In-process vibration-assisted high power Nd:YAG pulsed laser ceramic-metal composite cladding on Al-alloys

An in-process vibration-assisted laser cladding method was designed for improving the shrinkage cavities of pulsed Nd:YAG laser ceramic-metal composite cladding on Al-alloys. The substrate was vibrated during the cladding process. A signal generator in this study externally modulated the frequency, amplitude, and wave shape of the vibration. An acceleration sensing device was used to monitor the vibration condition to ensure the modulation was correct. The feasibility of using the in-process vibration-assisted method for improving the shrinkage cavities of pulsed Nd:YAG laser SiC + Al-Si cladding on an Al-alloy was then experimentally evaluated. The experimental results show that the in-process vibration-assisted method significantly improves the degree of cavity shrinkage when the penetration depth is not very great. Analysis of the data shows that with vibration-assisted cladding, the depth of penetration increases with frequencies between 200 and 1500 Hz. The results were especially significant for 800 mV modulation vibration.