Laser Defocusing Research Articles

Mn vaporization control and stress-induced martensite transformation in high-manganese steel welds under different laser keyhole conditions

Vaporization modeling of high-Mn steel during laser welding, along with the effects of Mn vaporization on the tensile properties at room and cryogenic temperatures, were investigated for various laser defocusing (LD) conditions. The LD10 exhibited a full penetration keyhole, while LD20 showed a partial penetration keyhole. The vaporization modeling based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis confirmed that a significant Mn flux occurred in LD20, which corresponded with the most substantial loss of Mn observed in the partially penetrated weld. The room temperature tensile testing showed a slight increase in the yield strength and a minor reduction in tensile elongation for LD20, which could be attributed to the stress-induced ε-martensitic transformation. In cryogenic tensile testing, LD20 exhibited a higher yield strength with more martensitic transformation, including some stress-induced α′-martensitic transformation observed. Through the vaporisztion modeling, significant Mn vaporization in LD20 was found to decrease the stacking fault energy, which enhanced stress-induced martensite transformation and yielding stress during tensile deformation at 110 and 298 K.

Effects of Laser Defocusing on Bead Geometry in Coaxial Titanium Wire-Based Laser Metal Deposition.

Coaxial wire-based laser metal deposition is a versatile and efficient additive process that can achieve a high deposition rate in the manufacturing of complex structures. In this paper, a three-beam coaxial wire system is studied, with particular attention to the effects of deposition height and laser defocusing on the resulting bead geometry. As the deposition standoff distance changes, so does the workpiece illumination proportion, which describes the ratio of energy going directly into the feedstock wire and into the substrate. Single titanium beads are deposited at varying defocus levels and deposition rates and the bead aspect ratio is measured and analyzed. Over the experimental settings, the defocusing level and deposition rate were found to have a significant effect on the resulting bead aspect ratio. As the defocusing level is increased away from the beam convergence plane, the spot size increases and the deposited track is wider and flatter. Process parameters can be used to tune the deposited material to a desired aspect ratio. In coaxial wire deposition, defocusing provides an adjustment mechanism to the distribution of heat between the wire and substrate and has an important impact on the resulting deposit.

Deep learning-assisted 3D laser steering using an optofluidic laser scanner.

Laser ablation is an effective treatment modality. However, current laser scanners suffer from laser defocusing when scanning targets at different depths in a 3D surgical scene. This study proposes a deep learning-assisted 3D laser steering strategy for minimally invasive surgery that eliminates laser defocusing, increases working distance, and extends scanning range. An optofluidic laser scanner is developed to conduct 3D laser steering. The optofluidic laser scanner has no mechanical moving components, enabling miniature size, lightweight, and low driving voltage. A deep learning-based monocular depth estimation method provides real-time target depth estimation so that the focal length of the laser scanner can be adjusted for laser focusing. Simulations and experiments indicate that the proposed method can significantly increase the working distance and maintain laser focusing while performing 2D laser steering, demonstrating the potential for application in minimally invasive surgery.

Thermal History Mapping in Powder Bed Laser Sintering at the Micrometer Scale.

A thermal sensor was used to better understand parameters which influenced the interaction between a laser beam and a 0.5% Mn-doped ZnAl2.2O4 material, especially the laser defocusing parameter. The optical properties of the material depend on whether the Mn2+ ions occupy octahedral and/or tetrahedral sites depending on thermal history. A screen printing process is performed to obtain material thin films. Laser irradiation of the films was carried out (patterning 1 cm length single laser track) with different z defocusing heights. Luminescence properties around laser tracks led to the thermal history determination at the micrometer scale. It was shown that spatial thermal gradients defined at the micrometer scale perpendicularly to the borders of the laser tracks could be semiquantified for different z conditions. Laser defocusing leads to decrease thermal gradients as confirmed by thermal modeling studies.

The effect of gas-density gradient on high-harmonic generation from neon-filled cells using annular and Gaussian laser beams

An experimental study was performed to explore the effect of gas-density gradient in laser propagation direction on high-harmonic generation from neon-filled cells using a 50 fs annular and Gaussian Ti:sapphire laser beam. It was observed that, despite 20% lower power, the photon flux of the high-harmonics generated using an annular beam under optimum parameter conditions (∼2.5 × 1010 photons/sec for the 37th order in a 5 mm long cell) is on par with the maximum photon flux generated using a full Gaussian beam (∼2 × 1010 photons/sec for the 37th order in a 15 mm long cell). To elucidate the underlying mechanism for the experimental observation, a numerical simulation of the propagation of both the annular and Gaussian laser beams inside the cell was performed. The simulation was extended to estimate the high-harmonic intensity, after incorporating the effect of laser defocusing, the electron trajectory resolved phase-matching, and gas-density gradient. The dominant role of short electron trajectories was observed in the case of the annular beam, whereas, in the case of the Gaussian beam, a contribution of both short and long trajectories was found. Our analysis shows that, in neon-filled cells, the gas-density gradient present at the laser exit end of the cell plays a dominant role in achieving a high photon flux using an annular laser beam. Further, the annular beam not only provides a higher flux but also has lower divergence and higher coherence. This study will be useful in attosecond pulse metrology as well as in imaging applications viz coherent diffractive imaging.

Multi phenomena melt pool sensor data fusion for enhanced process monitoring of laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Finding actionable trends in laser-based metal additive manufacturing process monitoring data is challenging owing to the diversity and complexity of the underlying physical interactions. A single monitoring solution that captures a particular process phenomenon, such as a photodiode that tracks melt pool intensity, is not alone capable of evaluating process stability or detecting flaw formation with sufficient precision for routine application in industry. In this work, to improve flaw detection performance, we adopted a data fusion approach that captures multiple process phenomena. To demonstrate this, we acquired data from laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) builds of cylindrical specimens produced with different laser spot sizes, emulating defocusing due to process faults such as thermal lensing. The resulting specimens had porosity of varying types and severity, quantified by post-build non-destructive X-ray computed tomography, Archimedes density measurements, and destructive metallographic characterization. During the build, the melt pool state was monitored with two coaxial high-speed video cameras and a temperature field imaging system. Physically intuitive low-level melt pool signatures, such as melt pool temperature, shape and size, and spatter intensity were extracted from this high-dimensional, image-based sensor data. These process signatures were subsequently used as input features in relatively simple machine learning models, such as a support vector machine, which were trained to detect laser defocusing, and in addition, predict porosity type and severity. The results show that the data fusion approach significantly enhanced system performance by reducing the overall false positive rate from ∼ 0.1 to ∼ 0.001 without sacrificing the true positive rate (∼0.90). These results were at par with a black-box, deep machine learning approach (convolutional neural network).

Optical second-and third harmonic radiation generation in a laser-produced plasma

The harmonic generation of a laser in gases is strictly dependent on the ionization dynamics. In this work, we study optical second and third harmonic radiation generation of a laser in an ionizing gas incorporating the electron-ion recombination effects. Neutral gas is irradiated by an intense laser field which generates free-electrons by tunnel ionization. If the laser pulse is long enough, the electron-ion recombination effects need to be accounted for laser dynamics in plasmas. The laser is assumed to have intensity near the tunnel ionization threshold so as to get plasma density varying with time, which in turn gives rise to strong second and third harmonic radiation fields. Here we demonstrate enhanced second- and third-harmonic generation in tunnel-ionizing gas by an intense laser pulse incorporating the effect of electron-ion recombination. The results show that the inclusion of electron-ion recombination reduces the laser defocusing and hence enhances the harmonic radiation amplitudes. A systematic numerical analysis has been done to understand the underlined physics.

The Influence of Laser Defocusing in Selective Laser Melted IN 625.

Laser defocusing was investigated to assess the influence on the surface quality, melt pool shape, tensile properties, and densification of selective laser melted (SLMed) IN 625. Negative (−0.5 mm, −0.3 mm), positive (+0.3 mm, +0.5 mm), and 0 mm defocusing distances were used to produce specimens, while the other process parameters remained unchanged. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the melt pools generated by different defocusing amounts were used to assess the influence on the morphology and melt pool size. The mechanical properties were evaluated by tensile testing, and the bulk density of the parts was measured by Archimedes’ method. It was observed that the melt pool morphology and melting mode are directly related to the defocusing distances. The melting height increases while the melting depth decreases from positive to negative defocusing. The use of negative defocusing distances generates the conduction melting mode of the SLMed IN 625, and the alloy (as-built) has the maximum density and ultimate tensile strength. Conversely, the use of positive distances generates keyhole mode melting accompanied by a decrease of density and mechanical strength due to the increase in porosity and is therefore not suitable for the SLM process.

Laser Defocusing Effect on the Microstructure and Defects of 17-4PH Parts Additively Manufactured by SLM at a Low Energy Input

In this paper, the microstructure, defects, hardness, and tensile strength of the 17-4PH specimens manufactured additively using the selective laser melting (SLM) technique were studied. The analyzed parts (10 mm size cubic specimens and tensile specimens) were manufactured with different defocus parameter values (−1, 0, +1 mm) in order to evaluate this effect with a low power laser (38 W). The study was carried out on three different sections of each cubic specimen, one perpendicular to the laser beam or SLM manufacturing direction (transversal section), and another two parallel to the laser beam direction (longitudinal sections). The specimens microstructures were analyzed with an X-ray diffraction technique, as well as optical, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopes. Image J software was used to characterize the defects and phase ratio. In addition, hardness and tensile tests were performed according to the corresponding standards. The results show that the amount of austenitic phase and the average grain size varied with defocusing. The percentage of defective area was less than 0.25%. The analyzed defocus distance did not affect the number and average size of the defects. Adjusting the defocusing SLM parameter is important for manufacturing parts with good mechanical properties.

Study of the effect of inter-pass temperature on weld overlap start-stop defects and mitigation by application of laser defocusing

Laser keyhole initiation and termination-related defects, such as cracking and keyhole cavities due to keyhole collapse, are a well-known issue in laser keyhole welding of thick section steels. In longitudinal welding, run-on and run-off plates are used to avoid this problem. However, such an approach is not applicable in circumferential welding where start/stop defects remain within the workpiece. These issues can hinder industry from applying laser keyhole welding for circumferential welding applications. In this paper, the effect of inter-pass temperature on laser keyhole initiation and termination at the weld overlap start-stop region was investigated. This study has identified that defects occurring within this region were due to laser termination rather than laser initiation because of keyhole instabilities regardless of the thermal cycle. The laser termination defects were mitigated by applying a laser defocusing termination regime to reduce the keyhole depth gradually and control the closure of the keyhole.

Fine tuning laser focus for improved reproducibility of U–Pb isotope analysis by LA-ICP-MS

A small degree of laser defocusing can lead to significant changes in the ablation pit morphology and downhole fractionation of U–Pb isotopes.

On-Machine Measurement for Surface Flatness of Transparent and Thin Film in Laser Ablation Process

In printed electronics, laser ablation is used to repair defective patterns on transparent, flexible, and thin films, using high-power lasers. The distance between the film surface and laser focus is sensitive to changes as the narrow focus depth of the lens is the range of tens of microns. However, a film fixed on a conductive vacuum chuck (CVC) is always curved, owing to chucking bending; thus, laser focusing must be locally performed before ablation. Therefore, this study proposes a non-contact measurement method for the surface flatness of a transparent and thin film, to compensate for laser defocusing in a large area. The surface flatness was obtained using camera-focus points on the porous surface of the CVC. The focus points were interpolated to achieve a smooth and continuous surface flatness for chucking bending. A laser distance sensor was used to verify the surface flatness from the proposed method. The surface flatness was used to inspect the printed patterns, and to perform laser ablation on the film. The proposed method is advantageous for large-area laser ablation and is expected to become indispensable for repairing machines in printed electronics.

Study on effect of laser keyhole weld termination regimes and material composition on weld overlap start-stop defects

Abstract The effects of two different laser termination regimes; laser power ramp-down and laser defocusing, on the weld overlap start-stop region, have been studied on three different compositions of S355J2 + N grade steel plates. The plates have varying amounts of deoxidisers, such as manganese and silicon, to allow for the effect of dissolved oxygen on melt pool dynamics and defect formation to be studied. Observations show that gas entrapment, manifesting as porosity, is the main issue in both the laser termination regimes studied, due to melt pool instabilities related to keyhole termination. However, it is more severe during laser defocusing due to the formation of porosity clusters below a specific power density and melt pool size. The percentage of dissolved oxygen and deoxidisers was found to be vital and could be correlated to the response of the melt pool during laser processing. Steel, with a higher percentage of deoxidisers, such as manganese and silicon, would combine with the dissolved oxygen in the weld pool and thereby affect the surface tension and melt pool dynamics. The effect of lower dissolved oxygen would lead to a reduction in penetration depth, but more importantly, a reduction in porosity and porosity cluster formation, as observed for both laser termination regimes. Successful laser termination with defect-free weld overlaps at the start-stop region could be achieved using both termination regimes for the steel with a higher proportion of deoxidising elements.

Effects of Laser-Beam Defocus on Microstructural Features of Compositionally Graded WC/Co-Alloy Composites Additively Manufactured by Multi-Beam Laser Directed Energy Deposition

Establishing processing routes for obtaining metal-matrix composites (MMCs) with uniformly-dispersed reinforcements is one of the main subjects in additively manufactured composite materials to achieve designed microstructures and mechanical properties. Here we report on the microstructural features of compositionally graded WC/Co-alloy composites additively manufactured by multi-beam laser directed energy deposition (multi-beam LDED). For tailoring microstructures of compositionally graded WC/Co-alloy composites with uniformly-dispersed reinforcements, the combinational method: the laser-beam defocus function in the multi-beam LDED system and granulated powder was attempted. By laser defocusing in the multi-beam LDED system, composites with uniformly-dispersed WC particles in Co alloy matrix was successfully obtained due to melting of Co bond in WC-12 wt.%Co granulated particles. It was found that the laser defocusing of multi-beam lasers affects temperature increase of flying powder during the laser focusing area, resulting in change of processing mode from melt-pool mode to thermal spray mode. The preferable property gradients in the WC/Co-alloy composites could be obtained by controlling the feeding rate of the powders and laser-beam defocus. These experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the laser-beam-defocus function in the multi-beam LDED system as a key factor for tailoring microstructures of additively-manufactured functionally graded MMCs with uniformly-dispersed reinforcements.

Zircon 4He/3He fractional loss step-heating and characterization of parent nuclide distribution

The radiogenic ingrowth and diffusive loss of 4He in accessory minerals is used to determine the timing of low-temperature thermal processes such as shallow tectonic, magmatic, hydrothermal, and geomorphic events. While the thermal history experienced by a sample cannot be directly constrained by a single (UTh)/He total gas age, 4He concentration profiles, normalized against irradiation-induced spallogenic 3He, have been shown to reliably recover continuous thermal history constraints if the parent nuclide distribution is either spatially uniform or can be determined. As such, 4He/3He thermochronometry has been successfully applied to apatite. However, individual zircon grains can contain complex parent nuclide zonation. Using moderately zoned, euhedral zircon grains from the rapidly cooled, distal Fish Canyon Tuff, we investigated the potential of the zircon 4He/3He thermochronometer through combining 4He/3He diode laser fractional loss step-heating with detailed analysis of parent element zonation. We present a routine method for the quantitative characterization of parent nuclide zonation by LA-ICP-MS depth-profiling. This study also demonstrates the importance of thermal control and avoidance of intra-sample thermal gradients during laser step-heating fractional loss experiments. Accurate and stable thermal control was achieved with an optimized sample-holder design, laser defocusing, and PID control loops to minimize temperature overshoot, failure to reach set-point, and temperature drop-offs. These analytical developments illustrate both the pitfalls and promise of zircon 4He/3He thermochronometry and create a reproducible methodology for 4He/3He thermochronometric applications to zoned and slowly cooled zircon.

Pulsed green laser welding of copper materials: A statistical-based methodology for parameters setting

A statistical methodology is presented to simultaneously optimize fracture force, penetration level, and electrical resistance characteristics of pulsed green laser welded copper-copper parts by incorporating operational parameters such as laser defocusing, laser power, pulse duration, airflow, pulse overlapping, laser frequency, pulse shape, and type of shielding gas. The experiments were conducted based on pre-screening, Placket-Burman, and central composite design steps. Empirical relationship for separately predicting each characteristic, and operational parameters setting for concurrently optimizing pre-required values of the three characteristics; were developed. The results indicated that the finest outcomes of fracture force, penetration level, and electrical resistance can be achieved at high power and pulse duration values; air flow only affects the penetration level and electrical resistance characteristics.

Hybrid laser-arc welding of thick-walled pipe segments with optimization of the end crater

The study deals with the application of the high-power hybrid-laser arc welding process on up to 15 mm thick pipe segments with the intention to avoid end crater imperfections during closing of the circumferential welds, where the pipes were turned during welding in 1G- and 2G-positions. Different techniques such as laser power ramp-down, abrupt switch-off of the laser power and change of the magnification of the laser spot diameter and defocusing of the laser beam relative to the workpiece were tested to remove the laser energy from the process. It could be shown that a high defocusing of the optic system above 40 mm with a resulting beam diameter > 2.9 mm in a short overlap length of approx. 20 mm leads to the formation of a cup-shaped weld seam, which is preferred for avoidance of cracks and pores in the end crater. A laser optics with motor-driven lens system was used for the welding experiments to defocuse the laser beam without changing the position of the arc.

New aspects about the search for the most relevant parameters optimizing SLM materials

While the volumetric energy density is commonly used to qualify a process parameter set, and to quantify its influence on the microstructure and performance of additively manufactured (AM) materials and components, it has been already shown that this description is by no means exhaustive. In this work, new aspects of the optimization of the selective laser melting process are investigated for AM Ti-6Al-4V. We focus on the amount of near-surface residual stress (RS), often blamed for the failure of components, and on the porosity characteristics (amount and spatial distribution). First, using synchrotron x-ray diffraction we show that higher RS in the subsurface region is generated if a lower energy density is used. Second, we show that laser de-focusing and sample positioning inside the build chamber also play an eminent role, and we quantify this influence. In parallel, using X-ray Computed Tomography, we observe that porosity is mainly concentrated in the contour region, except in the case where the laser speed is small. The low values of porosity (less than 1%) do not influence RS.

On the influence of laser defocusing in Selective Laser Melting of 316L

Despite its many benefits, Selective Laser Melting's (SLM) relatively low productivity compared to deposition-based additive manufacturing techniques is a major drawback. Increasing the laser beam diameter improves SLM's build rate, but causes loss of precision. The aim of this study is to investigate laser beam focus shift, or “defocus”, using a dynamic focusing unit, in order to increase the laser spot size. When applied to the SLM process, focus shift can be integrated into a “hull-core” strategy. This involves scanning the core with a high productivity parameter set using defocus while enabling return to the focused smaller spot size position for hull scanning. To assess the process stability, single line scans were made from 316L stainless steel powder. The consolidated melt pool morphology was analyzed and correlated with the process parameters comprising laser power, scanning speed and defocus distance. In order to link the melt pool morphology with the heat input, Volumetric Energy Density, Normalized Enthalpy and Rosenthal equation were considered. The suitability of using the Normalized Enthalpy as a design parameter to predict the melt pool depth and Rosenthal equation to predict its width was highlighted. This study shows that within a single laser setup, implementing defocus can lead to a potential productivity increase by 840%, i.e. to 18.8 mm3/s.

Extended phase matching of high harmonic generation by plasma-induced defocusing

High-harmonic generation (HHG) of femtosecond lasers produces unique short-wavelength light pulses with femtosecond to attosecond duration. However, free electrons in the partially ionized gas medium are known to prevent phase matching and limit upconversion to low-energy harmonics only. We have demonstrated experimentally and theoretically an unconventional phase-matching scheme: extending the HHG phase matching cutoff by controlling the rapid self-defocusing effect of the driving laser. This method takes advantage of the additional intrinsic atomic dipole phase mismatch introduced by the rapid laser defocusing. This phase can be precisely controlled by adjusting the aperture of a simple iris, which truncates the input beam, to correctly compensate free-electron dispersion, resulting in tunable harmonic energy and phase matching cutoff extension. Based on this approach, we report experimental observation of extending the harmonic cutoff energy in Ar to ∼65 eV with a 400-fold increase in conversion efficiency using a tightly focused truncated Gaussian beam in a short high-pressure gas cell. This new defocusing-assisted phase matching in a highly ionized gas medium can be applied to different targets, laser wavelengths, and pulse durations to extend harmonic upconversion to higher cutoff energy with higher efficiency.