JP2008248270A - Laser beam impact hardening treatment method and laser beam impact hardening treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable treating of a laser beam peening at high velocity to a large area with which in a laser beam impact treatment method, the coating on the surface is unnecessary and the raising of hardness and the improving effect of residual stress of a member to be treated, are extended to the deep range. <P>SOLUTION: In this laser beam impact hardening treatment method, the pulse-state laser beam 51 is applied on the surface of the member 41 to be treated, contacted with liquid 22 through the liquid 22 to perform the surface treatment of the member 41 to be treated. The emitting spot of the laser beam formed with one pulse on the surface of the member 41 to be treated, are constituted with a plurality of small ranges having the same shape and arranged in the same intervals, The shape of respective small range can be obtained to a slender long-state, round-state or square-state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is a laser shock hardening that adjusts the characteristics of the material surface and internal structure, hardness, residual stress, etc. by irradiating the surface of a solid material such as metal or ceramics with a pulsed laser beam via a liquid. The present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus therefor.

  In most cases, damage to structures such as corrosion and cracks originates from the surface, and the life of the structure depends on the characteristics of the surface. For this reason, various surface treatment techniques are applied to improve the mechanical or chemical properties of the material surface, thereby improving the fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, etc., thereby extending the life of the structure. An attempt is being made.

  Shot peening is a typical surface treatment technique, and can increase the hardness of the member surface layer and introduce compressive residual stress into the surface layer. For this reason, it is widely used in industrial fields such as automobiles and aircraft.

  Lasers, on the other hand, are capable of precise and high-speed control of energy density and irradiation position, and can perform high-speed processing and super rapid thermal quenching that are difficult with other methods. The application to processing is expanding.

  As one of them, there is a laser shock hardening treatment that irradiates the surface of the material with a pulsed laser beam via a liquid. Like shot peening, the hardness of the member surface layer is increased and the compressive residual stress on the surface layer is increased. Can be introduced.

  Laser shock hardening is more effective than shot peening, has non-contact work, has no reaction force, and has excellent advantages that cannot be realized by shot peening, such as precise control of laser irradiation conditions and parts. Development and practical use are underway (see Patent Documents 1 to 5).

  In Patent Document 5, the surface of a solid material such as metal or ceramics is irradiated with a pulsed laser beam through a liquid, thereby adjusting the material characteristics such as the material surface and the internal structure, hardness, and residual stress. A laser shock hardening process is disclosed.

According to Patent Document 5, when the peak output density of the laser beam exceeds the plasma generation threshold of the member to be processed (approximately 0.1 to 10 TW / m ^{2 in} the case of metal), the very surface layer (1 μm or less) of the member to be processed It instantly evaporates and plasma is generated. Inertia momentarily works strongly in the liquid, so that the plasma can hardly expand and the energy of the laser beam is concentrated in a narrow area. For this reason, the pressure of the plasma reaches 10 to 100 times that in the atmosphere or vacuum.

When water is used as the liquid, if the peak output density of the laser beam applied to the member to be processed is I (TW / m ² ), the pressure P (GPa) of the generated plasma is approximately P = (0.2 XI) ^0.5 . When the installation atmosphere of the member to be treated is a liquid other than water, such as oil, alcohol, ammonia water, boric acid water, etc., P = (0.2 × I × k) ^0.5 using the following coefficient k. Thus, the pressure of the plasma can be obtained.

k = (acoustic impedance of liquid) / (acoustic impedance of water)
Here, since the acoustic impedance of the liquid is (the density of the liquid) × (the speed of sound in the liquid), in the case of the above-described liquid, the plasma pressure is not significantly different from that in the case of water. Therefore, if the laser beam size and pulse energy are controlled so that the peak output density of the laser beam is 1 to 100 TW / m ^{2 on} the surface of the member to be processed, the plasma pressure is approximately 450 MPa to 45 GPa.

  The high-pressure plasma generated in this way instantaneously compresses the surface of the member to be processed, and the displacement of the surface due to the compression becomes a shock wave and propagates in the depth direction of the member. At this time, if the pressure of the shock wave exceeds the yield stress of the member, local plastic deformation occurs, so that material characteristics such as the structure, hardness, and residual stress can be adjusted.

  When the hardness of the material surface is increased by the laser shock hardening process and a compressive residual stress is formed, it is effective in improving fatigue strength and preventing stress corrosion cracking. Therefore, application of laser shock hardening is being promoted in the aircraft industry, the automobile industry, the nuclear power industry, and the like.

  In the laser shock hardening process, since the pulsed laser beam is directly irradiated on the surface of the member to be processed, the constituent elements of the liquid decomposed by the plasma may react with the surface of the member to be processed.

For example, when laser shock hardening treatment is performed on stainless steel in a water atmosphere, hydrogen and oxygen are generated by the decomposition of water, and oxygen reacts with the surface of the stainless steel. Therefore, the surface after the laser shock hardening treatment is Fe ₃ O _4. As a result, a strong black oxide film having a thickness of about 1 μm is formed.

If the black coating is not preferred in appearance, a coating with a thickness of about several tens of μm is formed on the surface of the member to be processed with paint or metal tape, and then laser shock hardening is performed. The surface of the treatment member exhibits almost the same surface properties as before treatment.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-246483 JP 08-111261 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-326502 JP 2003-504212 A JP 2006-137998 A P. Peyre et al., Journal of Materials Science, 33 (1998) 1421.

  The example described above is the result of an experiment conducted in Japan. In Europe and the United States, the laser pulse energy is further increased, and the experiment is performed at about 100 J. As a result, the depth of the compressive residual stress reaches several mm from the surface, and a higher effect is expected. However, when laser peening is performed with high pulse energy, the surface of the material melts, and it is known that a region of several tens of μm from the surface becomes a tensile stress state (Non-Patent Document 1). ).

  For this reason, when laser peening is performed with high energy, a coating for heat insulation is applied to the surface of the material in advance, and then laser peening is performed, but the process becomes complicated, increasing costs and reducing throughput. Has been invited.

  The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving these problems associated with the prior art, does not require surface coating, extends to a region where the hardness of the processed member is increased and the effect of improving residual stress is deep. The present invention provides a laser shock hardening method and a processing apparatus therefor capable of performing a laser peening process on a large area at high speed.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a laser shock hardening processing method and a processing apparatus therefor that can perform sufficiently high-speed processing without applying an excessive load to the driving device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a laser shock hardening method according to the present invention is a laser that performs surface treatment of a member to be treated by irradiating the surface of the member to be treated with the pulsed laser beam through the liquid. In the impact hardening method, the laser beam irradiation spot formed in one pulse on the surface of the member to be processed is composed of a plurality of small regions.

  Further, the laser shock hardening processing apparatus according to the present invention emits a laser beam from the laser oscillator so that the laser beam irradiation spot on the surface of the member to be processed is composed of a plurality of small regions. An optical device for shaping the irradiated spot shape of the laser beam, a drive device for relatively moving the laser beam along the surface of the member to be processed and positioning the laser beam at a desired part of the member to be processed; And a liquid supply means for supplying a liquid to at least the surface irradiated with the laser beam of the processing member.

  According to the present invention, by forming a laser beam irradiation spot in a plurality of small regions, a minute plasma is formed in each small region, so that the contact area with the liquid is increased as compared with the prior art. As a result, cooling of the plasma is promoted, the amount of heat input from the plasma to the surface of the member to be processed is reduced, and laser peening can be performed without melting the surface even when a high energy laser pulse is used.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the laser beam irradiation spot is divided into a plurality of small regions, the area that can be processed with one pulse is increased as compared with the prior art, and processing can be performed at higher speed. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a laser shock hardening method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The member to be processed 41 is installed on the holding table 42, and the member to be processed 41 and the holding table 42 are placed in the container 21, and the container 21 is filled with the liquid 22. The holding table 42 has a position adjusting function for fixing the member 41 to be processed and adjusting height and angle.

  The pulsed laser beam 51 emitted from the laser oscillator 11 is incident on the irradiation head 17 via the output adjustment device 12, the shutter 13, the beam expander 91, the fixed mirror 92, and the moving mirror 94. The laser beam 51 emitted from the irradiation head 17 is irradiated toward the member to be processed 41 in the liquid 22. In addition, the drive device 30 irradiates the laser beam 51 while moving the irradiation head 17 and the moving mirror 94 along the surface of the member to be processed 41, thereby impact-curing a predetermined processing region on the surface of the member to be processed 41. To process.

  Here, as the laser oscillator 11, for example, a glass laser or an Nd: YAG laser that oscillates in the near infrared with a wavelength of about 1 mm is used. When water is used as the liquid 22, near-infrared light is easily absorbed by water, so the water depth needs to be several mm or less. However, when the member to be treated 41 has a complicated shape, the water depth is several mm. It is difficult to control. For this reason, it is preferable to use as the laser oscillator 11 the second harmonic (wavelength 0.53 mm) of an Nd: YAG laser that is hardly absorbed by water and has no limitation on water depth.

  The output adjustment device 12 is an optical device that is configured by a combination of a polarizing plate and a beam splitter and adjusts the energy of the laser beam 51. The shutter 13 is composed of a high-speed operation mirror or the like, and can be irradiated with the laser beam 51 only on a necessary portion of the surface of the processing target member 41 by performing opening / closing control in synchronization with the driving device 30. Yes. The beam expander 91 has a function of expanding or reducing the size of the laser beam 51 and adjusting the size of the laser beam 51 incident on the irradiation head 17.

The irradiation head 17 includes a plurality of cylindrical convex lenses 93 having axes in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the laser beam 51, and divides the laser beam 51 into a plurality of pieces as shown in FIG. It has the function of irradiating the surface of the member 41 to be processed while narrowing down. Therefore, by changing the distance between the irradiation head 17 and the member to be processed 41, the area of the laser beam 51 irradiated on the surface of the member to be processed 41 changes, and the laser beam 51 irradiated on the surface of the member to be processed 41. The peak power density (I (TW / m ² )) also changes.

Since the effect of the laser shock hardening process is determined by the pressure of the plasma 52 (P = (0.2 × I) ^0.5 ), it is necessary to keep the peak power density within a predetermined range in order to guarantee the effect. is there. For this reason, the holding table 42 that holds the member to be processed 41 has a position adjustment function, and performs rough adjustment by adjusting the position of the member to be processed 41, and controls the height of the irradiation head 17 by the driving device 30. Thus, the distance between the irradiation head 17 and the member to be processed 41 is kept within a predetermined range.

  Here, it is possible to control the height of the irradiation head 17 by measuring the distance between the irradiation head 17 and the member to be processed 41 using a distance measuring device (not shown) such as an ultrasonic distance meter or a laser distance meter. Done. It is also possible to control the height of the irradiation head 17 by the arrival time of the generated sound of the plasma 52 by the irradiation of the laser beam 51. Further, the height of the irradiation head 17 can be controlled by measuring the reflection intensity of the laser beam 51 reflected from the surface of the processing member 41.

The plasma 52 generated by the irradiation of the laser beam 51 loses energy in a short time (about 10 ⁻⁷ seconds), is cooled, becomes fine particles, and floats in the liquid. When the next laser beam is irradiated in this state, the fine particles absorb or scatter the energy of the laser, so that an efficient laser shock hardening process cannot be performed.

  In the present embodiment, in order to prevent fine particles from floating, the liquid supply device 20 is connected to the container 21 to always supply a clean liquid 22. Here, the liquid supply apparatus 20 includes a pump, a filter, a flow meter (not shown), and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the predetermined range of the surface of the member to be processed 41 is subjected to the laser shock hardening process by moving the irradiation head 17 is described, but the irradiation head 17 is fixed and the member to be processed 41 is fixed. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained when the irradiation head 17 and the member to be processed 41 are moved simultaneously.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the shape of the laser beam 51 irradiated on the member 41 to be processed according to this embodiment. Usually, the shape of the laser beam 51 emitted from the laser oscillator 11 is often circular. In that case, the irradiation spot 45 is divided into a plurality of small regions 46 by a plurality of cylindrical convex lenses 93. However, in this embodiment, each small region 46 is, for example, a straight line parallel to each other at equal intervals. Therefore, the plasma 52 is generated in the shape of each small region (line) 46 and is easily cooled by the liquid between the lines. As a result, the amount of heat input to the surface of the member to be processed 41 is drastically reduced, the surface can be prevented from melting, and a compressive residual stress is formed on the surface of the member to be processed 41 without applying a thermal barrier coating. Can do. In addition, since the area between the lines is included in the area that can be processed with one pulse, higher-speed processing is possible.

  FIG. 4 shows the ratio of the area of the small region 46 (the total area of each line) to the area processed by one pulse (the area of the irradiation spot 45 and the area of the broken-line circle in FIG. 3), and the improvement of residual stress. It is a figure which shows the relationship of an effect. It can be seen that this ratio is effective in the range of approximately 30% to 70%.

  According to the present embodiment, by forming the laser beam irradiation spot in a plurality of small regions, a minute plasma is formed in each small region, so that the contact area with the liquid is increased as compared with the prior art. . As a result, the cooling of the plasma is promoted, the amount of heat input from the plasma to the surface of the member to be processed is drastically reduced, and laser peening can be performed without melting the surface even when a high energy laser pulse is used.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the laser beam irradiation spot is divided into a plurality of small regions 46, so that the area that can be processed with one pulse is increased as compared with the prior art, and processing can be performed at higher speed. It becomes.

  For example, when processing a band-shaped region along a weld line, processing of about 10 mm width is usually required, and two-dimensional driving is required. However, according to the present invention, a wide region is processed with one pulse. Therefore, the process can be completed with an operation in only one direction.

  Further, the shock wave generated from the minute plasma is combined with the surrounding shock wave as it propagates inside the member to be processed, and a shock wave having a wider area is formed. As a result, shock wave attenuation due to the spread of the wavefront is suppressed, and it is possible to exert an effect up to a deeper region inside the member to be processed as compared with the prior art.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, even if a high energy laser pulse is used without coating the surface of the member to be processed, laser peening can be performed without melting the surface, and the effect Is larger than the prior art and can perform faster processing. Further, since the load on the drive device is reduced, the drive device can be made smaller and simpler.

  Further, as a modification of this embodiment, if a homogenizer 97 shown by a dotted line in FIG. 2 is used, the output density of each line of the irradiation spot 45 can be controlled to be substantially constant, and higher quality processing is performed. Can do.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a laser shock hardening method according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the overlapping description of the parts common to the first embodiment is omitted. In this embodiment, two sets of cylindrical convex lenses 93 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are used in series. The two sets of cylindrical convex lenses 93 are arranged so that the cylinder axes are orthogonal to each other.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the shape of the laser beam 51 irradiated on the member 41 to be processed according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, this irradiation shape can be obtained by using two sets of the plurality of cylindrical convex lenses 93 and arranging the two sets substantially orthogonal to each other. In this case, each small region 46 of the irradiation spot 45 has a dot matrix shape arranged two-dimensionally at equal intervals. Therefore, plasma 52 is generated on each dot and is easily cooled by the liquid between the dots. As a result, the amount of heat input to the surface of the member to be processed 41 is drastically reduced, the surface can be prevented from melting, and a compressive residual stress is formed on the surface of the member to be processed 41 without applying a thermal barrier coating. Can do. In addition, since the area between dots is included in the area that can be processed with one pulse, higher speed processing is possible.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the area of the small region 46 (the total area of each small square) with respect to the area processed with one pulse (the area of the irradiation spot 45 and the area of the broken-line circle in FIG. 5) When the relationship between the ratio and the residual stress improvement effect was obtained, it was found that this ratio was effective in the range of approximately 30% to 70% as in FIG.

  Furthermore, if the homogenizer 97 shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2 is used, the output density of each small region (dot) 46 of the irradiation spot 45 can be controlled to be substantially constant, and higher quality processing can be performed. Is the same as in the first embodiment.

[Other Embodiments]
The embodiments described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the specific configurations of these embodiments.

  For example, if a two-dimensional array 99 of hexagonal microlenses is used instead of the cylindrical convex lens 93 of FIG. 2, each small region of the irradiation spot 45 of FIG. 5 in the second embodiment is used. 46 becomes a hexagon. Further, if a lens array in which small circular convex lenses are two-dimensionally arranged on a flat glass is used, each small region 46 of the irradiation spot 45 in FIG. 5 becomes circular.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the member to be processed 41 is immersed in the liquid 22. In this way, instead of immersing the member to be processed 41 in the liquid 22, the liquid is ejected toward the portion to be irradiated with the laser beam 51 to form a liquid film along the member to be processed 41. May be.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the shape of the laser beam irradiation spot is shaped using a cylindrical convex lens, but a cylindrical concave mirror can be used instead of the cylindrical convex lens.

1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a first embodiment of a laser shock hardening processing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a typical partial enlarged elevation view which shows the irradiation head vicinity of 1st Embodiment of the laser shock hardening processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which looked at the irradiation spot of the laser beam in 1st Embodiment of the laser shock hardening processing apparatus which concerns on this invention from the axial direction of the laser beam. In the laser shock hardening processing method concerning this invention, it is a graph which shows the relationship of the ratio of the area of the irradiation spot with respect to the total area of the some small area | region processed with 1 pulse, and a residual stress improvement effect. It is the figure which looked at the irradiation spot of the laser beam in 2nd Embodiment of the laser shock hardening processing apparatus which concerns on this invention from the axial direction of the laser beam. It is a typical partial enlarged elevation view which shows the irradiation head vicinity of other embodiment of the laser shock hardening processing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Laser irradiation apparatus 11 ... Laser oscillator 12 ... Output adjustment apparatus 13 ... Shutter 17 ... Irradiation head 20 ... Liquid supply apparatus 21 ... Container 22 ... Liquid 30 ..Drive device 41... Processing target 42... Holding base 45... Irradiation spot 46. Small area 51... Laser beam 52.・ Fixed mirror 93 ... cylindrical convex lens 94 ... moving mirror 97 ... homogenizer 99 ... micro lens array

Claims (12)

In a laser shock hardening method for performing surface treatment of a member to be treated by irradiating a surface of the member to be treated with a pulsed laser beam through the liquid,
A laser shock hardening method, wherein an irradiation spot of a laser beam formed by one pulse on the surface of the member to be processed is composed of a plurality of small regions.   2. The laser shock hardening method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of small regions have substantially the same shape and are arranged at substantially equal intervals to form the irradiation spot.   3. The irradiation spot is configured according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of small areas has an elongated shape, and the small areas are arranged in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof. Laser shock hardening method.   3. The laser shock hardening method according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation spot is configured by two-dimensionally arranging small regions having substantially the same shape.   The laser shock hardening method according to claim 4, wherein the shape of the small region is any one of a circular shape, a square shape, a hexagonal shape, an elliptical shape, and a rectangular shape.   The laser shock hardening method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a ratio of a total area of the small regions to the irradiation spot is approximately 30% to 70%. A laser oscillator for emitting a laser beam;
An optical device for shaping the irradiation spot shape of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator so that the irradiation spot of the laser beam on the surface of the member to be processed is composed of a plurality of small regions;
A driving device for relatively moving the laser beam along the surface of the member to be processed and positioning the laser beam at a desired portion of the member to be processed;
A liquid supply means for supplying a liquid to at least a surface irradiated with a laser beam of a member to be processed;
A laser shock hardening apparatus characterized by comprising:   8. The laser shock hardening processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the liquid supply means includes a container for holding the liquid so that at least a surface of the processing target member irradiated with the laser beam is immersed in the liquid. .   The optical device includes a plurality of cylindrical convex lenses or cylindrical concave mirrors arranged in a predetermined direction across the laser beam and arranged across the laser beam, and is emitted from the cylindrical convex lens or the cylindrical concave mirror, respectively. 9. The laser shock hardening apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the laser beam to be processed is shaped into a plurality of elongated shapes substantially parallel to each other and irradiated onto the surface of the member to be processed. .   The laser impact hardening processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the optical apparatus further includes a homogenizer for making the intensity distribution in the laser beam uniform. The optical device comprises:
A plurality of first cylindrical convex lenses or cylindrical concave mirrors arranged in a first direction across the laser beam and arranged across the laser beam;
A plurality of second cylindrical convex lenses or cylindrical concave mirrors arranged across the laser beam and arranged in a second direction across the laser beam and substantially perpendicular to the first direction;
With
The laser beam emitted from each of the first and second cylindrical convex lenses or the cylindrical concave mirror is shaped so as to be divided into a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged small regions and irradiated onto the surface of the member to be processed. The laser shock hardening processing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the apparatus is configured to be configured as described above.   The optical device includes a microlens array disposed in substantially the same plane that crosses the laser beam, and the laser beam emitted from the microlens array is divided into a plurality of small regions arranged two-dimensionally. The laser shock hardening processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the laser shock hardening processing apparatus is configured to be shaped so as to be irradiated on a surface of a member to be processed.

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