Application of laser cladding technology to improve the interface of thermal barrier coatings

The present study is focused on improvement of the adhesion properties of the interface between plasma-sprayed coatings and substrates by laser cladding technology (LCT), Within the laser-clad layer there is a gradient distribution in chemical composition and mechanical properties that has been confirmed by SEM observation and microhardness measurement. The residual stress due to mismatches in thermal and mechanical properties between coatings and substrates can be markedly reduced and smoothed out. To examine the changes of microstructure and crack propagation in the coating and interface during loading, the three-point bending test has been carried out in SEM with a loading device. Analysis of the distribution of shear stress near the interface under loading has been made using the FEM code ANSYS, The experimental results show clearly that the interface adhesion can be improved with LCT pretreatment, and the capability of the interface to withstand the shear stress as well as to resist microcracking has been enhanced.

Failure of SiC particulate-reinforced metal matrix composites induced by laser thermal shock

Thermal failure of SiC particulate-reinforced 6061 aluminum alloy composites induced by both laser thermal shock and mechanical load has been investigated. The specimens with a single-edge notch were mechanically polished to 0.25 mm in thickness. The notched-tip region of the specimen is subjected to laser beam rapid heating. In the test, a pulsed Nd:glass laser beam is used with duration 1.0 ms or 250 mu s, intensity 15 or 70 kW/cm(2), and spot size 5.0 mm in diameter. Threshold intensity was tested and fracture behavior was studied. The crack-tip process zone development and the microcrack formation were macroscopically and microscopically observed. It was found that in these materials, the initial crack occurred in the notched-tip region, wherein the initial crack was induced by either void nucleation, growth, and subsequent coalescence of the matrix materials or separation of the SiC particulate-matrix interface. It was further found that the process of the crack propagation occurred by the fracture of the SiC particulates.

Research on laser welding of cast Ni-based superalloy K418 turbo disk and alloy steel 42CrMo shaft

Exploratory experiments of laser welding cast Ni-based superalloy K418 turbo disk and alloy steel 42CrMo shaft were conducted. Microstructure of the welded seam was characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Mechanical properties of the welded seam were evaluated by microhardness and tensile strength testing. The corresponding mechanisms were discussed in detail. Results showed that the laser-welded seam had non-equilibrium solidified microstructures consisting of FeCr0.29Ni0.16C0.06 austenite solid solution dendrites as the dominant and some fine and dispersed Ni3Al gamma' phase and Laves particles as well as little amount of MC short stick or particle-like carbides distributed in the interdendritic regions. The average microhardness of the welded seam was relatively uniform and lower than that of the base metal due to partial dissolution and suppression of the strengthening phase gamma' to some extent. About 88.5% tensile strength of the base metal was achieved in the welded joint because of a non-full penetration welding and the fracture mechanism was a mixture of ductility and brittleness. The existence of some Laves particles in the welded seam also facilitated the initiation and propagation of the microcracks and microvoids and hence, the detrimental effects of the tensile strength of the welded joint. The present results stimulate further investigation on this field. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Time and space-resolved measurement of a gas-puff laser-plasma x-ray source

The dynamic interaction processes between a nano-second laser pulse and a gas-puff target, such as those of plasma formation, laser heating, and x-ray emission, have been investigated quantitatively. Time and space-resolved x-ray and optical measurement techniques were used in order to investigate time-resolved laser absorption and subsequent x-ray generation. Efficient absorption of the incident laser energy into the gas-puff target of 17%, 12%, 38%, and 91% for neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, respectively, was shown experimentally. It was found that the laser absorption starts and, simultaneously, soft x-ray emission occurs. The soft x-ray lasts much longer than the laser pulse due to the recombination. Temporal evolution of the soft x-ray emission region was analyzed by comparing the experimental results to the results of the model calculation, in which the laser light propagation through a gas-puff plasma was taken into account. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Near dipole-dipole effects on the propagation of few-cycle pulse in a dense two-level medium

The propagation behaviors, which include the carrier-envelope phase, the area evolution and the solitary pulse number of few-cycle pulses in a dense two-level medium, are investigated based on full-wave Maxwell-Bloch equations by taking Lorentz local field correction (LFC) into account. Several novel features are found: the difference of the carrier-envelope phase between the cases with and without LFC can go up to pi at some location; although the area of ultrashort solitary pulses is lager than 2 pi, the area of the effective Rabi frequency, which equals to that the Rabi frequency pluses the product of the strength of the near dipole-dipole (NDD) interaction and the polarization, is consistent with the standard area theorem and keeps 2 pi; the large area pulse penetrating into the medium produces several solitary pulses as usual, but the number of solitary pulses changes at certain condition. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Influence of atomic densities on propagation property for ultrashort pulses in a two-level medium

The influence of atomic densities on the propagation property for ultrashort pulses in a two-level atom (TLA) medium is investigated. With higher atomic densities, the self-induced transparency (SIT) cannot be recovered even for 2π ultrashort pulses. New features such as pulse splitting, red-shift and blue-shift of the corresponding spectra arise, and the component of central frequency gradually disappears.

Neutron source from thin foil confined by two laser pulses

Neutron production from a thin deuterium-tritium (D-T) foil irradiated by two intense femtosecond laser pulses from opposite sides with zero phase difference is studied analytically and numerically. For the interaction of a laser pulse of amplitude a = 7, focal area 100 mu m(2) and areal density 4.4 x 10(18) cm(-2) with a D-T plasma foil, about 1.17 x 10(21) neutron s(-1) can be obtained, much more than from other methods. The profiles of the ion and electron densities are also calculated.

Effects of Lorentz local field correction on propagation properties of few-cycle pulse in dense Λ-type atomic medium

By solving numerically the full Maxwell-Bloch equations without the slowly varying envelope approximation and the rotating-wave approximation, we investigate the effects of Lorentz local field correction (LFC) on the propagation properties of few-cycle laser pulse in a dense A-type three-level atomic medium. We find that: when the area of the input pulse is larger, split of pulse occurs and the number of the sub-pulses with LFC is larger than that without LFC; at the same distance, the time interval between the first sub-pulse and the second sub-pulse in the case without LFC is longer than that with LFC, the time of pulse appearing in the case without LFC is later than that in the case with LFC, and the two phenomena are more obvious with propagation distance increasing; time evolution rules of the populations of levels vertical bar 1 >, vertical bar 2 > and vertical bar 3 > in the two cases with and without LFC are much different. When the area of the input pulse is smaller, effects of LFC on time evolutions of the pulse and populations are remarkably smaller than those in the case of larger area pulse. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electron quantum path tuning and isolated attosecond pulse emission driven by a waveform-controlled multi-cycle laser field

We investigate high-order harmonic emission and isolated attosecond pulse (IAP) generation in atoms driven by a two-colour multi-cycle laser field consisting of an 800 nm pulse and an infrared laser pulse at an arbitrary wavelength. With moderate laser intensity, an IAP of similar to 220 as can be generated in helium atoms by using two-colour laser pulses of 35 fs/800 nm and 46 fs/1150 nm. The discussion based on the three-step semiclassical model, and time-frequency analysis shows a clear picture of the high-order harmonic generation in the waveform-controlled laser field which is of benefit to the generation of XUV IAP and attosecond electron pulses. When the propagation effect is included, the duration of the IAP can be shorter than 200 as, when the driving laser pulses are focused 1 mm before the gas medium with a length between 1.5 mm and 2 mm.

Fine interference fringes formed in high-order harmonic spectra generated by infrared driving laser pulses

We experimentally investigate the high-order harmonic generation in argon gas using a driving laser pulse at a center wavelength of 1240 nm. High-contrast fine interference fringes could be observed in the harmonic spectra near the propagation axis, which is attributed to the interference between long and short quantum paths. We also systematically examine the variation of the interference fringe pattern with increasing energy of the driving pulse and with different phase-matching conditions.

Formation mechanism of self-organized voids in dielectrics induced by tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses

In this paper, we briefly summarize two typical morphology characteristics of the self-organized void array induced in bulk of fused silica glass by a tightly focused femtosecond laser beam, such as the key role of high numerical aperture in the void array formation and the concentric-circle-like structure indicated by the top view of the void array. By adopting a physical model which combines the nonlinear propagation of femtosecond laser pulses with the spherical aberration effect (SA) at the interface of two mediums of different refractive indices, reasonable agreements between the simulation results and the experimental results are obtained. By comparing the fluence distributions of the case with both SA and nonlinear effects included and the case with only consideration of SA, we suggest that spherical aberration, which results from the refractive index mismatch between air and fused silica glass, is the main reason for the formation of the self-organized void array. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Generation of intense extreme supercontinuum radiation via resonant propagation effects

Confinement of electromagnetic energy into a single well-controlled oscillation of light is very important for generation of intense supercontinuum radiation. We find that the pulse breakup of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulses via resonant propagation effects can achieve this aim. By extracting such pulses and then focusing them to drive the He atoms, about 200 eV intense supercontinuum radiation can be generated, which is capable of supporting similar to 20 attosecond isolated pulse generation.

Theoretical investigation of single attosecond pulse generation in an orthogonally polarized two-color laser field

We theoretically demonstrate the generation of extreme ultraviolet supercontinua in an orthogonally polarized two-color few-cycle laser field. We show that the ionized electrons can be driven back to their parent ion after traveling along curved trajectories in a plane perpendicular to the beam propagation direction, giving rise to a train of attosecond pulses at different polarization angles. A single isolated attosecond pulse can be obtained by blocking the low-order high harmonics, which contribute to the formation of the satellite pulses. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.