Product Code: ICAL06_P530

Drilling Strategies for Metals with Pulsed YAG Lasers
Authors:
Rene Liebers, LASAG AG; 3602 Thun IL Switzerland
Lena Trippe, Lehrstuhl für Lasertechnik; Germany
Ulrich Dürr, LASAG AG; Switzerland
Wolfgang Schultz, Fraunhofer ILT; Germany
Presented at ICALEO 2006

Laser drilling of metals is widely used to manufacture turbine components (Ni-alloys), microfilters and combustion nozzles (Fe-alloys) at high productivity. However, there are gaps in understanding the productivity of drilling and its relation to product quality. In particular, taper and microstructure suffer from recast and crack formation. Advances in fundamental physical modelling and diagnosis are combined to investigate the effects of focussing and temporal pulse shaping of µs-pulses. Compromising production speed in high precision drilling by using ns-pulses show similar thermal side effects but on a reduced level, depending on the relation between pulse energy, pulse repetition rate and "helical speed".