Laser hole drilling quality and efficiency assessment

In laser hole drilling, the end-product quality, the efficiency of the process and the cost of operation are important. In the present study, the laser drilling process is xamined by means of statistical analysis. The significance levels of the parameters affecting the hole feature are tested using an F-test. The thermal efficiency of the drilling process is presented. Tantalum is selected as the workpiece material, while four levels of ambient gas pressure (subatmospheric), laser output energy, focus setting of the focusing lens and workpiece thickness are selected as affecting parameters. The drilling experiment is conducted according to the levels of the parameters selected. It is found that all the parameters influence the hole feature and the hole geometry improves for certain combinations of the affecting parameters, provided that overall hole quality is sensitive to the levels of ambient gas pressure and workpiece thickness.