CO_2 laser-micro plasma arc hybrid welding for galvanized steel sheets

A laser lap welding process for zinc-coated steel has a well-known unsolved problem-porosity formation. The boiling temperature of coated zinc is lower than the melting temperature of the base metal, which is steel. In the autogenous laser welding, the zinc vapor generates from the lapped surfaces expels the molten pool and the expulsion causes numerous weld defects, such as spatters and blow holes on the weld surface and porosity inside the welds. The laser-arc hybrid welding was suggested as an alternative method for the laser lap welding because the arc can preheat or post-beat the weldment according to the arrangement of the laser beam and the arc. CO2 laser-micro plasma hybrid welding was applied to the lap welding of zinc-coated steel with zero-gap. The relationships among the weld quality and process parameters of the laser-arc arrangement, and the laser-arc interspacing distance and arc current were investigated using a full-factorial experimental design. The effect of laser-arc arrangement is dominant because the leading plasma arc partially melts the upper steel sheets and vaporizes or oxidizes the coated zinc on the lapped surfaces. Compared with the result from the laser-TIG hybrid welding, the heat input from arc can be reduced by 40%.

Numerical Controlled Two Optical Paths CO_2 Laser Die-Cutting Technology

A CO2 laser die-cutting system, which does not need die board any more, is a new technique for manufac-turing packing box. Two optical paths, the galvanometer scanning system and the flying optical system, are used to satisfy different processing needs. The scanning system is composed of galvanometer scanning mirrors and F-θ lens. And the flying optical system is driven by two servo motors. This paper presents the software and hardware design of the laser die-cutting system, the difference between the two optical paths, as well as the relationship among the cutting speed, thickness of wrapping paper and laser power. The cutting speed and thickness of wrapping paper are linearly increased by the incremental laser power, while the cutting speed is hyperbolically decreased by the incremental thickness of wrapping paper when the laser power is constant. The amount of incision is reduced by 20% and the processing time by 40% when tested by a low power RF CO2 laser die-cutting system using the optimized program. This tech- nique is also used for the reference of other rapid laser processing systems.

Mathematical modeling of output power in RF-excited CO_2 waveguide lasers

Theoretical analysis model has been established for CO 2 laser to describe the process of dynamic emission in the electrooptically Q switched laser .The electron excitation and the energy transfer of vibration level and the rotational relaxation of rotational levels are described. The comparison between this model and a set of coupled rat equations model are discussed.

The 2010 Merapi Eruption： An Overview of Melt Inclusion and Geochemical Data

To characterize the magma that gave rise to explosive eruptions of Merapi volcano in October-November 2010, melt inclusions and juvenile components fiom the eruption deposits have been analyzed. Major-element compositions of whole-rocks were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence and trace elements, including the Rare Earth Elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Melt inclusions and the host minerals were analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and CO2 and H20 in melt inclusions, and their associated bubbles, were analyzed using laser Raman spectrometry. The compositions of the whole-rock eruption products are basaltic and esite that slightly sifting of SiO2 and K20 composition to previous eruption products, whereas the melt inclusions in pyroxene, plagioclase and hornblende are dacite to rhyolite, likely trapped mainly during late stages of crystallization of the magma. The most high volatile content in the melt inclusion are CO2 and H2O which appear strong Raman peaks for CO2 in the gas bubbles indicate abundances on high levels of CO2. Interpretation of result from a long-term flux of CO2 into the reservoir, either derived from more mafic magmas at depth or from reaction of magma in the reservoir with limestone and it may indicate that volcanic outgassing rates far exceed the amounts that can be supplied magmas.

Slicing-response model for ablation mass removal of polyformaldehyde irradiated by pulsed CO_2 laser in vacuum

The interaction between CO2 laser and polyformaldehyde(POM)is quite important in the research of laser irradiation effects and mechanisms.At this time,the accuracy of the existing mass-ablation models for POM irradiated by CO2 laser is poor compared with the experimental data.Based on the energy distribution deposited in the POM target,the active area excited by laser is divided into four slices,the ablation slice(the temperature-rising slice,the perturbation slice,and the undisturbed slice),and a slicing response model for the mass ablation of POM induced by pulsed CO2 laser irradiation in vacuum is developed.A formula is deduced to predict the ablated mass areal density from the model and is verified with data from several studies and our own experiments.The results show that our model fits the experimental data quite well before the shielding effect of ablation products becomes notable.The applicability of the model to other materials and the mass ablation in atmosphere are also briefly explored.

Error assessment of laser cutting predictions by semi-supervised learning

Experimentation data of perspex glass sheet cutting, using CO2 laser, with missing values were modelled with semi-supervised artificial neural networks. Factorial design of experiment was selected for the verification of orthogonal array based model prediction. It shows improvement in modelling of edge quality and kerf width by applying semi-supervised learning algorithm, based on novel error assessment on simulations. The results are expected to depict better prediction on average by utilizing the systematic randomized techniques to initialize the neural network weights and increase the number of initialization. Missing values handling is difficult with statistical tools and supervised learning techniques; on the other hand, semi-supervised learning generates better results with the smallest datasets even with missing values.

Long Period Fiber Gratings Written in Photonic Crystal Fibers by Use of CO2 Laser

Photonic crystal fibers are usually divided into two different types of fibers： solid-core photonic crystal fibers （PCFs） and air-core photonic bandgaps fibers （PBFs）. We presented the fabrication methods and applications of long period fiber gratings （LPFGs） written in these two types of photonic crystal fibers by use of a CO2 laser. A stain sensor with a high sensitivity was demonstrated by use of an LPFG written in solid-core PCFs. An in-fiber polarizer based on an LPFG was fabricated by use of a focused CO2 laser beam to notch periodically on a PCF. A novel LPFG was written in an air-core PBF by use of a CO2 laser to collapse periodically air holes in the fiber cladding.

OFS Research Over the Last 10 Years at CQU ＆ UESTC

This article reviews my new optical fiber sensing （OFS） research activities in China for the last ten years at Chongqing University and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, since I returned from UK in 1999. The research progress in long period fiber gratings （LPFGs）, distributed fiber sensing systems and microfiber sensors is introduced. For LPFGs, the processing method with high-frequency CO2 laser pulses types of LPFGs fabricated and the related applications for both optical sensing and optical communication are described. For distributed fiber sensing systems, the fiber-optic polarization optical time domain reflectometer （POTDR）, fiber-optic phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometer （φ-OTDR） and Brillouin optical time-domain analyzer （BOTDA） are developed, respectively. For microfiber sensors, we mainly focus on the knot resonator and its application for sensing of the refractive index and acceleration, etc.

Study on transmission characteristics of photonic crystal fiber gratings with periodic air hole deformation

The paper studies a kind of improved photonic crystal fiber gratings fabricated by CO2 laser heating method. The effective refractive index of cladding induced by periodic air hole deformation is computed using multipole method, and the rela-tionship between the effective refractive index and the collapse of air-holes is discussed, thereby the modulation expression of effective refractive index is obtained. The grating transmission characteristics are simulated. The results indicate that with the diameter of air-holes increasing from 3.3 ~m to 3.7 μm, the resonance wavelength shows blue-shift, the resonance peak intensifies, and the bandwidth becomes narrow. As the collapse degree of cladding enhances, the resonance wave- length shows red-shift, the transmission increases, and the bandwidth tends to narrow.