Abstract
Laser Chemical Machining (LCM) is a non-conventional removal process, based on a precise thermal activation of heterogeneous chemical reactions between an electrolyte and a metallic surface. Due to local overheating during the process, boiling bubbles occur, which can impair the removal quality. In order to reduce the amount of bubbles, the laser chemical process is performed at different process pressures. Removal experiments were performed on Titanium Grade 1 using the electrolyte phosphoric acid at various process pressures, machining speeds and laser powers in order to determine the limit of the process window by evaluating the characteristics of the removal cavities. As a result, the process window for non-disturbed laser chemical machining is widened at higher process pressures. The process pressures have no influence on the geometric shape of the removal. The expansion of the process window is attributed to the fact that at higher process pressures the saturation temperature of the electrolyte rises, so that bubble boiling starts at a higher surface temperature on the workpiece induced by the laser power. The removal rate could be increased by a factor of 2.48 by increasing the process pressures from ambient pressure to 6 bar, thus taking an important step towards the economic efficiency of the laser chemical machining.
Highlights
Smaller components increase the demands placed on industrial manufacturing processes
In order to reduce the amount of bubbles, the laser chemical process is performed at different process pressures
Removal experiments were performed on Titanium Grade 1 using the electrolyte phosphoric acid at various process pressures, machining speeds and laser powers in order to determine the limit of the process window by evaluating the characteristics of the removal cavities
Summary
Smaller components increase the demands placed on industrial manufacturing processes. Alternative machining processes, especially for metallic workpieces, are the so-called non-conventional machining processes. Laser chemical machining (LCM) is one of them [2]. Laser chemical machining combines the advantages of laser processing, e.g. precise and localized energy input, with the advantages of electrochemical processing with a gentle energy effect without significant heat impact [3], which is why the unprocessed microstructure of the materials is not affected [4]. The workpiece is irradiated with a laser, which introduces local, precise and sufficient energy in the form of heat into the workpiece. The workpiece is surrounded by electrolytes [5]
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