High Power Industrial Lasers Research Articles

Technology Focus: Completions (April 2024)

To start a text for high-level readers with a cliché is always a risk, but I will take it: “Data is the new oil.” When British mathematician Clive Humby coined this clever sentence in 2006, the thought-provoking idea behind it was that both oil and data need to be refined and processed to have value. Time and repetition eventually shaped the new, more common-sense meaning that data is as valuable as oil. And when the data refers to oil exploration and production, Humby’s statement becomes resounding, especially in its original meaning. The oil and gas industry, notably the completion activity, with its distributed sensors, optical fibers, permanent downhole gauges, sealed-wellbore pressure monitoring (SWPM), and microseismic, has generated a fantastic amount of data, which has increasingly been properly refined and processed, producing more information—and more oil. A quick search of OnePetro shows the number of papers that deal with the use of artificial intelligence with massive amounts of data that are being made available in the cloud to solve everything from the most prosaic completion decisions to the automatic design of stimulations in naturally fractured reservoirs. A good example of the use of data is shown in paper SPE 212922, which provides an in-depth analysis of interventions in the UK sector of the North Sea. Most of the conclusions, although mostly based on the UK Stewardship Survey, can be easily extrapolated to other regions of the world. And one of them puts its finger on the wound: the fear of asset managers of conducting interventions, even though they appear to be highly effective and economically viable. Paper SPE 212367 discusses the automation of SWPM data analysis for automatic volume-to-first-response matching, a great evolution in the design of refractures in the legendary Eagle Ford shales. And, if the evolution of completing unconventionals led the US to its historic production record in 2023, with more than 16 million BOE/D, in Argentina, shale gas has been a driver of development. The evolution of completions in the most famous unconventional prospect, Vaca Muerta, can be followed in paper SPE 212574. All of these great readings prove the cliché that “data is the new oil.” To complement the reading, a paper that will bring a discreet smile to a generation that breathlessly watched spaceships and even planets being destroyed by lasers, paper SPE 215016, details the industrial use of lasers in perforation. The future has finally arrived. To close the selections, two papers present current and important topics: completion options for carbon capture, use, and storage (SPE 216187) and innovations in autonomous inflow control devices, with the ingenious activation of the apparatus with chemical devices (SPE 216041). Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 215016 First Industrial High-Power Laser Perforation Deployment by Sameeh I. Batarseh, Saudi Aramco, et al. SPE 216187 Improving Injection Efficiency in CCUS Wells: A Comparative Analysis of Different Completion Designs by Prakasa Bona, Halliburton, et al. SPE 216041Configurable Adaptive Chemical Inflow Control Device Eliminates Intervention by P. Asthana, Saudi Aramco, et al.

Designing hollow-core multi-mode anti-resonant fibers for industrial high-power laser delivery

We investigate the design of hollow-core fibers for the delivery of 10s of kilowatt average power from multi-mode laser sources where delivery through solid-core fibers is typically limited by nonlinear optical effects to 10s of metres of distance. A technique is presented for the design of multi-mode anti-resonant fibers that can efficiently capture and deliver light from these lasers. We analyze, by numerical simulation, the performance of two anti-resonant fibers designed using this technique to target lasers with M2 up to 13 and find they are capable of delivering MW-level power over multi-kilometres distances with low leakage loss, and at bend radii as small as 35cm. Pulsed lasers are also investigated and numerical simulations indicate that optimized fibers could in principle deliver nanosecond pulses with pulse energy greater than 100mJ over more than 1km. This would be orders of magnitude higher power and longer distances than in typical machining applications using state-of-the-art solid core fibers.

Industrial High Power Laser in Our Company

Industrial High Power Laser in Our Company

Controlling 2D laser nano structuring over large area with double femtosecond pulses

Laser surface texturing is an established way to introduce surface functionalities on solid surfaces. By means of femtosecond laser sources, it’s possible to texture a variety of solids such as metals, semiconductors and transparent materials, introducing features of different symmetry and size. Fabrication of laser induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) which typically range in the near-submicron length scale can lead to strong modifications of surface wetting, tribological and optical properties. Controlling LIPSS morphology could enable us to mimic functional textures found in nature, introducing functionalities such as antireflectivity and bactericidity. Several works demonstrate the impact of polarization control and double-pulse irradiation on determining texture symmetry and size. Here we present a comprehensive study on controlling laser induced structures by double femtosecond pulse irradiation. The effect of pulse polarization and interpulse delay is elucidated and the generation of novel 2D surface morphologies is reported. A plausible interpretation of the structure formation mechanism is proposed in the frame of non-linear convection flow. A high average power industrial femtosecond laser source with a pulse duration of 350 fs operating at high repetition rate was employed for the experiments. Large areas were processed by combining different 2D morphologies generating a holographic pattern. We believe that our results provide a novel insight in controlling laser induced submicron morphology. Moreover, the presented surface texturing process is scalable in terms of processed area and cycle time and fully compatible with high repetition rates, demonstrating for the first time the feasibility to introduce double-pulse processing in an industrial environment.

Metal Optics — New Chances for Laser Focusing Mirrors

AbstractAll reflective laser focusing heads have been in use for industrial high‐power laser machining systems for more than thirty years now. Originally inevitable for multi‐kilowatt “macro” lasers, now better metal mirror machining technologies open the field for metal optics to mid‐power and even to low‐power applications. Especially the advantage of cost effective flexible manufacturing of aspherical and free form surfaces even in lowest quantities gives the optical engineers the versatility to manufacture laser focusing systems for interesting new applications: Bessel beams will go beyond the diffraction limit, polygon scanners with smallest focus spots will deliver high power densities, e.g. for dicing, extremely compact focusing for 3D metal printing or remote welding is realized with a few mirrors only. Complete “focusing‐boxes” or just single mirrors as well as matched mirror sets are available and help laser machine builders and system integrators to realize never‐seen‐before products.

Influence of temperature-dependent absorptivity on solid surface heated by CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers

The most widely used high power industrial lasers are the Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers, especially in the cutting process and also in the field of surface engineering, due to their precision of operation, short processing time, localized treatment, low thermal distortion, and their precise control of depth treatment. One of the most important parameters affecting the laser–surface interaction is the material's ability to absorb laser energy. This absorptivity is an unknown parameter for which experimental data at high temperatures are currently unavailable. A finite difference method is used to solve numerically the derived nonlinear heat equation taking into account the temperature-dependence absorptivity, input intensity laser pulse heating of a semi-infinite solid material including a convective boundary condition at the surface. Absorptivity was modeled as a temperature-dependent variable function, for the theoretical Hagen-Rubens, and Bramson relationships. Their influence on temporal and spatial evolution of the temperature profile in the material during laser heating is investigated and discussed. In case of constant absorptivity, underestimated temperature is found mainly at the surface of the material.

Noninterceptive Beam Profiling of High‐Power Industrial Lasers

AbstractHigh‐power 1 — 100 kW industrial lasers typically undergo thermally‐in‐duced optical effects that change the laser beam and laser beam delivery to the work piece. Knowledge of any changes such as focal shift may be important for particular welding or cutting processes. Conventional beam profile diagnostic methods are not practical and fall short at such high powers. A new profiling technique that uses Rayleigh scatter from the beam overcomes the power obstacle and allows laser characterization that was previously impossible to perform.

High Power Laser Hybrid Welding – Challenges and Perspectives

High power industrial lasers at power levels up to 100kW is now available on the market. Therefore, welding of thicker materials has become of interest for the heavy metal industry e.g. shipyards and wind mill producers. Further, the power plant industry, producers of steel pipes, heavy machinery and steel producers are following this new technology with great interest.At Lindø Welding Technology (LWT), which is a subsidiary to FORCE Technology, a 32-kwatt disc laser is installed. At this laser facility, welding procedures related to thick section steel applications are developed. Material thicknesses between 40 and 100mm are currently of interest. This paper describes some of the challenges that are related to the development of the high power hybrid laser welding process as well as to the perspectives for the technology as a production tool for the heavy metal industry.

Determination of Bulk Magnetic Volume Properties by Neutron Dark-Field Imaging

For the production of high-class electrical steel grades a deeper understanding of the magnetic domain interaction with induced mechanical stresses is strongly required. This holds for non-oriented (NO) as well as grain-oriented (GO) steels. In the case of non-oriented steels the magnetic property degeneration after punching or laser cutting is essential for selecting correct obstructing material grades and designing efficient electrical machines. Until now these effects stay undiscovered due to the lack of adequate investigation methods that reveal local bulk information on processed laminations. Here we show how the use of a non-destructive testing method based on a neutron grating interferometry providing the dark-field image contrast delivers spatially-resolved transmission information about the local bulk domain arrangement and domain wall density. With the help of this technique it is possible to visualize magnetization processes within the NO laminations. Different representative manufacturing techniques are compared in terms of magnetic flux density deterioration such as punching, mechanically cutting by guillotine as well as laser fusion cutting using industrial high power laser beam sources. For GO steel laminations the method is applicable on the one hand to visualize the internal domain structure without being hindered by the coating layer. On the other hand, we can show the influence of the coating layer onto the underlying domain structure.

Effects of Processing Parameters on Powder Utilization Ratio during Laser Metal Deposition Shaping

The Laser Metal Deposition Shaping (LMDS) process involves injecting metallic powder into a molten pool created by a high power industrial laser. As the laser traverses across the substrate in a layer-by-layer fashion, a fully dense metal is left in its path. A few processing parameters involved with the LMDS include the laser power, traverse speed, powder feeding rate, and gas flow rate, etc, which affect many factors of LMDS technology. Among them, the powder utilization ratio is an important one because it directly determines the build rate and build height per layer. Due to some objective reasons, the powder utilization ratio is far less than 100%. In order to ensure the stability of LMDS technology, it is necessary to investigate the match between powder utilization ratio and build rate and forming efficiency, and grasp the influence rules of processing parameters on powder utilization ratio. Accordingly, the related experiments were performed with the varied laser power, scanning speed and powder feeding rate. The results prove that the powder utilization ratio is a varied value, and affected by the processing parameters. Consequently, the relative ideal parameter match should be chosen in accordance with the specific circumstances during the LMDS technology, thus ensuring the better powder utilization ratio and promoting the forming efficiency and economic benefit.

Focus on lasers and imaging

Focus on lasers and imaging

Industrial application of three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals made in space

Three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystal can be utilized as optical pulse control devices for ultra-short laser pulses as short as a few tens of femtosecond. Using a recently developed colloidal crystallization method, a few centimetre sized single colloidal crystals were made. By shining femtosecod laser pulses onto one hundred micrometer thick colloidal crystal, we confirmed a pulse shape change clearly. Under a collaborative project within Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, we have grown such colloidal photonic crystals at the international space station, successfully. Optical and mechanical properties of the colloidal photonic crystal will be discussed in more detail to figure out their industrial high power laser application.

Preface to Topical Papers on Industrial High-Power Lasers: Today and Future

Preface to Topical Papers on Industrial High-Power Lasers: Today and Future

High-performance carbon nanotube coatings for high-power laser radiometry

Radiometry for the next generation of high-efficiency, high-power industrial lasers requires thermal management at optical power levels exceeding 10 kW. Laser damage and thermal transport present fundamental challenges for laser radiometry in support of common manufacturing processes, such as welding, cutting, ablation, or vaporization. To address this growing need for radiometry at extremely high power densities, we demonstrate multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) coatings with damage thresholds exceeding 15 000 W/cm2 and absorption efficiencies over 90% at 1.06 μm. This result demonstrates specific design advantages not possible with other contemporary high-power laser coatings. Furthermore, the results demonstrate a performance difference between MWCNTs and single-walled carbon nanotube coatings, which is attributed to the lower net thermal resistance of the MWCNT coatings. We explore the behavior of carbon nanotubes at two laser wavelengths (1.06 and 10.6 μm) and also evaluate the optical-absorption efficiency and bulk properties of the coatings.

427 レーザ加工シミュレーション : 加工特性に及ぼすスポット径と切断溝幅の影響(OS-14 レーザ応用加工)

Width of kerf depends on spot diameter of laser beam, power density and cutting speed. Especially the strongest relation exists between kerf width and spot diameter. Power density comes from spot diameter is considered as most important factor in laser materials processing. In fact, Cutting speed of processing is increasing when power density is high. In order to focus with conventional optical system in industrial high power laser, single lens is used and beam also has high order mode factor. Keeping the certain distance of focal length, convergent limit of laser spot is obtained by created new optical system that reduced the aberration and smallest diffraction limit. Using this optical system, fundamental material processing was done to confirm optimum beam spot for cutting application.

Laser-Fabricated Structural Shapes for New Construction, Overhaul, and Repair

Increasingly, fabricated structural shapes are replacing hot-rolled shapes in new vessel construction. Designed for high structural efficiency, these custom shapes can be made from materials not available in hot-rolled form. Although most production is carried out at present using conventional welding and cutting processes, high-power industrial laser processes are being developed. A recent project, titled Laser Fabricated Shapes for Naval Applications, has started the task of developing a laser-based comprehensive system for the cutting and welding of structural shapes, as well as qualifying the laser welding process and the product of the process. It is expected that the use of laser cutting and welding will allow dramatic improvements in accuracy, quality, and productivity. While the greatest application will be in the new construction arena, custom-fabricated shapes can have beneficial impact on overhaul and ship alteration projects. Aspects of system integration, product design, production, inspection, and cost issues are explored.

Surface hardening of steel using a high power diode laser

Heat treating the surface of medium carbon steels to produce a hardened layer whilst retaining a tough core is widespread throughout general engineering and may be accomplished by using a number of different sources of energy; flame and induction heating being common. In addition, the use of high power lasers is also a well-established process. The benefits attributed to the use of lasers are that they provide localised heat input, negligible distortion, the ability to treat specific areas, access to confined areas and short cycle times. Nd:YAG and CO 2 systems have both been used in this application for a number of years but restrictions to the wide spread use of lasers can be related to factors such as capital cost, perceived reliability of equipment, low area coverage rates and complexity of operation. Recently, a new category of high power industrial lasers has become commercially available which have the potential to overcome some of these barriers. Based on semi-conductor technology, high power diode lasers are reliable, easy to use, compact systems capable of producing a relatively large output spot. The current work has investigated the relationships between laser power and processing speed when using a 1.2 kW diode laser to harden a plain carbon and an alloy steel. The steels, British Standard 080M40 and 817M40, have similar carbon contents (0.4%), similar Mn contents (0.8%), but in addition 817M40 contains 1.75% Ni, 0.8% Cr and 0.25% Mo. Laser powers in the range 400–1000 W were used in conjunction with surface speeds of 50–1700 mm/min. Microstructural examination of the treated surfaces revealed that conditions within the range examined were capable of producing structural changes and associated increases in hardness. Affected depths and maximum hardness achieved varied with power and speed, as well as with steel type. Hardened depths of greater than 0.5 mm were observed in both the plain carbon and the alloy steels. As would be expected, the maximum hardening effect was observed in the alloy steel, as was the maximum hardness. The work has demonstrated the technical capability of diode lasers in surface hardening both plain carbon and alloy steel with practical case depths being achieved.

Microstructural characterization of Yba2Cu3O7–δ thick films grown at very high rates and high temperatures by pulsed laser deposition

Microstructural and magnetic characterization were undertaken on high-rate, high-temperature grown YBa2Cu3O7–δ (YBCO) films. The films were of approximately 1 μm thickness and were grown by pulsed laser deposition on (100) SrTiO3 using a high-power industrial laser at growth temperatures between 750 °C and 870 °C and at growth rates of up to 4 μm/min. Two YBCO layers with different c-lattice parameters were observed in the films, the higher c value occurring near the substrate interface and arising from cation disorder and oxygen nonstoichiometry, and the lower one near the film surface arising from cation disorder alone. BaCuO2 precipitates were present near the surface of the films, indicative of partial melting during growth. The amount of BaCuO2 increased with growth temperature. Epitaxial Y2O3 also formed in increasing amounts suggestive of a different partial melting reaction in the films compared to bulk YBCO, where Y2BaCuO5 coexists with liquid. Around 1 MA/cm2 values of high critical current density (Jc) were observed in the films, and the in-field Jc improved with growth temperature despite the fact that the superconducting transition width increased significantly.

Diffractive optical components for high power laser beam sampling

We investigate the use of low frequency diffraction gratings to extract good quality, low power copies of a high power laser beam. Low frequency gratings are expected to be rugged and to produce few perturbations of the beam under measurement. In order to obtain beam samplers that allow an easy integration in the beam delivery of high power industrial lasers we designed and constructed them as reflective components. In this work we report experimental tests that characterize their performance in the measure of beam parameters such as beam size, waist location and divergence.

Microstructural characterisation of high Jc, YBCO thick films grown at very high rates and high temperatures by PLD

In order to achieve scalability in processing of IBAD conductors for commercial applications, rapid YBCO film growth rates are required. In this work, scanning Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and, microwave surface resistance have been used to study high rate grown YBCO films. The films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on (1 0 0) SrTiO 3 using a high power industrial laser at growth temperatures from 750 to 870 °C and growth rates up to 4 μm/min.