The Effects of Laser Parameters and the Ablation Mechanism in Laser Ablation of C/SiC Composite

Abstract

The effects of laser parameters and the ablation mechanism in laser ablation of a carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) composite are investigated in the present study. Six different power densities are provided, as well as six levels of pulse numbers, and then ablation experiments are conducted for the C/SiC composite, induced by a pulsed laser. Based on the experimental results, the characteristics of surface morphology and ablation behavior are discussed. It is revealed that the surface morphology of the C/SiC composite under laser irradiation usually includes three regions: the center region, the transition region, and the border region. With the increase of laser power density, the ablation of the center region becomes severe, surface cracks occur, and more spherical SiC particles are found in the transition region. As for scenarios involving multiple pulses, the damage occurs in the center region at low power density limits, within the first two layers below the surface. However, if the power density is relatively high, an ablation pit occurs in the center region when the pulse number is larger than 50. Meanwhile, the transition region and the border region diminish with increase of the pulse number. It is noted that both the power density and pulse number have noticeable effects on surface morphology and ablation behavior during laser ablation, which is helpful for material design and performance evaluation of C/SiC composites.

On the Dynamics of Transient Plasmas Generated by Nanosecond Laser Ablation of Several Metals

“…With such complex distributions seen for all investigated plasmas with multiple maxima and possible NP-induced structures, the control of plasma energy during the deposition becomes essential. Several routes for controlling the plasma kinetics are proposed in the literature including but not limited to fluence reduction [ 2 , 36 ], background gas addition [ 22 , 37 , 38 ], off-axis deposition [ 39 ], etc. The control from laser fluence can be challenging as changes in the transferred energy towards the target strongly affects the fundamental ablation mechanisms and often leads to the formation of clusters and droplets on the deposited film [ 40 , 41 ], which is undesirable.…”

“…Laser ablation of metals has been the focus of several studies in the past 30 years. The outcome of those studies has impacted both the fundamental knowledge of the laser ablation process and important applications like pulsed laser deposition [ 1 , 2 ], nanoparticle generation [ 3 , 4 ], laser patterning [ 5 ], or compositional analysis [ 6 , 7 ]. Several theoretical routes were developed to model the laser ablation of metals.…”

Research Progress and Challenges in Laser-Controlled Cleaning of Aluminum Alloy Surfaces

“…The remaining light is absorbed by the oxide film or paint layer, which also collects the surface energy and quickly raises the temperature. When the energy received by the oxide film or paint layer exceeds its gasification point, the oxide film or paint layer on the aluminum alloy surface instantly vaporizes and volatilizes, detaching from the aluminum alloy surface and realizing cleaning [ 41 , 42 ]. In parallel, during the gasification of the oxide film or paint layer, the gasification gas and the surrounding air are ionized to form plasma, which then gathers into a plasma group.…”

Defect Visualization of a Steel Structure Using a Piezoelectric Line Sensor Based on Laser Ultrasonic Guided Wave

“…Such a regime is called the ablation regime. In contrast to the incidence of low laser power that does not cause damage, the incidence of high laser power involves damage to the specimen surface [15,16,17,18,19].…”