Excessive-entropy alloys are extremely promising structural and practical supplies. Amongst them, refractory high-entropy alloys possess excellent high-temperature mechanical properties and have broad utility prospects in important parts underneath excessive working circumstances resembling aerospace, nuclear energy, and fuel generators. Nonetheless, the intrinsic traits of this kind of materials, resembling excessive hardness, brittleness and poor thermal conductivity, are extremely more likely to trigger microcracks and thermal harm throughout processing, posing a major problem to high-precision micromachining at room temperature. Laser machining is an efficient expertise for micro precision manufacturing, nevertheless, in view of the refractory excessive entropy alloys processing analysis centered on nanometer supplies preparation and floor modification, and the normal processing means additionally exacerbate the workpiece thermal harm, holes and floor defects. Subsequently, the way to overcome the thermal impact introduced by the laser processing is the important thing to bettering the processing and manufacturing of refractory high-entropy alloys.
What’s the water jet guided laser processing expertise?
This expertise is using water-jet and shielding fuel as waveguide to couple laser. The waveguide construction fashioned by the refractive index distinction between the high-pressure water jet and the protecting fuel is utilized, with the water jet because the core and the protecting fuel and air because the cladding. Complete reflection happens when the laser is coupled right into a water jet with a diameter of solely 50 μm. There isn’t any want to think about the main target place and Rayleigh size through the processing. As a high-performance precision processing technique, water jet-guided laser processing expertise integrates a number of capabilities resembling laser ablation, in-situ cooling and residue scouring. This expertise can successfully suppress thermal harm, obtain a clear processing interface and guarantee processing accuracy, with vital processing benefits.
Processing Benefit 1: Clear Processing Interface
The analysis staff evaluated the processing results of assorted lasers by evaluating the microscopic morphology of the grooves. The sides of the grooves processed by conventional nanosecond and femtosecond lasers have apparent slag and sputtering residues, and there’s a vital taper. The EDS outcomes present that these redeposits are primarily oxides. Nonetheless, the grooves processed by WJGL current a vertical profile and a smoother inside wall. That is primarily as a result of scouring impact of the water jet, which considerably reduces the deposition of slag and sputtering residues.
Processing Benefit 2: Extremely-thin Warmth-Affected Zone
The water jet not solely reduces the buildup of warmth throughout processing, but additionally has the protecting impact of blocking air, successfully decreasing the oxidation response between the alloy and air underneath excessive temperatures. The notable function of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) after processing is a better oxygen content material. It’s value noting that the width of the heat-affected zone after WJGL processing ranges from 298 to 702 nm, whereas the width of the heat-affected zone after CNL processing is 31.6 micrometers. Subsequently, the WJGL expertise successfully reduces the era of oxides on the processing interface, considerably reduces the processing impression, and maximally maintains the inherent properties of the fabric.
Processing Benefit 3: Extremely-low taper drilling
Within the WJGL expertise, the laser has an extended vitality transmission distance and a extra uniform vitality distribution within the water jet, which gives vital benefits in bettering the standard of the drilling. By analyzing the floor profile of a drilling gap with a depth-to-diameter ratio of three.53, the outcomes present that the radius and floor roughness of the outlet from the processing entrance to the processing exit are extremely constant, with the floor roughness variation being lower than 1 micron. The calculated taper is the bottom at solely 0.014°. Subsequently, the WJGL expertise has top quality traits in micro-drilling with low roughness and excessive consistency.
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References
DOI
Authentic Supply URL
https://doi.org/10.37188/lam.2026.099
Funding information
This work was supported by Nationwide Key Analysis and Improvement Program of China (Grant quantity 2023YFE0200200), and Nationwide Pure Science Basis of China (grant quantity U2141205，52171096).
About Light: Advanced Manufacturing
Light: Advanced Manufacturing LAM is a brand new, extremely selective, open-access, and freed from cost worldwide sister journal of the Nature Journal Light: Science & Applications. The journal is aimed to publish revolutionary analysis in all trendy areas of most popular light-based manufacturing, together with basic and utilized analysis in addition to industrial improvements.
