Numerical Study on Laser-Based Micromachining of Stainless Steel 304 Alloys Using a Pulsed Laser
B. K. Singh, S. Kapil and S. N. Joshi
Due to its non-contact nature, laser-based micromachining is gaining more attraction in the aerospace, medical, electronics, and automobile industries. In this numerical study, a transient finite element-based (FEM) model was developed for the repeating pulses to analyze the temperature profile and geometry evolution. This study aims to minimize the wastage of experimental trial and error to improve productivity. The model uses the laser process parameters, such as pulse duration (0.2–0.6 ms), pulse frequency (50 Hz), and pulse power (900–1500 W), to analyze the effect on drill depth and diameter. The model also examined the parametric effects on drill depth and diameter at single pulses and the end of the 5th number of the pulses. Moreover, the reported numerical simulations predict the maximum drill depth and diameter of around 80 μm and 520 μm at the end of the 5th pulse.
Keywords: Percussion drilling, aspect ratio, numerical modeling, geometry evolution, thermal defects