This study presents the investigation on how heat treatment parameters, which are temperature, cooling method, and residence time, influence the microstructural and hardness properties of Ti6Al4V components produced on Ti6Al4V substrate using high speed selective laser melting technique. Heat treatment was performed on the produced samples before they were characterized for microstructure and hardness. The microstructure of the as-built sample contained large columnar β-grains that were filled with martensite α’ phase and had a high hardness of 383 ± 13 HV. At 1000 °C and residence time of maximum 4 h, better heat treatment parameters were seen for the selective laser melting (SLM) produced Ti6Al4V sample since an improved lamellar α + β microstructure was obtained at this condition. This microstructure is known to have improved tensile properties.

Since the proposal to synthesise materials by laser assisted pyrolysis in the 1970s, and its practical realisation in 1982, a number of researchers have used this method in obtaining nano-powders from liquid droplets. This study revisits this technique by introducing a new aspect in that it considers obtaining thin films rather than powders. A full experimental arrangement, including laser optimisation, optical layout and materials processing procedures is described. Synthesis of WO 3 nanostructures by this method is reported for the first time, with the mean diameter and length determined to be 51 nm and 6.8 µm, respectively. A possible mechanism for production of such nano structures is proposed owing to the selective dissociation of the O-C bonds in the tungsten ethoxide precursor liquid which resonate with the 10.6 µm emission wavelength of the CO 2 laser employed.

A layer of ~30 nm V2O5/100 nm-SiO2 on Si was employed in the in situ Raman spectroscopy in the presence of NH3 effluent from a thermal decomposition of ammonium acetate salt with the salt heated at 100 °C. When the layer is placed at 25 °C, we observe a reversible red-shift of 194 cm−1 V2O5 phonon by 2 cm−1 upon NH3 gas injection to saturation, as well as a reversible blue-shift of the 996 cm−1 by 4 cm−1 upon NH3 injection. However when the sensing layer is placed at 100 °C, the 194 cm−1 remains un-shifted while the 996 cm−1 phonon is red-shifted. There is a decrease/increase in intensity of the 145 cm−1 phonon at 25 °C/100 °C when NH3 interacts with V2O5 surface. Using the traditional and quantitative gas sensor tester system, we find that the V2O5 sensor at 25 °C responds faster than at 100 °C up to 20 ppm of NH3 beyond which it responds faster at 100 °C than at 25 °C. Overall rankings of the NH3 gas sensing features between the two techniques showed that the in situ Raman spectroscopy is faster in response compared with the traditional chemi-resistive tester. Hooke’s law, phonon confinement in ~51 nm globular particles with ~20 nm pore size and physisorption/chemisorption principles have been employed in the explanation of the data presented.

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Thin films of monoclinic nanostructured vanadium dioxide are notoriously difficult to produce in a selective manner. To date, post-annealing, after pulsed laser deposition (PLD), has been used to revert the crystal phase or to remove impurities, and non-glass substrates have been employed, thus reducing the efficacy of the transparency switching. Here, we overcome these limitations in PLD by optimizing a laser-ablation and deposition process through optical imaging of the laser-induced plasma. We report high quality monoclinic rutile-type vanadium dioxide (VO2) (M1) nanoparticles without post-annealing, and on a glass substrate. Our samples demonstrate a reversible metal-to-insulator transition at ∼43 °C, without any doping, paving the way to switchable transparency in optical materials at room temperature.

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Laser Shock Peening (LSP) is a material enhancement process used to introduce compressive residual stresses in metallic components. This investigation explored the effects of different combinations of LSP parameters, such as irradiance (GW/cm2) and laser pulse density (spots/mm2), on 3.2 mm thick AA6056-T4 samples, for integral airframe applications. The most significant effects that are introduced by LSP without a protective coating include residual stress and surface roughness, since each laser pulse vaporizes the surface layer of the target. Each of these effects was quantified, whereby residual stress analysis was performed using X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation. A series of fully reversed bending fatigue tests was conducted, in order to evaluate fatigue performance enhancements with the aim of identifying LSP parameter influence. Improvement in fatigue life was demonstrated, and failure of samples at the boundary of the LSP treatment was attributed to a balancing tensile residual stress.