An investigation into the role of melt ejection in repeatability of entrance and exit hole diameters in laser percussion drilling

Abstract

Laser percussion drilling is a well-established industrial tool for the fabrication of small holes in aerospace components. Yet the process is inherently variable and the hole geometry can not be precisely predicted by the processing parameters. It is well known that melt ejection has a significant influence on the hole geometry. Therefore, an investigation into the role of melt ejection on the entrance and exit hole geometry repeatability is carried out for laser percussion drilling. This work intends to study the melt ejection process by the variation of operating parameters and seeks to identify a relationship with the resulting hole geometry.Laser percussion drilling is a well-established industrial tool for the fabrication of small holes in aerospace components. Yet the process is inherently variable and the hole geometry can not be precisely predicted by the processing parameters. It is well known that melt ejection has a significant influence on the hole geometry. Therefore, an investigation into the role of melt ejection on the entrance and exit hole geometry repeatability is carried out for laser percussion drilling. This work intends to study the melt ejection process by the variation of operating parameters and seeks to identify a relationship with the resulting hole geometry.