A Novel Technique of Punching Hole by Laser Shock Waves

摘要

Metal sheet has been widely used in industry of aerospace, automobile, and so on. Because of structural needs, some holes must be formed in the sheet. The traditional method of process is drilling with twist drill or punching with mold. In this paper, a novel concept is advanced to form hole on sheet by laser shock wave. The forming mechanism is that laser shock wave induced by high-power short-duration laser is so strong that it tailors impacted zone from the matrix. The experiment was conducted with specimen of 6063 Aluminum with thickness 0.4mm. The laser parameters are as following: the wavelength 1.064μm, the pulse duration 23 nanoseconds, per pulse energy 15 to 40 joules. The results show that the size of hole is decided by the magnitude of concave hole, and the face of hole is smooth and the material close to hole are shocked and strengthened.