Aiming at the issues of low machining efficiency and difficulty in keeping consistency of machining accuracy of micro array holes with high surface quality. This paper proposed a laser and in-situ electrolytic machining technology for processing array holes, which utilized the advantages of high laser machining efficiency and good surface quality electrochemical machining (ECM). Firstly, laser was used to perform high-efficiency drilling of prefabricated micro array holes on workpieces that was covered with insulating layer, and then the recast layer and taper of prefabricated holes were removed by ECM. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, laser prefabricated of the array holes with the diameter of 0.8 mm and the in-situ electrolytic recast layer removal were carried out on the Inconel 718 workpiece. Influences of laser scanning speed, defocusing distance, scanning times and insulating plate thickness on the taper of prefabricated hole were investigated experimentally. The optimized laser processing parameters were as follows: scanning speed 60 mm/s, defocusing distance 1.5 mm, scanning times 50, and insulating plate thickness 0.4mm. Results of in-situ ECM showed that the recast layer on the surface of the laser processed holes could be removed, indicating that the laser and in-situ ECM could achieve high efficiency and high precision machining of micro array holes without recast layer.
Laser and shaped tube electrochemical machining (Laser-STEM) has been proposed to process small holes with high efficiency and surface quality. In Laser-STEM the laser energy is transmitted to the machining zone with high efficiency by total internal reflection confined in the inner hole of the tool electrode. Coupling between the laser and the tool electrode is of importance to guarantee the stability and accuracy of the Laser-STEM process. The previous studied focuses the laser beam to the entrance of the tool electrode utilizing a focusing lens. However, the method was easily affected by the focal length, spot size, and installation error, which would influence laser coupling stability and transmission efficiency. This paper focuses on the research of a novel laser coupling method based on the conical optical guide to improve the coupling robustness. Mathematical model of the laser propagation through the conical guide has been derived. The maximum coupling angle of the conical guide with different sizes was obtained. The effect of laserliquid- core fiber tool electrode coupling error on laser energy coupling efficiency is investigated by optical simulation, and the feasibility of conical light-guiding devices for efficient conduction of laser energy was verified experimentally. Results showed that the conical optical guide could improve the laser axial incidence range by about 3 times, the radial range by 2 times, and the angular coupling range by 1.9 times, with the laser coupling efficiency of 90%. The introduction of the conical guide remarkably improved the coupling efficiency and stability of the laser and tool electrode, which is of great significance for improving the stability of Laser-STEM.
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