Heat-affected zone in pulsed laser cutting of titanium alloy
(School of Mechanical Manufacturing and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China)
Abstract: For the machining of bladed ring parts of an aeroengine, experiments on Nd∶YAG pulsed laser cutting of TC1 titanium alloy sheet were carried out to investigate the influences of laser cutting parameters on heat-affected zone (HAZ). The selected laser cut samples were photographed by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the microstructure in HAZ layers is characterized by metastable acicular martensite grains with a slight increase of hardness by 10%. The thickness of HAZ layers was studied as a function of laser cutting parameters. Medium pulse energy, higher pulse rate, higher cutting speed and argon at higher pressures help to reduce the thickness of HAZ layers.
Key words: laser cutting； titanium alloy； scanning electron microscope； heat-affected zone