A Nd:YAG laser with 7-ns pulses and pulse energies up to 10 mJ is used to induce an optical breakdown in the front surface of an aluminum rod, covered by a water layer. The rod is part of a ballistic ...pendulum. In this way, we study the propulsion effects by means of coupling coefficient and energy-conversion efficiency with respect to different confining geometries, volumes of water applied to the front surface of the rod, and the distance of this surface from the laser-beam focus. Holes with different dimensions are drilled on the target surface and filled with different volumes of water to examine the influence of the confinement by the liquid (a free boundary) and a solid-surface geometry on laser ablation effects. The rod movement and the water ejection after laser ablation are acquired by a high-speed camera with 10k frames per second. The results show that the confinement by cavity substantially increases the propulsion effects by shaping the ejected flow of the liquid; while the cavitation bubble, induced inside the water layer, plays a significant role in propulsion efficiency. From the presented results, it follows that the laser-propelled rod carries below 0.5% of the total mechanical energy after propulsion, while the rest of this energy represents the kinetic energy of the ablated water. As expected, moving the target surface away from the focal position decreases the ablative-propulsion efficiency. When the focus is moved inside the solid target, the decrease occurs due to lower conversion of the pulse energy into the energy of the cavitation bubble. If the focus is moved from the surface outward, the bubble moves towards the liquid–gas interface and it is not able to efficiently eject all the liquid from the target.
A method for simultaneous laser profilometer and hand-eye calibration in relation to an industrial robot as well as its implementation is presented. In contrast to other methods, the new calibration ...procedure requires the measurement of only one reference geometry to calculate all the transformation parameters. The reference geometry is measured with a laser profilometer from 15 different poses. The intrinsic parameters of the profilometer, as well as the extrinsic (hand-eye) parameters, are then numerically optimized to achieve the minimum deviation between the reference and the measured geometry. The method was characterized with experiments that revealed a standard deviation of the displacements between the reference geometry after the calibration of less than 0.105 mm in the case of using the robot-arm actuator and 0.046 mm in case of using a 5-axis CNC milling machine. The entire procedure, including measurement and calculation, can be completely automated and lasts less than 10 min. This opens up possibilities for regular on-site recalibration of the entire system.
Cavitation bubbles are used in medicine as a mechanism to generate shock waves. The study of cavitation bubble dynamics plays a crucial role in understanding and utilizing such phenomena for ...practical applications and purposes. Since the lifetime of cavitation bubbles is in the range of hundreds of microseconds and the radii are in the millimeter range, the observation of bubble dynamics requires complicated and expensive equipment. High-speed cameras or other optical techniques require transparent containers or at least a transparent optical window to access the region. Fiber optic probe tips are commonly used to monitor water pressure, density, and temperature, but no study has used a fiber tip sensor in an interferometric setup to measure cavitation bubble dynamics. We present how a fiber tip sensor system, originally intended as a hydrophone, can be used to track the expansion and contraction of cavitation bubbles. The measurement is based on interference between light reflected from the fiber tip surface and light reflected from the cavitation bubble itself. We used a continuous-wave laser to generate cavitation bubbles and a high-speed camera to validate our measurements. The shock wave resulting from the collapse of a bubble can also be measured with a delay in the order of 1 µs since the probe tip can be placed less than 1 mm away from the origin of the cavitation bubble. By combining the information on the bubble expansion velocity and the time of bubble collapse, the lifetime of a bubble can be estimated. The bubble expansion velocity is measured with a spatial resolution of 488 nm, half the wavelength of the measuring laser. Our results demonstrate an alternative method for monitoring bubble dynamics without the need for expensive equipment. The method is flexible and can be adapted to different environmental conditions, opening up new perspectives in many application areas.
When attempting to clean surfaces of dental root canals with laser-induced cavitation bubbles, the resulting cavitation oscillations are significantly prolonged due to friction on the cavity walls ...and other factors. Consequently, the collapses are less intense and the shock waves that are usually emitted following a bubble’s collapse are diminished or not present at all. A new technique of synchronized laser-pulse delivery intended to enhance the emission of shock waves from collapsed bubbles in fluid-filled endodontic canals is reported. A laser beam deflection probe, a high-speed camera, and shadow photography were used to characterize the induced photoacoustic phenomena during synchronized delivery of Er:YAG laser pulses in a confined volume of water. A shock wave enhancing technique was employed which consists of delivering a second laser pulse at a delay with regard to the first cavitation bubble-forming laser pulse. Influence of the delay between the first and second laser pulses on the generation of pressure and shock waves during the first bubble’s collapse was measured for different laser pulse energies and cavity volumes. Results show that the optimal delay between the two laser pulses is strongly correlated with the cavitation bubble’s oscillation period. Under optimal synchronization conditions, the growth of the second cavitation bubble was observed to accelerate the collapse of the first cavitation bubble, leading to a violent collapse, during which shock waves are emitted. Additionally, shock waves created by the accelerated collapse of the primary cavitation bubble and as well of the accompanying smaller secondary bubbles near the cavity walls were observed. The reported phenomena may have applications in improved laser cleaning of surfaces during laser-assisted dental root canal treatments.
The increase in complex workpieces with changing geometries demands advanced control algorithms in order to achieve stable welding regimes. Usually, many experiments are required to identify and ...confirm the correct welding parameters. We present a method for controlling laser power in a remote laser welding system with a convolutional neural network (CNN) via a PID controller, based on optical triangulation feedback. AISI 304 metal sheets with a cumulative thickness of 1.5 mm were used. A total accuracy of 94% was achieved for CNN models on the test datasets. The rise time of the controller to achieve full penetration was less than 1.0 s from the start of welding. The Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) method was used to further understand the decision making of the model. It was determined that the CNN focuses mainly on the area of the interaction zone and can act accordingly if this interaction zone changes in size. Based on additional testing, we proposed improvements to increase overall controller performance and response time by implementing a feed-forward approach at the beginning of welding.
•Soft boundary deformation has a major effect on cavitation inception.•The softer the boundary, the less effective the cavitation.•Geometrically guided photoacoustic energy enables generation of ...secondary cavitation.•Secondary cavitation can be induced in distant difficult to reach spaces.
In periodontology and implantology, laser-induced cavitation has not yet been used to treat biofilm-related problems. In this study we have checked how soft tissue affects the evolution of cavitation in a wedge model representing periodontal and peri-implant pocket geometry. One side of the wedge model was composed of PDMS mimicking soft periodontal or peri-implant biological tissue, the other side was composed of glass mimicking hard tooth root or implant surface, which allowed observations of the cavitation dynamics with an ultrafast camera. Different laser pulse modalities, PDMS stiffness, and irrigants were tested for their effect on the evolution of cavitation in the narrow wedge geometry. The PDMS stiffness varied in a range that corresponds to severely inflamed, moderately inflamed, or healthy gingival tissue as determined by a panel of dentists. The results imply that deformation of the soft boundary has a major effect on the Er:YAG laser-induced cavitation. The softer the boundary, the less effective the cavitation. We show that in a stiffer gingival tissues model, photoacoustic energy can be guided and focused at the tip of the wedge model, where it enables generation of secondary cavitation and more effective microstreaming. The secondary cavitation was absent in severely inflamed gingival model tissue, but could be induced with a dual-pulse AutoSWEEPS laser modality. This should in principle increase cleaning efficiency in the narrow geometries such as those found in the periodontal and peri-implant pockets and may lead to more predictable treatment outcomes.
It has been recently demonstrated that laser micromachining of magnetoactive elastomers is a very convenient method for fabricating dynamic surface microstructures with magnetically tunable ...properties, such as wettability and surface reflectivity. In this study, we investigate the impact of the micromachining process on the fabricated material's structural properties and its chemical composition. By employing scanning electron microscopy, we investigate changes in size distribution and spatial arrangement of carbonyl iron microparticles dispersed in the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix as a function of laser irradiation. Based on the images obtained by a low vacuum secondary electron detector, we analyze modifications of the surface topography. The results show that most profound modifications occur during the low-exposure (8 J/cm
) treatment of the surface with the laser beam. Our findings provide important insights for developing theoretical models of functional properties of laser-sculptured microstructures from magnetoactive elastomers.
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