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Revealing how lasers "tame" titanium alloys - the perfect combination of materials science and optical engineering

Q1: Titanium alloy is known for its high hardness, and traditional cutting tools are difficult to process. How does laser achieve precision cutting?
A: Laser cutting adopts the "energy crushing" strategy. Although titanium alloy has high hardness, the laser beam can generate an energy density of 10 ⁶ -10 ⁸ W/cm ² at a very small focal point (with a diameter of about 0.1mm), instantly heating the material to above 1668 ℃ and directly vaporizing or melting it. Combined with argon/nitrogen assisted blowing of molten metal, precision machining with a cutting width of only 0.1mm can be achieved without tool wear issues.
Q2: Will titanium damage laser equipment with a reflectivity of up to 90%?
A: This requires three key technological breakthroughs:
(1) Wavelength optimization: CO ₂ laser is easily reflected, while fiber laser can increase the absorption rate of titanium to over 60%;
(2) Reflection protection: The laser head is equipped with a special coated filter that can absorb or deflect reflected light;
(3) Pulse control: Using nanosecond/picosecond ultra short pulses to achieve "cold processing" - each pulse has a shorter duration than the material's thermal diffusion time, reducing thermal accumulation.
Q3: Titanium alloy has low thermal conductivity. How to avoid deformation and oxidation during laser precision cutting?
A: Through triple precision temperature control technology:
(1) Dynamic focusing: Real time adjustment of laser focus position to avoid excessive energy concentration;
(2) Gas optimization: The cooling effect of helium is four times that of nitrogen, which can improve the cooling rate and reduce the heat affected zone;
(3) Post processing: After cutting, acid washing with a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid can completely remove the oxide layer.
Q4: What are the effects of laser precision cutting technology in practical applications?
A: Taking aviation titanium alloy parts as an example:
(1) Accuracy: Laser precision cutting tolerance ± 0.01mm, far exceeding wire cutting (± 0.1mm);
(2) Efficiency: Laser cutting is about 20 times faster than traditional processing;
(3) Quality: Control the heat affected zone within 50 μ m to avoid the transition from β phase to brittle α phase.
Conclusion: Laser cutting has achieved micrometer level precision manufacturing of difficult to machine materials such as titanium alloys through three major breakthroughs: energy density breaking hardness, wavelength control reducing reflection, and dynamic temperature control reducing heat sensitivity. This is a model of "using softness to overcome rigidity" in modern industry.

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