Ultrasound-assisted water-confined laser micromachining: A novel machining process

A novel machining process, called ultrasound assisted water-confined laser micromachining (UWLM) and proposed by the corresponding author, is introduced. In UWLM, in situ ultrasound is delivered to the water-immersed workpiece surface region that is being ablated by a laser beam. The ultrasound in water may generate one or more effects among the cleaning, cooling enhancement, and peening effects. The effect(s) have a great potential to reduce one or more of the major defects of current laser machining processes. Some preliminary experimental results on UWLM have been given and discussed, and lots of future work on UWLM is still needed.