, 379
353, 359, 369, 379
Laser surface modification, 118–120, 125, 126, R
128 RSM and ANN, 298, 310, 313, 315
Laser welding, 382, 384–386, 388–392, 394,
395 S
Lens array, 201, 210, 212, 213, 218 Scanning path, 94
Lime coating, 26, 27, 29 Selective laser sintering, 442, 448
Line heating, 93–95, 105 SEM, 455, 457
Spot overlap, 346, 355–357
M Stationary heat source, 43, 46, 48, 52, 53
Metallographic analysis, 409, 417 Strain field, 100, 104
Micro channel, 185, 195 Surface alloying, 108–110, 116
Micro-grooving process, 258, 260, 266, 268 Surface coatings, 26, 33, 38
Micro-hardness, 443, 449, 452 Surface roughness, 348, 354, 357, 360, 362,
Micro-machining, 211, 218, 221–223, 228, 363, 366, 368, 371, 374, 377
230, 237, 256, 258, 260, 261, 265, 270,
275, 279 T
Microchanneling, 239, 241, 245, 246, 249 Taguchi method, 451
Microfluidics, 222, 235 Temperature gradient mechanism, 72, 73
Micromachining applications, 159 Thermal analysis, 428–430, 434, 438
Microstructure, 383, 385, 386, 388 Ti-6Al-4V alloy, 256, 259, 261, 264, 271, 275,
Moving heat source, 42, 45–52 278
TiC coating, 117, 125, 128, 131, 133–135
N Titanium alloy, 422, 423, 430
Nanocomposite, 322, 323, 330, 339
Numerical and experiment temperature V
distribution, 389, 390, 395 Volumetric heat source, 390, 391, 399, 403,
Numerical modeling of LIMM, 187 407, 408, 428, 432, 433

O X
Open atmosphere, 399, 401, 409, 410, 412, 417 XRD, 443, 456, 457

P Z
Photo resist, 157, 174 Zirconia, 285, 298, 299, 314
PMMA, 221–229, 234, 235, 237, 239–246,
248–252