Parametric investigation of laser ablation process on SM490A, aluminum, and copper using nanosecond pulsed laser

Steel, aluminum, and copper have widespread applications in manufacturing railway structures and components, bridges, automobiles, battery systems, and electronics. Different surface treatment processes have been carried out to increase these material’s functional ability. Laser ablation is one of the laser processing technologies employed to modify the surface properties of various materials. Limited work is carried out on laser ablation of steel SM490A irradiated with a nanosecond pulsed laser. Furthermore, no study was reported on the comparative analysis between SM490A, aluminum (Al), and copper (Cu). The objective of the present study is to determine the ablation threshold and single-shot ablation of SM490A, Al, and Cu using a nanosecond pulsed laser in ambient air conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been performed to measure the ablated crater width to determine the ablation threshold of the materials. The study also investigates the effect of laser parameters on the ablation process on different surface roughness of the materials. It was observed that surfaces with higher roughness have a higher ablation threshold than those with minimum surface roughness. The study’s outcomes show the influence of laser shots on the ablation thresholds of the material. The results show that Cu has a higher threshold f luence than Al and SM490A, while SM490A has minimum threshold fluence at single-shot ablation. The study explains the laser ablation mechanism for different materials.