Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

262 (2018) 131–148

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Numerical simulation of melt hydrodynamics induced hole blockage in T

Quasi-CW fiber laser micro-drilling of TiAl6V4
⁎
Shashank Sharmaa, , Vijay Mandala, S.A. Ramakrishnab, J. Ramkumara
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India
b
Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Laser drilling in the melt expulsion regime often inherits defects such as melt debris around the hole vicinity,
Laser drilling recast layer deposition, melt shadow, taper, barreling and melt flow induced hole blockage. Thus, it is imperative
Recoil pressure to study and scrutinize the mechanism responsible for defects in laser drilling. In this paper, a two-dimensional
Surface tension free surface numerical model of quasi-CW drilling is presented which describes complex time-varying melt flow
Melt shadow
patterns considering the effects of recoil pressure, surface tension, Marangoni shear stress which are all de-
Hole blockage
pendent on surface temperature. It has been found out that in case of laser heating during initial pulses, recoil
Melt expulsion
Numerical simulation pressure is the dominating factor resulting in the expulsion of melt near hole entrance. However, during soli-
dification surface tension induced backflow of melt creates a shadow at hole entrance. In the later stages, the
drag force induced by surface tension constraints the recoil pressure, limiting the penetration depth due to which
significant amount of melt remains inside the drilled hole, leading to melt re-closure induced hole blockage. The
predicted hole depth dimensions and defects such as recast layer, melt shadowing, and hole blockage agrees
reasonably well with experimental micrographs and literature data.

1. Introduction
Over the years laser drilling operations have become popular with
increase in demands for fabrication of micro size through holes (turbine
blades cooling, gas and fuel nozzles, lubricating hole and micro-filters)
and blind holes (surface lubrication, biomaterial carrier, and scribing
technologies), evidently sharing about 3% market of laser processing
industries (Dürr, 2008). Lasers can accumulate high energy on a surface
which is spatially and temporally confined eventually melting and va-
porizing the material. This makes them suitable for drilling of aerospace
materials such as titanium and its alloys.
Laser drilling can be categorized into two significant regimes
namely, short/ultra-short (ns, ps, fs) pulse drilling and long pulse (μs,
ms) drilling. Although with short and ultrashort pulses drill quality
improves as most of the material is vaporized and the short interaction
time restricts HAZ, the drilling rate is profoundly small (Nolte et al.,
1997). In case of long pulse, melt expulsion by vaporization induced
recoil pressure is dominating mechanism of material removal (Wagner,
1974). In spite of the fact that substantial amount of melt reduces hole
quality, its efficiency is much higher than ultrashort pulse regime
(Voisey et al., 2003). Besides, recent reports suggest that in case of ti-
tanium, defects associated with melt generation cannot be avoided even
with short (Biffi et al., 2011) and ultrashort pulses (Kononenko et al.,
2018). Therefore, laser drilling in the long pulse regime is still an open
field of research, and continuous work has been put forth by researchers
around the world to improve the process. Hamilton and Pashby (1979),
performed multi-shot percussion drilling with a CO2 laser having pulse
duration (15–50 μs) and reported a decrease in machining efficiency
with peak power. Low et al. (2001) investigated the phenomena of melt
spatter in laser drilling (with 0.3–10 ms pulse width) and reported an
increase in spatter area with pulse width and laser power. Ng and Li
(2001) performed a similar study and found that upward ejection of
melt was dominant during initial pulses. Chien and Hou (2007) studied
laser trepan drilling of Inconel 718. They reported the presence of thick
recast layer at hole entrance. Tu et al. (2016, 2014) discussed micro
hole drilling with microsecond pulses using a modulated CW single-
mode fiber laser and reported that with M2∼1.04, the laser could be
focused to around 20 μm spot size producing microholes having high
aspect ratio. Wang et al. (2017) employed double pulse (ms and ns)
drilling strategy to improve the hole quality.
In retrospect, it is essential to note that in almost all the research
findings mentioned above, the hole produced depicts several geometric
aberrations. These aberrations can be categorized (see Fig. 1(a)) as melt
debris around the hole vicinity, recast layer deposition, inlet cone, taper

⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India.
E-mail addresses: kshashan@iitk.ac.in (S. Sharma), vijaym@iitk.ac.in (V. Mandal), sar@iitk.ac.in (S.A. Ramakrishna), jrkumar@iitk.ac.in (J. Ramkumar).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2018.06.038
Received 10 February 2018; Received in revised form 7 May 2018; Accepted 25 June 2018
Available online 27 June 2018
0924-0136/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of various geometrical defects observed
during (a) conventional laser drilling and (b) laser micro drilling.
and barreling of the drilled hole. The presence of inlet cone decreases
the hole diameter near the entrance while barreling effect increases the
hole diameter after progressing through certain depth. Further, in case
of micro-drilling (Tu et al., 2016) it has been found out that with a
deeper hole (∼400 μm), the melt ejection process becomes inefficient
causing blockage of the hole (see Fig. 1(b)). Moreover, in case of single
shot laser drilling (Wang et al., 2017), hole blockage at the entrance
and in some cases at the bottom of the hole was observed. Yilbas (1987)
quantitatively characterized these defects in terms of process para-
meters. Campbell and Tiryakioğlu (2009) also performed statistical
analysis on the various defects in laser drilling. Both the experimental
reports established the strong dependency of laser drilling defects to-
wards laser processing parameters and thermo-physical material prop-
erties.
These findings prompted researchers for in-situ optical observations
of the dynamic behavior of hole formation in laser drilling. Chen et al.
(2013) performed in-situ experiments on a molybdenum plate with
1000 W Nd: YAG laser having spot size approximately 0.11 mm and
10 ms pulse duration. They proposed that laser drilling can be cate-
gorized into five stages namely, melt ejection, mild melting, keyhole
evolution, hole expansion followed by backflow and recasting. Thus, it
can be concluded that geometrical defects pertaining to laser drilling
are profoundly affected by the presence of highly unstable melt flow. In
order to alleviate and predict the resulting geometrical defects, there is
a need to develop a competent numerical model which can complement
the experimental data.
There have been a number of analytical and numerical models re-
ported, Von Allmen (1976) was the first to establish the role of recoil
pressure in melt ejection. Low et al. (2002) developed a one-dimen-
sional steady-state hydrodynamic physical model to predict the
threshold power density for melt ejection. They also reported that at
low absorbed intensities of the order of 2 MW/cm2, recoil pressure
significantly affects the melt ejection process. More recently, Zang et al.
(2014) analytically solved axisymmetric flow of liquid aluminum
132
Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
considering the impact of recoil pressure and drag force induced by
surface tension to calculate the threshold of ejection. In numerical
analysis, Ganesh et al. (1996) used the VOF (volume of fluid) method to
track the free surface to model melting and re-solidification during laser
drilling. The majority of the reported numerical models employing
various parameters associated with laser processing were restricted to
laser welding.
Lee et al. (2002), developed a complete model for spot laser welding
using VOF method which depicted instabilities and oscillation of key-
hole quite elaborately. Ki et al. (2002) proposed a self-consistent three-
dimensional keyhole model using the level-set method. More recently,
Geiger et al. (2009) have developed a 3D transient model of keyhole
laser welding of zinc using VOF method. Pang et al. (2011), proposed
the first sharp interface self-consistent keyhole model considering the
effects of recoil pressure and surface tension. Their study demonstrated
strong oscillation in melt pool with an increase in keyhole depth along
with the formation of multiple humps leading to porosity or bubble
formation. The sharp interface model depicted characteristic flow pat-
terns along with periodical wavy flow on free surface implying the
significance of recoil pressure and surface tension in laser welding
processes. Later, Tan et al. (2013) proposed a sharp interface level set
formulation, although they incorporated the attenuation of the laser
beam due to plume absorption, their study was concentrated only on
keyhole evolution. Courtois et al. (2013) presented a more computa-
tionally robust model using the level set method to predict keyhole
digging and collapse of melt pool in laser welding. Pang et al. (2015a)
proposed a novel surface pressure model considering the process of
evaporation under different ambient pressure. They demonstrated that
under reduced ambient pressure keyhole depth increases while the
surface temperature of melt pool decreases. Later, Pang et al. (2015a)
developed a 3D transient sharp interface keyhole model considering the
correct value of vapor plume density inside the keyhole. They reported
that the ambient pressure significantly affects the rate of evaporation
leading to variation in penetration depth, vapor plume velocity, and
keyhole wall temperature. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate the
effect of ambient pressure conditions to accurately predict the hydro-
dynamics of melt flow in laser processing models.
Although the physical mechanisms in laser welding and laser dril-
ling do not possess much difference, the time scales (pulse duration ≤
1 ms) and length scales (spot size < 0.15 mm) in laser (micro) drilling
are much smaller as compared to welding problems which might result
in thinner melt pool, very high thermal gradients and solidification
rates. In the short pulse drilling regime, Ottoa and Schmidta (2010)
proposed a three-dimensional laser drilling model emphasizing on melt
droplet ejection. Later, Leitz et al. (2012) developed a similar model
describing melt re-closures with excess melt formation during multi-
pulse μs-laser drilling. In the long pulse regime, Zhang et al. (2014)
performed FEM simulation using the phase-field method, their study
was concentrated on single shot laser drilling, and they did not consider
the melt flow during re-solidification. Vora et al. (2013) described the
formation of re-solidified edge (burr) in multipulse laser drilling with
the help of multistep level-set numerical model implemented in
COMSOL Multiphysics®. Shen et al. (2016), reported underwater multi-
pulse laser drilling numerical model considering only the effect of recoil
pressure, however, both the above models were restricted to laser
drilling of alumina. Girardot et al. (2017) proposed a model for laser
percussion drilling using constraint natural element method. Their
model mostly concentrated on the outflow of melt under the influence
of recoil pressure and melt flow during pulse off period was not dis-
cussed. To the best of author’s knowledge, there are no recent reports
which address micro laser drilling in the millisecond pulse regime
considering repetitive heating and cooling cycles and melt pool oscil-
lations associated with it. In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical
model of millisecond laser drilling of TiAl6V4 is presented which con-
siders all the three phase changes. The effect of recoil pressure with
consideration of ambient condition, surface tension, and thermo-
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

capillary forces are incorporated into the model. Further, this model
accurately predicts the geometrical changes during keyhole evolution
and re-solidification using an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE)
moving mesh. The model is implemented in commercial code COMSOL
Multiphysics® and validated through experiments obtained with CW-
modulated 1.07 μm SPI-fiber laser.

2. Numerical simulation

2.1. Physical model and assumptions

When the Laser beam is irradiated on a substrate, the energy of the

photons is transferred to the substrate surface depending upon the
absorption characteristic of the irradiated material. This transferred
energy elevates the temperature, generating a thin melt layer on the
surface. The surface temperature soon reaches its boiling point, and the
escaping vapor generates a recoil pressure which deforms the melt pool.
To comprehensively describe the deformation of melt pool and its
solidification dynamics a mathematical model has been developed
based on the following assumptions:

1 The flow of liquid metal in the melt pool is treated as incompressible

Newtonian laminar flow.
2 The material is considered to be isotropic and homogenous. The
thermophysical properties related to Titanium depends on the
temperature in solid and liquid phase.
3 The fluid flow and heat transfer problem is concentrated on re-
presentation of solid to liquid transition and melt flow. The third
phase (metallic vapor) has been incorporated in boundary condi-
tions.
4 Laser energy absorbed by the substrate is considered to be a surface
heat flux rather than a volumetric heat source. The applicability of
the above assumption stems from the fact that optical penetration
depth of TiAl6V4 is of the order of several nm (≈ < 100 nm) per-
taining to laser wavelength of 1070 nm.
5 Metallic vapor is regarded as an ideal gas, and the laser absorption
within vapor plume is neglected.
6 The multiple reflections of the beam inside keyhole is not taken into
account. This assumption can be acceptable for low penetration
depth problems, as multiple reflections become prominent in deep
(depth > 600 μm) laser drilling (Lee et al., 2002; Modest, 2006).
Therefore, the presented model will consider only shallow drilling
problems with depth of penetration not more than 600 μm.
Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the computational domain used in numer-
ical simulation.
Where ρ ρ is density of the material (kg/m3), p is the pressure (N/m2),
→
u is the molten metal velocity (m/s), Cp is the specific heat of the
material (J/kg K), μ is the dynamic viscosity (Pa-s), k is thermal con-
ductivity (W/m K), β is thermal expansion coefficient (1/K), Tm is
melting temperature, I is identity matrix, g is the gravity acceleration
and T is the absolute temperature (K). F , the Darcy damping force is
considered to dampen the velocity to zero when the temperature is
lower than melting temperature, this force induces isotropic perme-
ability (Eqs. (4) and (5)) derived from Kozeny-Carman equation which
is also used to treat the mushy zone (Courtois et al., 2013; Shen et al.,
2016; Zhang et al., 2014). The enthalpy temperature relation is in-
corporated as a piecewise linear function, so does the rest of thermo-
physical parameters (see Table 1). The thermo-fluidic boundary con-
ditions applied on the computational domain (Fig. 2) are discussed in
details in the following sections.

2.2. Governing equations

Table 1
Thermo-physical properties of TiAl6V4 (Mills, 2002; Panwisawas et al., 2018).
The transport phenomena in solid and liquid regions are calculated
by solving conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy si- Physical properties Ti–6Al–4V
multaneously (Eqs. (1)–(3)), the computational domain is depicted in
Solidus temperature (K) 1877
Fig. 2. Liquidus temperature (K) 1923

ρ∇⋅(→
Evaporation temperature (K) 3315
u) = 0 (1) Density of liquid (kg m−3) 4000
Atomic mass (u) 45.90
∂→u ⎯⎯⎯→ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯→T
ρ + ρ (→
u ⋅∇) →
u = ∇⋅[−pI + μ ( ∇u ) + ( ∇u) ]−ρ (1−β (T −Tm ))→
g Specific heat of solid (Jkg−1 K−1) 670
∂t Specific heat of liquid (Jkg−1 K−1) 831
⎯→
⎯ Thermal conductivity of solid (Wm−1 K−1) 21
+ F (2)
Thermal conductivity of liquid (Wm−1 K−1) 29
Viscosity (Pa s) 0.005
∂T
ρCp + ρCp (→
u ⋅∇T ) = ∇⋅(k∇T ) Coefficient of thermal expansion (K−1) 8 × 10−6
∂t (3) Surface tension coefficient (Nm−1) 1.4
Temperature coefficient of surface tension (Nm−1 K−1) −0.26 × 10−3
(1−fl )2 → Latent heat of fusion (Jkg−1) 2.86 × 105
F = −C u
(fl3 + b) (4) Latent heat of evaporation (Jkg−1) 9.83 × 106
Atmospheric pressure (Nm−2) 101300
Ideal gas constant (JK−1 mol−1) 8.314
⎧ 0 , T ≤ Ts Boltzmann's constant (JK−1) 1.38 × 10−24
⎪ T − Ts
fl = , Ts ≤ T ≤ Tl Emissivity 0.6
⎨ Tl − Ts Stefan–Boltzmann constant (Wm−2 K−4) 5.670 × 10−8
⎪1 , T > Tl (5)
⎩

133
S. Sharma et al.
2.3. Boundary conditions
As shown in Fig. 2, the computational domain is irradiated on
boundary 2 which will be subjected to laser heat flux, convection to
environment and surface to ambient radiation. It should be noted that
the optical penetration depth of 1070 nm laser on metals is of the order
of nanometers. Thus the beer-lambert law can be approximated to a flux
boundary condition.
4
− k∇T = αq − qevap − h [T − Tamb] − εσ [T 4 − Tamb ] (6)
q = I (x m , ym ) × f (t ) (7)
1, t ≤ tp
f (t ) = ⎧
⎨ 0, x > tp (8)
⎩
In Eq. (6), q describes laser beam irradiance (Eq. (7)), qevap is
evaporation heat flux loss which will be discussed in the later section,
the last two terms represent convective and radiative heat losses. In Eq.
(7), I (x m , ym ) is the adaptive intensity function discussed in section 2.7.
Further in Eq. (8), the function f (t ) , is the temporal pulse shape of laser
which is taken as a square shape. The term α, appearing in Eq. (6) is
laser absorptivity of irradiated material. In the computational domain
(see Fig. 2, Eq. (9)), the boundaries 1,3 and 4 are subjected to con-
vective heat losses.
−k∇T = h (T −Tamb) (9)
2.4. Free surface boundary condition
In case of laser drilling, on the top surface (boundary 2, Fig. 2) if we
consider the case of T > Tvaporization there will be a deformed melt
pool. Further, at the center of the free surface, there will be a counter
force of metal evaporation (Recoil pressure). Hirano et al. (2011), in his
studies explain that the pressure difference required to drive melt in the
present state should be defined as (Eq. (10)), here Precoil is recoil pressure
due to vaporization and Pamb is ambient pressure.
ΔP = Precoil−Pamb (10)
It is a well-known fact that in case of two-phase flow, the surface
tension balances the total normal stress on both sides of the interface,
which can be described by following equation (Eqs. (11) and (12)).
(P1−P2) + ni⋅(μ 2 (∇u2−(∇u2 )T )−μ1 (∇u1−(∇u1 )T )) = σ (∇S ⋅ni ) ni
(11)
ni⋅(μ 2 (∇u2−(∇u2 )T )−μ1 (∇u1−(∇u1 )T ))⋅ti = |∇S σ| (12)
μ1 ≫ μ 2 , pressure jump at interface ΔP = Precoil−Pamb ,
ni⋅(μ (∇u−(∇u)T )) = −(Precoil−Pamb ) ni + σ (∇s ⋅ni ) ni−∇S σ (13)
→→
Where, ∇S = (I − n n ) ∇
In Eqs. (11) and (12), the suffix (1&2) represents the coexistence of
two different phases (vapor and liquid), μ is the dynamic viscosity, P is
pressure, σ is the surface tension and ∇S is the surface gradient operator.
Eq. (12) implies that surface tension gradients have the ability to drive
motion. In Eqs. (11) and (12) it is pertinent to note that there is a vast
difference in the viscosities of liquid metal and the concerned vapor
phase. Although there is no elaborate explanation available on the
temperature dependency and the absolute value of viscosities of metal
in the vapor phase, most of the researchers when modeling keyhole
welding have taken the ratio of melt to vapor viscosity μl/μg > > 100
(Courtois et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2014). Thus, viscosity terms in the
total stress from fluid-2 (vapor phase) can be neglected, and the pres-
sure difference required for the melt flow will be the pressure jump
condition (Eq. (13)) along the interface. In the present study, surface
tension is taken as a function of temperature.
σ = σ −γ (T −Tm) (14)
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
dσ dσ ⎡
∇S σ = ∇S T = ∇T −n (n⋅∇T ) ⎤
dT dT ⎢
⎣
⎥
⎦ (15)
In Eq. (14), σ is the surface tension, γ is constant in surface tension
gradient, Tm is melting temperature. Eq. (15) describes the Marangoni
shear force term which acts on the surface of melt pool. It should be
noted that in (Eq. (11)) the surface tension will be responsible for the
normal stress that will act on the melt pool surface depending upon its
curvature. However, the gradient of surface tension (Eq. (12)) de-
pending upon temperature will act as tangential stress (Marangoni
stress) on the melt pool surface.
2.5. Recoil pressure and evaporative heat flux
The evaporative heat flux accounts for the cooling effect imparted
by the escaping vapor particles. It is the product of vaporized mass flow
rate Mv and latent heat of vaporization L v . The mass flow rate of a
vaporized particle is described by Hertz-Langmuir relation (Hirano
et al., 2011), which is a function of surface temperature Ts .
qevap = Mv × L v (16)
m
Mv = × Psat (Ts ) × (1−βr )
2πkb Ts (17)
In Eq. (17), m is the atomic mass, kb the Boltzmann constant and
Psat is the vapor pressure which can be described by Clausius–Clapeyron
relation:
M L 1 1
Psat (Ts ) = Patm × exp ⎜⎛ a v ⎛ − ⎞ ⎞⎟
⎜ ⎟
⎝ R ⎝ Tv Ts ⎠ ⎠ (18)
With Ma the molar mass, R is the ideal gas constant and Tv the va-
porization temperature. The βr is the retro diffusion coefficient whose
value ranges from 0 to 1. The value of βr = 1 corresponds to the case
when all vaporized material is re-condensed resulting in Mv = 0 . When
βr = 0 , no re-condensation occurs, this happens in the presence of
strong vaporization regimes which is not the case modeled here. In this
study βr = 0.17 (Anisimov, 1968), which corresponds to the maximum
value of βr in case of vaporized gas flow. Most importantly, this model
incorporates the effect of laser drilling in ambient condition (In our case
Pamb = 1 atm ), that is when T < T_vaporization there will be no deforma-
tion in the melt pool because of recoil pressure (Hirano et al., 2011;
Pang et al., 2015b). Therefore boundary condition pertaining to recoil
pressure can be expressed as:
⎧ Pamb, 0 ≤ Ts < Tv
Precoil = 1+β
⎨ 2 r × Psat (Ts ), Ts ≥ Tv (19)
⎩
In order to avoid discontinuity in Eq. (19), first the intersection
1+β
point (Tc) of Pamb = 2 r × Psat (Ts ) is calculated (Tc = 3452.9811 K).
Thereafter, a piecewise function with second order continuity at T = Tc
is built (see Fig. 3) with the transition range (of second order smooth-
ening) ΔT = 300K (< 10% of Tc). It is remarked that the smooth pie-
cewise function is generated using COMSOL Multiphysics functionality
(COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual, version 5.0, 2018). Therefore,
Eq. (19) can be re-written as
⎧ Pamb, 0 ≤ Ts < Tc
Precoil = 1+β
⎨ 2 r × Psat (Ts ), Ts ≥ T (20)
⎩
It is important to note that both Eqs. (10) and (20) incorporates the
effect of ambient atmosphere in laser drilling.
2.6. Arbitrary lagrangian-eulerian moving mesh
To accurately predict the deformation of the melt pool, ALE method
is adopted. In this method, the displacement of boundary nodes is
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

Fig. 3. Ambient pressure dependent recoil pressure of TiAl6V4 at melt pool

surface as a function of surface temperature, for different ambient pressures.

dependent on fluid velocity (Morville et al., 2010; Shen et al., 2017).

This condition can be described by the following equation:
Vmesh⋅n = u⋅n (21)

The above equation is used to describe the free surface movement

(boundary 2), on the rest of boundaries no-slip condition is imposed. It
is important to note that in case of a moving boundary problem, the
ALE formulation in Comsol Multiphysics is described by two co-
ordinated systems namely, a reference coordinate system which stores
the initial configuration of the computational domain along with its
mesh coordinates, and a moving coordinate system which allows one to
one mapping of mesh coordinates to the current spatial configuration of
the domain(COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual, version 5.0, 2018).
In case of laser drilling problem, the heat transfer and fluid flow
equations are solved in the moving frame to accommodate freely
moving liquid-vapor interface irradiated by the laser beam.
2.7. Adaptive laser intensity function
In percussion laser drilling with each pulse, deformation of melt
pool occurs leading to the formation of recast layer near the hole en-
trance which creates a shadow over the hole base; in such circum-
stances, non-uniform absorption of laser beam occurs. The physical
effect of melt shadowing is incorporated using an adaptive heat flux
condition on the freely moving liquid-vapor interface (boundary 2,
Fig. 2) described by following equations.
2 2
I (x m , ym ) = I0 ⎜⎛
ω0 ⎞ ⎛ −3x m ⎞⎟
⎟ exp ⎜
2 the formulated phenomena, the top boundary surface is meshed with
⎝ ω (ym ) ⎠ ⎝ ω (ym ) ⎠ (22)
2 reduce computational time, and it has been observed that for the region
y
ω (ym ) = ω0 1 + ⎛ m ⎞⎜ ⎟ far away from the expected melt pool, maximum element size of 20 μm
Z
⎝ r⎠ (23)
πω02
Zr =
λ (24)
P 32GB RAM commercial CPU.
I0 = 3
πω02 (25)
Where, ω0 is effective spot radius of the beam, Zr is the Rayleigh range,
and P is the laser power. In Eq. (22), x m and ym are the local coordinates
of the irradiated boundary in the moving frame. Therefore, at each time
step according to the deformed configuration (depending upon x m and
ym ), I (x m , ym ) is mapped on the moving liquid-vapor interface. Fig. 4
represents one such state where the melt shadow effect is prominent, as
can be observed the intensity absorbed near region “1″ will be much
higher than the shadowed region “2″. In the case where, for some xmi
Fig. 4. Schematic representation of implementation of adaptive intensity
function on the moving liquid-vapor interface in case of melt shadowing in laser
drilling.
there exists more than one ymi then a sorting algorithm is used to find
the maximum of ymi and the intensity function is only mapped on xmi
and max( ymi ), otherwise I (x m , ym ) is directly mapped on the points as
per Eqs. (22)–(25).
It is pertinent to note that in the ideal case the shadowed region
should not absorb the incoming laser intensity directly. From the nu-
merical experience, it is observed that the energy absorbed by the
shadowed region is relatively small, and the simulation results are not
so sensitive towards its contribution.
2.8. Meshing parameters
The moving mesh is solved using ALE method implemented on
COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS®, with a hyper-elastic mesh smoothing (Shen
et al., 2017). The problem is solved with PARDISO solver with relative
and absolute tolerance as 10−2 and 10-4 respectively. The computa-
tional domain consists of free triangular elements. To accurately predict
maximum element size 1 μm, mesh convergence study is employed to
yields acceptable results. The mesh consists of 25,034 linear triangular
elements and 600 edge elements. The average element quality is
0.9689. The computational time for solving complete melt hydro-
dynamics of single pulse takes around 150–200 minutes on four core i7-
It is pertinent to note that the in case of moving mesh technique,
modeling melt closure and hole blockage will lead to intersecting mesh
elements which will be a point of singularity, leading to non-con-
vergence. Therefore, intersecting mesh elements is used as a stopping
criterion in the COMSOL Multiphysics solver (Sharma et al., 2015).
Further, these points of intersection if present were always observed
during last stages of solidifications. Thus the geometry yielded by the
simulation on time step penultimate to the point of singularity is treated
as initial geometry for the next pulse. It is worth noting that in moving
mesh framework, modeling of multiple hole blockage is problematic, in

135
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

Fig. 5. The flowchart of the simulation strategy to incorporate multi-pulse laser drilling.

a sense that at any given time step there can be multiple sites where experiments were performed using an SPI-SP-200C fiber laser system
mesh elements can intersect creating hole blockage, depending on the operating at a 1070 nm wavelength with a maximum power of 200 W.
mesh velocity anyone of them can collapse rendering the solver to stop. The laser beam profile is Gaussian (TEM00 mode). A convex lens of focal
Therefore, the presented model is limited to capturing single hole length 50 mm is used to focus the laser beam on the substrate. The CW
blockage. However, it can efficiently predict the nucleation of other laser beam can be modulated to generate a pulsed beam of duration
blockage sites based upon the geometry and mesh velocity at any given 0.1 ms–90 ms with a repetition rate range of 1–100 Hz. The material
time step. It is remarked that the genesis of multiple hole blockages in used for the study was TiAl6V4, with its chemical composition listed in
laser micro drilling, is observed under extreme melting conditions (i.e., Table 2. The sample (size: 50 mm × 50 mm × 1 mm) was attached to a
increase in penetration depth, a high number of pulses) where the melt 3-axis numerically controlled stage, and the drilling experiments were
expulsion efficiency decreases leading to melt pool collapse (Semak and conducted in the air with the substrate at the focal plane.
Matsunawa, 1976). The selection of laser power was based on the estimation of energy
(Q) required to melt and vaporize the material, using the following
2.9. Numerical procedure thermal energy balance equation,
Q = ρ(c sl (Tm−300) + L m + clv (Tv−Tm)) + L v) (26)
The model is used to simulate laser percussion drilling with 1 ms
pulse duration having laser power of 200 W A 1070 nm fiber laser with Where ρ is material density, c sl and clv are specific heat, Tm and Tv are
Gaussian intensity distribution and a spot diameter of 100 μm at the melting and vaporization temperature and L m and L v are the latent
focal position is used for experiments as well as simulations. The si- heats of melting and vaporization. The thermo-physical parameters of
mulation strategy for incorporating multiple pulse drilling is presented TiAl6V4 are presented in Table 1. To obtain the required pulse energy
in Fig. 5, which is after computing the dynamics of melt flow for a given for melting and vaporizing the material following equations are used
pulse the model geometry is updated before solving for subsequent (Zhou et al., 2016),
pulses. In Fig. 5, tp stands for pulse width whereas ts represent time QV
Ep =
taken for the solidification of melt pool. The total solidification time α (27)
taken after heating of 1 ms (tp) is found to be not more than 0.8 ms in
1 2
pilot simulations. In laser percussion drilling with millisecond pulse V= πr L d
3 (28)
duration, the pulse repetition rate is in the range of (1–200 Hz) (Chien
and Hou, 2007; Hamilton and Pashby, 1979; Low et al., 2001; Ng and Ld = αtτ (29)
Li, 2001). In this regime, the inter-pulse dynamics has no significance as
the heated material will completely solidify before the impact of next Where E p is pulse energy, V is the volume of melting and vaporization,
pulse. Therefore, to avoid sizeable computational time the present si- r is laser beam radius, L d is thermal diffusion depth for given laser in-
mulation neglects the inter-pulse dynamics and the solidification time teraction time τ and α is absorptivity whereas α t is thermal diffusivity.
(ts) is taken as 2 ms. Thus, for each pulse, total computational time is The laser absorptivity of melted titanium is found to be around 0.432.
3 ms with 1 ms (tp) of heating and 2 ms (ts) of subsequent cooling. This In case of modulated pulse beam the pulse energy does not change
process is solved iteratively, to demonstrate various regimes in laser with pulse width, therefore in the present study pulse width is fixed at
drilling.
Table 2
The chemical compositions of Ti-6Al-4 V (weight percentage) material used in
2.10. Experimental method simulation and experiment.
Alloy Ti Al V C Fe O N
The aim of the present experimental study is to validate the devel-
oped numerical model which establishes the deleterious effects of melt Ti-6Al-4V Balance 5.50-6.75 3.50-4.50 0.08 0.30 0.20 0.05
hydrodynamics during laser micro drilling. Laser micro drilling

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S. Sharma et al.
1 ms (τ ). Following the above, with beam radius (r) of 100 μm the pulse
energy required to melt and vaporize the material is estimated to be
122.4 mJ (E p × τ ≈ 125 W), keeping in mind the various losses in a
thermal process (radiation loss, conduction and convection losses) the
laser power was kept at the maximum level of 200 W, with a varying
number of pulses (1–20) at a 10 Hz repetition rate. After generation of
micro holes, the substrate material is sectioned and polished to obtain
cross-sectional micrographs using an optical microscope. The small hole
diameter (< 100 μm) requires, regular inspection through a microscope
to reach the central region of micro hole while polishing and sectioning
of the substrate. It takes on an average 40–60 minutes to obtain the
required cross-section of a single micro hole.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Transient melt pool dynamics during initial pulses
The hydrodynamics of melt flow during laser drilling is quite
complicated due to the interaction of contradicting effects of vapor-
ization induced recoil pressure and surface tension forces. The above
two parameters are strongly dependent on melt pool surface tempera-
ture. Moreover, the evaporative cooling has non-linear (increasing)
dependency on surface temperature, that is with an increase in surface
temperature there is a substantial increase in evaporative heat flux (see
Eqs. (16)–(18)) causing the temperature to drop in that region.
Therefore, in contrast to the fact that the system is under constant laser
power irradiation the interaction of parameters above produces com-
plex and time-varying flow patterns.
Fig. 6(a), demonstrates the evolution of surface temperature with
time for the first three pulses. It can be observed that the surface
temperature increases to 3200 K within 0.1 ms of laser irradiation in all
the three cases. Fig. 6(b) illustrates the fluctuation in surface tem-
perature with time during laser heating. In case of the first pulse, at
t = 60 μs the temperature reaches its maximum value of 3328 K.
However, the temperature does not remain stagnant due to increase in
evaporative cooling, and it drops to 3310 K within 15μs. After that, the
Fig. 6. Transient evolution of peak surface temperature for first three pulses.
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
surface temperature fluctuates around T = 3310 K till the laser irra-
diation stops at 1 ms.
Turning for a moment to the melt flow pattern demonstrated in
Fig. 7. After 0.1 ms, recoil pressure dominates the fluid flow as the li-
quid starts to get displaced from the center of melt pool towards the
edge. The melt depression at the center of the pool reaches up to 6 μm
at this instant. The maximum of melt velocity (118 mm/s) occurs
during this stage near the bottom surface of deformed melt pool. This
phase can be described as keyhole digging phase where the only in-
fluencing mechanism is recoil pressure driven outward flow.
Up to 1 ms, the melt displacement continues, and the size of the
molten hump near the edge gradually increases to 20 μm in height and
55 μm in width. The deformed melt profile is smooth, and the pertur-
bation resides only near the edge of melt pool. At this instant, the de-
pression in the melt pool is around 96 μm, and the hole width is 90 μm.
After 1 ms the laser pulse is shut off, the peak temperature drops swiftly
below vaporization temperature (see Fig. 6(a), 1 st pulse) and the recoil
pressure ceases to act. The residing melt layer will now be under the
influence of surface tension, gravity and Marangoni forces. However,
with the laser being shut off temperature gradient also reduces drasti-
cally decreasing the effect of Marangoni forces. In Fig. 7 at 1.07 ms, the
molten hump at the melt pool edge under the influence of surface
tension force and gravity tries to retract back, while at the bottom
surface the melt flow is still upwards due to the force of expulsion by
recoil pressure. These two opposite velocity currents balance each other
resulting in a vortex.
Further, it should be noted that the low penetration depth allows the
upward flow of melt from the bottom surface to be prominent even after
laser pulse is off, preventing the collapse of the molten hump. However,
as solidification progresses the surface tension force becomes noticeable
due to the presence of curvature, because of which molten hump tilt
slightly towards the center of the hole before solidifying completely.
In Fig. 6, for the second pulse, it can be observed that the increase in
temperature is not very sharp as compared to that of the first pulse. The
surface temperature reaches near vaporization point only after 0.2 ms
of irradiation. This delay in vaporization can be explained by the flow
S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 7. Evolution of melt pool shape for first pulse, Temperature field (color surface contour, unit: K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).
patterns presented in Fig. 8, after 0.1 ms of laser irradiation the tem-
perature at the bottom of the hole is around 3000–3200 K whilst the
region near the hole periphery is just above 2000 K (> melting temp)
resulting in backflow of molten metal, in which the colder liquid from
the periphery flow towards the high temperature central region. This
unusual flow pattern can be attributed to the presence of surface cur-
vature in the melt pool because of which normal stress due to surface
tension is dominant over Marangoni stresses (Shen et al., 2017), re-
sulting in melt flow towards the center of the hole. Further, due to the
presence of high temperature zone at the bottom of the hole, the eva-
porative cooling at the center becomes stronger than any other region
in the melt pool. The presence of substantial evaporative cooling at the
center along with backflow of molten material conduces towards a
gradual increase in surface temperature as compared to temperature
evolution during the first pulse. However, after 0.37 ms (Fig. 8) recoil
pressure becomes significant, and the melt layer at the bottom of the
hole starts to flow upwards. From 0.37 ms to 0.5 ms the two opposite
melt flow currents collide with each other resulting in the peak in
surface temperature (in Fig. 6(b)) after which the recoil pressure be-
comes dominant resulting in hole expansion (Fig. 8, 0.75–1 ms). When
the laser irradiation stops after 1 ms, similar to the mechanisms during
the first pulse, the molten hump shifts towards the center of the hole
before solidifying completely. The size of the molten hump near the
edge has increased to 28 μm in height and 60 μm in width. The resulting
hole geometry has a minimum diameter of 56 μm at the top surface
while the maximum diameter (85.4 μm) occurs 70 μm below the top
surface.
Comparing the hole geometry after first (Fig. 7, 1.31 ms) and the
second pulse (Fig. 8, 1.51 ms) it can be observed that the shape of the
final hole is entirely different from the hole shape discovered during
drilling. Further, the dimension of hole entrance decreases with each
pulse because of the backflow of molten metal during solidification. The
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
partial sealing of hole entrance depicted in the above results will act as
an impediment to the subsequent laser pulse, as a portion of the beam
energy will be absorbed near the hole entrance. Schulz et al. (2013)
termed this phenomenon as melt shadowing effect; further, Campbell and
Tiryakioğlu (2009) named the above geometrical aberration as inlet
cone in his experimental observation.
3.2. Melt shadowing effect
In order to understand the melt flow during the third pulse, tran-
sient peak temperature distribution (see Fig. 6(a)) should be examined
first. The temperature fluctuations during second and third pulse follow
similar trend except for the first peak observed in case of the third
pulse. That first peak occurs around 0.18 ms after the beginning of the
third pulse, corresponding to vaporization observed near the hole en-
trance at the same time. Since there was no shadowing effect in case of
the second pulse, no such peak was witnessed, and the temperature
increased gradually.
Fig. 9(a) shows the evolution of surface temperature spatially along
the hole wall, interestingly at t = 0.1 ms, the level of temperature at the
annular region 50 μm below the top surface (point ‘b’) is considerably
less (dT∼800 K) as compared to the temperature at the hole entrance or
at the bottom of the hole. Thus, the material which re-solidified (during
the previous pulse) near the hole entrance creates a shadow over the
hole base resulting in the non-uniform temperature distribution. Fur-
ther, the shadowing effect results in two distinct melt zones one near
the hole entrance (point “c”) and the other at the bottom (point “a”).
3.3. Melt redistribution process
Following the above, at the melt zone, “a” the flow pattern follows
the similar trend as in initial stages of the second pulse, up to 0.2 ms the
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

Fig. 8. Evolution of melt pool shape for 2nd pulse, Temperature field (color surface contour, unit: K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).

flow pattern is in clockwise direction under the influence of surface
tension and gravity and the recoil pressure driven outward flow is
evident only after 0.3 ms. However, the newly molten metal near the
hole entrance (point “c”) experience sharp increase in its surface tem-
perature due to lack of melt flow (see Fig. 10(0.05 ms-0.1 ms)), the
surface temperature reaches up to 3300 K around 0.18 ms (see Fig. 6).
At this instant (Fig. 10), recoil pressure becomes prominent, and it
deforms the melt pool near the entrance which accelerates the down-
ward motion of molten metal. From 0.2 ms to 0.3 ms the downward
melt flow progresses, and the temperature in the shadowed region
(point “b”) also starts to increase. In Fig. 10, from 0.187 ms to 0.47 ms
near the hole entrance, the recoil pressure assisted downward flow
pattern gains momentum and its maximum velocity increases from
53 mm/s to 103 mm/s, the physical meaning of this process is that

Fig. 9. Temperature distribution. (a) Spatial temperature profile along the hole wall (Z’ = 0; hole bottom, Z’ = 0.15; hole entrance). (b) Variation in spatial tem-
perature profile during melt re-distribution process. The text points (a, b and c) corresponds to the region near hole bottom, intermediate annular region, and hole
entrance respectively.

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S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 10. Transient melt flow patterns during the third pulse (colored arrow plot: velocity field (mm/s)). The text points (a, b and c) corresponds to the region near
hole bottom, intermediate annular region, and hole entrance respectively.
vaporization near hole entrance obliterates the shadow and the molten
metal is pushed back inside the hole. Meanwhile, near the bottom of the
hole with the progression of vaporization the upward melt flow become
significant, around 0.47 ms the upward melt velocity reaches up to
50 mm/s. As the opposite melt currents collide the hole profile becomes
uniform, and the shadow completely vanishes. Further, due to the
collision, the downward flow pattern starts to diminish, between
0.47 ms to 0.49 ms the downward melt velocity reduces from 100 mm/s
to 26.7 mm/s. It is pertinent to note that during the collision of the two
opposite melt currents, bulging of the melt surface is not observed. This
can be explained with the help of Fig. 9(b), as the melt currents interact
with each other, the local temperature of the collision junction in-
creases from 3210 K (0.47 ms) to 3335 K (0.49 ms). This results in high
recoil pressure acting normal to the junction surface, preventing the
formation of the bulge. After 0.5 ms, complete redistribution of melt
occurs, and the surface temperature of the melted region along the hole
wall reaches well above vaporization temperature. Henceforth, keyhole
digging phase dominates the flow pattern, and hole expansion occurs.
3.4. Melt shadow induced hole blockage
After the interaction of the third pulse, melt flow and solidification
during drilling with fourth and fifth pulse follow similar mechanism.
Fig. 11(a), depicts the geometrical evolution of hole shape from first to
the fifth pulse. It can be clearly observed that the flow dynamics
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
discussed above dictates the hole shape, as with each pulse hole depth is
increased. It should be noted that the amount of increase in hole depth
after the first pulse is reduced from around 90 μm to 50 μm with each
pulse. This can be attributed to the backflow of melt associated with the
melt shadow, as a substantial amount of laser energy is consumed in
obliterating the shadow from the previous pulse. However, the effect of
recoil pressure is strong enough to increase the hole depth as well as
melt deposition near hole edge with subsequent pulses. The gradual
increase in melt deposition and its retraction during solidification cul-
minated in the blockage of the hole at the end of the fifth pulse.
The effect of hole blockage can be observed in the melt dynamics
during surface irradiation by the sixth pulse, depicted in Fig. 11(b).
Because of the complete shadowing of hole base, the energy absorbed at
the bottom of the hole was not sufficient enough to increase the hole
depth. At 1 ms, because of lack of recoil pressure driven upward flow at
the hole bottom, the melt redistribution does not occur, and the hole
shape is non-uniform contrary to the melt flow patterns depicted
(Figs. 7, 8 and 10) in case of previous pulses. During solidification,
molten metal flows in the downward direction under the influence of
surface tension creating a shadow over the hole base. However, its size
is comparatively less as compared to the shadow after 4th and 5th pulse
as shown in Fig. 11(a).
Following the above, in case of the seventh pulse, the melt dynamics
follows similar mechanism as in case of the 3–6 t h pulse. Tu et al.
(2016), in his experimental exploration with multiple microsecond
S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 11. a) Evolution of hole geometry from 1 st to 5th pulse. (b)Transient melt pool dynamics during the 6th pulse. Temperature field (color surface contour, unit:
K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).
pulses, has reported the similar phenomena of hole blockage and its
opening with the subsequent pulse. They also mentioned that the above
events repeat itself depending upon the condition of hole blockage.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the amount of melt deposited near
the hole edge which ultimately creates the shadow over hole base
dictates the melt flow dynamics for the subsequent pulse.
In case of the 8th pulse, Fig. 12, at t = 0.5 ms, similar to the drilling
dynamics in previous pulses two distinct melt zones can be observed.
However, due to increase in hole depth, melt layer at the two melt
zones will have to travel greater lengths before coalescing with each
other. Thus, in this case instead of redistribution of melt, the melt zone
at the bottom of the hole under the influence of recoil pressure un-
dergoes keyhole digging phase while the melt layer at the hole entrance
is retracting downwards towards the bottom of the hole, the hole depth
increases to 400 μm. At t = 0.95 ms, the melt layer at the bottom could
only climb up to 150 μm, and the two melt layer coalesces at this in-
stant.
Fig. 12, describes the melt flow pattern after the coalescence of the
two melt zones, at 1 ms, the local surface temperature of the meeting
junction increases to 3375 K due to which strong recoil pressure acts on
the junction surface resulting in tiny perturbations which is evident
from the flow patterns depicted at 1.03 ms. This can be attributed to the
interaction of opposite melt currents. In addition, the hydrodynamic
Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities can also perturb the melt layer. After
1.15 ms the downward flow towards the hole entrance becomes sig-
nificantly large which creates the melt shadow as the melt layer soli-
difies.
3.5. Melt re-closure during solidification
In case of the 9th pulse, Fig. 13(a), the temperature distribution is
nonuniform. From 0.1 ms -0.5 ms, at the hole bottom, an insubstantial
amount of melt layer experiences vaporization because of shadowing
effects. Therefore, the melt redistribution is entirely governed by the
downward motion of melt from the hole entrance towards its bottom.
Fig. 13(b), shows transient melt pool dynamics during 0.1 ms to
1.35 ms, the melt layer from the hole entrance reaches the bottom
surface re-distributing the melt, resulting in uniform hole profile. It is
interesting to note that within the span of 0.95–1 ms melt flow patterns
depicts volatile changes. Fig. 13(c) demonstrate that after redistribution
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
of melt, at 0.98 ms, the temperature near the hole bottom reaches up to
3450 K, resulting in an intense recoil pressure. As the melt pool ex-
perience the effect of recoil pressure, downward melt flow pattern of
109 mm/s, change into upward flow pattern having velocity as high as
458 mm/s. Further, with the progression of melt flow and increased
evaporative cooling, the temperature at the bottom dips below 3300 K
at 1 ms. However, due to the residual effect of high recoil pressure, the
upward melt flow along the hole wall still persists. From
1.03 ms–1.13 ms, with the onset of cooling, recoil pressure starts to
cease, and the downward flow of molten metal near the hole entrance
occurs under the effect of surface tension and gravity. The converging
of the opposite flow currents forms a protuberance in the hole wall
leading to melt closure resulting in hole blockage 150 μm below the top
surface.
In case of the 10th pulse, Fig. 14, as the incoming laser beam in-
teracts with the hole blockage, vaporization occurs. After 0.42 ms of
laser irradiation, the molten bridge at the hole blockage starts to flow
downward under the influence of recoil pressure, and melt redistribu-
tion occurs. For t = 0.6–1 ms, complex flow pattern transitions can be
observed. Fig. 14(b), depicts the hole wall surface temperature, due to
the presence of evaporative cooling and heat transfer due to melt pool
convection several maxima and minima can be observed at different
time steps. From 0.7-0.82 ms, the surface temperature near hole bottom
increases to 3500 K resulting in strong upward flow induced by high
recoil pressure, which lasts up to 0.9 ms. After that, owing to decrease
in surface temperature, the normal stress due to surface tension over-
comes the recoil pressure and downward melt flow along the hole wall
can be observed. These oscillations in melt flow continue up to 1 ms. In
order to understand the above incongruity in melt flow, it should be
noted that melt layer when moves under the influence of recoil pressure
experience a drag force due to surface tension by virtue of surface
curvature (see Eq. (11)). Further, to drive the melt upward, the recoil
pressure should be sufficiently high enough to overcome drag force by
surface tension (Hirano et al., 2011; Pang et al., 2015b; Zang et al.,
2014). Thus the adverse effects of surface tension and recoil pressure
along with the variation in hole wall temperature results in oscillating
flow patterns.
At 1 ms, a melt protuberance can be observed near the edge of melt
layer. After the laser pulse is off, surface temperature drops and the
protrusion starts to collapse under the influence of surface tension. The
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

Fig. 12. Transient melt pool dynamics during the 8th pulse. Temperature field (color surface contour, unit: K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).

melt collapse again leads to melt closure. As the thin melt layer soli- case of 0.1 ms pulse width (Fig. 17(a, b)), it can be observed that 20 and
difies quickly, the melt closure is trapped culminating in a hole 40 pulses (at 10 Hz) were required to attain a depth of 155 μm and
blockage. 252 μm respectively. This can be attributed to the fact that in modu-
lated laser beam the energy supplied to each pulse is same irrespective
of pulse width, thus for shorter pulse width more number of pulses are
3.6. Experimental validation
required. Secondly, both the cases exhibit melt re-closure induced
blockage near hole bottom. Further in case of 1 ms and 2 ms pulse width
Fig. 15, demonstrates the comparison of experimentally obtained
(Fig. 17(c–f)), with an increase in a number of pulses, the penetration
hole depths with numerical results for 200 W laser power and 1 ms
depth increases albeit with the presence of multiple hole blockages. The
pulse width, for a different number of pulses. For the sake of compar-
efficiency of melt expulsion is directly related to the absorbed laser
ison, in Fig. 16, hole profiles generated after simulation with same
intensity, which might lead to the interpretation that if the laser power
parameters have been attached adjacent to the micrographs. The hole
is sufficiently increased, the deleterious effects of melt hydrodynamics
profile along with defects such as melt shadow (Fig. 16(b) & (c)) and
can be alleviated. However, previous experimental reports suggest
single hole blockage (Fig. 16(d)) obtained during experiments and si-
otherwise, as Wang et al. (2017) reported the presence of hole blockage
mulation have been illustrated. Fig.16(e), depicts the case of multiple
in single pulse drilling at 3.6 kW laser power with an increase in hole
hole blockage (200 w, 1 ms, 15th pulse) since the stopping criterion of
depth. Further, Alavi and Harimkar (2016) reported the presence of
the developed model is intersecting mesh elements, the formation of 1st
hole blockage during CW laser drilling (950 W) even with the assistance
blockage is captured along with the nucleation site of the second
of ultrasonic vibrations. Moreover, in case of short pulse high repetition
blockage. The predicted hole shape and sizes are in close agreement
rate laser drilling, the occurrence of hole blockage have been reported
with experimental results.
(Tu et al., 2016, 2014).
In addition to the above results, micrographs of the hole drilled with
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the
different pulse width and number of pulses are presented in Fig. 17. In

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Fig. 13. a) & (b) Spatial temperature profile along the hole wall (0.1–1 ms) (Z’ = 0; hole bottom, Z’ = 0.15; hole entrance) (c) Transient melt pool dynamics during
the 9th pulse, Temperature field (color surface contour, unit: K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).

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S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 14. Transient melt pool dynamics during the 10th pulse. Temperature field (color surface contour, unit: K), Velocity field (colored arrow plots, unit: mm/s).
genesis of hole blockage in laser drilling largely depends on the hole
aspect ratio, as for every specific set of process parameters there will be
a limit to penetration depth and efficiency of melt expulsion (Semak
and Matsunawa, 1976).As depicted in the melt flow patterns for 9th
(Fig. 13) and 10th (Fig. 14) pulses, with an increase in hole depth, drag
force due to surface tension restricts the recoil pressure driven upward
melt flow resulting in oscillatory flow pattern and formation of pro-
tuberances which finally leads to hole blockage. Additionally, the
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
various regimes observed during in-situ monitoring of laser drilling
(Chen et al., 2013) agrees well with the flow patterns predicted in the
simulation results. The reasonable conformity between simulation and
experimental data perpetuates the reliability of the present model in
predicting geometrical defects associated with pulsed laser micro dril-
ling in the melt expulsion regime.
S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 15. Comparison between simulated hole profile and micrographs of ex-
perimental laser drilled profiles (P = 200 w, pulse width = 1 ms).
3.7. Melt hydrodynamics induced geometrical defects
The results above demonstrated different regimes in laser drilling
process, wherein mechanisms associated with the formation of the re-
solidified layer, melt shadow and hole blockage are elucidated. Firstly,
with the irradiance of the laser beam, the substrate readily vaporizes
creating a deformed melt pool. In the case of initial pulses, recoil
pressure dominant upward flow of melt prevails creating a nearly
gaussian shape hole. The upward flow causes expulsion of the melt
which results in the formation of molten hump along the periphery of
hole entrance. Most of the numerical models pertaining to laser drilling
(Girardot et al., 2017; Shen et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2014) have re-
ported melt expulsion, and the hole shape predicted by these model
resembles inverted gaussian structure (Figs. 7 and 8, at t = 1 ms).
However, the significance of backward flow of molten metal during
solidification period was not emphasized. In this work, melt hydro-
dynamics during solidification is presented which distinctively estab-
lishes the change of hole shape after laser pulse is shut off. Further, it
has been observed that due to low penetration depth the upward flow of
melt is sustainable even after recoil pressure ceases to act. The persis-
tent upward flow restricts the backflow of melt generating the main
vortex near hole entrance (Figs. 7 and 8,1.05 ms), gradually as solidi-
fication progresses the backward flow dominates, and the main vortex
culminates into a melt shadow (Figs. 7 and 8,1.31 ms). The experi-
mental observations regarding melt shadowing effect have been well
discussed in the literature (Campbell and Tiryakioğlu, 2009; Schulz
et al., 2013; Yilbas, 1987), to the best of authors knowledge, this is the
first time the melt hydrodynamics associated with melt shadow is
presented. Further, the simulation results exhibit for the first time
various regimes of melt-redistribution and hole propagation after the
generation of melt shadow. It has been observed that the presence of
melt shadow profoundly affects the shape and size of the hole when the
subsequent laser pulse interacts with the substrate. Lastly, with an in-
crease in penetration depth the strong oscillations in melt pool due to
the presence of contradicting effects of recoil pressure and surface
tension is discussed. The melt pool oscillation results in multiple per-
turbations in the hole profile. When the laser pulse is shut off, these
perturbations in the melt pool collapse creating single or multiple hole
blockages. It is remarked that the flow mechanisms associated with
melt pool oscillations and its collapse agree well with the reported laser
welding models (Courtois et al., 2013; Pang et al., 2011; Panwisawas
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148
et al., 2018). In addition, the formation of melt closures due to excess
amount of melt in μs laser drilling was also predicted by Leitz et al.
(2012). However, unlike previous studies in laser drilling, the present
work demonstrates the periodic upward and downward flow with non-
uniform temperature distribution along the hole wall in detail, which is
useful in understanding the formation mechanism of hole blockage.
In the developed laser micro drilling model, the multiple reflections
and plume attenuation inside keyhole have not been taken into con-
sideration, given the computational impediments in establishing the
coupling of ray tracing or Maxwell wave algorithms with the con-
tinuously changing topography of ALE moving mesh.Nevertheless,
since the model encounters low penetration depth problem (laser micro
drilling depths : 400–600 μm), the effect of multiple reflections and
plume attenuation should be less prominent. Further, the prediction of
more than one hole blockages to the exact scale is problematic, as the
stopping criterion for ALE moving mesh techniques needs to be inter-
secting mesh elements (Sharma et al., 2015). It is remarked that despite
such difficulties, the presented model was able to predict nucleation site
of the second blockage (in Fig. 16(e)). In summary, the motive of the
proposed model was to demonstrate melt hydrodynamics responsible
for the genesis of geometrical defects present in laser drilling. The ap-
plicability of the developed model lies in its ability to predict such
defects having reasonable agreement with the independent experi-
mental data.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, a 2D numerical model of laser micro drilling using
millisecond pulses is developed to examine the effect of transient flow
patterns on the genesis of geometrical defects. The hole dimensions
along with geometrical defects predicted in the simulation match well
with the obtained experimental results and the literature data. From the
transient flow patterns following conclusions can be made
1 The laser drilling process is not uniform, and it can be categorized
into several regimes namely, keyhole digging phase, melt shadowing
with subsequent pulses and finally melt re-closure induced hole
blockage.
2 The melt pool dynamics during initial pulses is primarily governed
by the recoil-pressure. During heating, it is the sole dominant factor
responsible for hole expansion and expulsion of melt near the hole
edge. Further, during solidification, its residual effect on the melt
flow restricts the backflow of molten hump towards the hole center
preventing the collapse of melt pool.
3 With each pulse the deposition of melt near hole entrance increases
and the surface tension induced backflow becomes substantial
creating the melt shadow. The shadowing effect is detrimental to the
quality of hole as it changes the shape of the hole and is responsible
for the significant amount of energy absorption at the starting of the
pulse, overall decreasing the drilling efficiency.
4 At later stages, with the significant hindrance of the laser beam by
melt shadow, the efficiency of melt expulsion decreases as part of
the incident energy is used in redistribution of several melt zones
generated inside the hole.
5 With the increase in hole depth, the drag force induced by surface
tension constraints the recoil pressure due to which significant
amount of melt remains inside the drilled hole. The protuberance
created by melt hydrodynamics, collapse during solidification which
almost always forms melt re-closures creating hole blockage.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
S. Sharma et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 262 (2018) 131–148

Fig. 16. Comparison between simulated hole profile and micrographs of experimental laser drilled profiles (P = 200 w, pulse width = 1 ms) (a) 1 st pulse; (b) 2nd
pulse; (c) 5th pulse (depicting hole blockage at entrance); (d) 10th pulse (depicting hole blockage due to melt re-closure) (e) 15th pulse (depicting nucleation site of
multiple hole blockage due to melt re-closure).

146
S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 17. Experimental micrographs of hole geometry depicting hole blockage at different process parameters.
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