A Comparison in Laser Precision Drilling of Stainless Steel 304 with Nanosecond and Picosecond Laser Pulses

Precision drilling with picosecond laser has been advocated to significantly improve the quality of micro-holes with reduced recast layer thickness and almost no heat affected zone.However,a detailed comparison between nanosecond and picosecond laser drilling techniques has rarely been reported in previous research.In the present study,a series of micro-holes are manufactured on stainless steel 304 using a nanosecond and a picosecond laser drilling system,respectively.The quality of the micro-holes,e.g.,recast layer,micro-crack,circularity,and conicity,etc,is evaluated by employing an optical microscope,an optical interferometer,and a scanning electron microscope.Additionally,the micro-structure of the samples between the edges of the micro-holes and the parent material is compared following etching treatment.The researching results show that a great amount of spattering material accumulated at the entrance ends of the nanosecond laser drilled micro-holes.The formation of a recast layer with a thickness of;5μm is detected on the side walls,associated with initiation of micro-cracks.Tapering phenomenon is also observed and the circularity of the micro-holes is rather poor.With regard to the micro-holes drilled by picosecond laser,the entrance ends,the exit ends,and the side walls are quite smooth without accumulation of spattering material,formation of recast layer and micro-cracks.The circularity of the micro-holes is fairly good without observation of tapering phenomenon.Furthermore,there is no obvious difference as for the micro-structure between the edges of the micro-holes and the parent material.This study proposes a picosecond laser helical drilling technique which can be used for effective manufacturing of high quality micro-holes.

Experimental and computational analysis of the coolant distribution considering the viscosity of the cutting fluid during machining with helical deep hole drills

An experimental analysis regarding the distribution of the cutting fluid is very difficult due to the inaccessibility of the contact zone within the bore hole.Therefore,suitable simulation models are necessary to evaluate new tool designs and optimize drilling processes.In this paper the coolant distribution during helical deep hole drilling is analyzed with high-speed microscopy.Micro particles are added to the cutting fluid circuit bya developed high-pressure mixing vessel.After the evaluation of suitable particle size,particle concentration and coolant pressure,a computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation is validated with the experimental results.The comparison shows a very good model quality with a marginal difference for the flow velocity of 1.57%between simulation and experiment.The simulation considers the kinematic viscosity of the fluid.The results show that the fluid velocity in the chip flutes is low compared to the fluid velocity at the exit of the coolant channels of the tool and drops even further between theguidechamfers.Theflow velocity and the flow pressure directly at the cutting edge decrease to such an extent that the fluid cannot generate a sufficient cooling or lubrication.With the CFD simulation a deeper understanding of the behavior and interactions of the cutting fluid is achieved.Based on these results further research activities to improve the coolant supply can be carried out with great potential to evaluate new tool geometries and optimize the machining process.