Repeatability characteristics of laser percussion drilling of stainless-steel sheets

An analysis on the repeatability of a laser percussion drilling process is conducted using a flash lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser on 2 min thick stainless-steel sheets. Laser drilling process is finding increasingly widespread application in the industry and has continually attracted new interests to the industry in recent years. However, the inherent problem of hole geometry repeatability associated with laser percussion drilling is likely to limit the extent of industrial applications of the process. The characteristic of melt ejection is found to be dependent on the parameter setting and is shown to have a significant influence on entrance hole geometry and hence repeatability. The relationship between the percentage standard deviation of entrance hole diameter and the operating parameters is established, and varies between 1.8% and 5.6% in the operating range under this study. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.