Scientists have increased the strength of materials using laser “healing”

MOSCOW, June 4. A new laser processing method developed by scientists from MISIS University together with colleagues from China will allow the strength of materials for the aerospace, nuclear and medical industries to be more than doubled. The results were published in the journal Nanomaterials.
Russia and China are actively cooperating in the field of creating new materials and surface treatment methods. The method proposed by scientists is based on the physical mechanism of laser thermomechanical “healing” of nanopores and nanocracks, said employees of the MISIS University of Science and Technology.

As a result of exposure to short laser pulses with a duration of about 20 nanoseconds and an energy of 15–20 millijoules, a high-temperature gas-flame cloud is formed, which affects the surface layers of the sample. The material heats up and becomes plastic. At the same time, a shock wave appears in the area of ​​laser action, which causes the heated material to move into the pore volume and its subsequent “healing”.

The main advantage of the new method is its selectivity, since it allows one to act only on defective areas without affecting the “healthy” part of the material, the authors noted. The method simultaneously increases the hardness and viscosity of the material, it becomes not only more durable, but also less brittle, said Ivan Safronov, associate professor of the Department of Physics at MISIS University.
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"Research has shown that after laser processing the microhardness of the material increases, however, it does not crack under load. The surface treated in this way is in thermodynamic equilibrium, that is, it can exist for a very long time,” he explained.

New the approach is relevant for the aerospace industry, the nuclear industry and medical physics, as it allows the creation of stronger and more reliable materials that are resistant to various types of external influences.

China currently occupies a leading position in the field of high-tech technologies, so the new development, according to the creators, will play an important role in the modern high-tech production of friendly countries.
«It should be noted that in the field of advanced and promising areas of research and development today joint Russian-Chinese teams of scientists are emerging and working effectively,” said Safronov.

The study was carried out by members of the Department of Physics at the MISIS University of Science and Technology together with colleagues from the China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), the School of Energy and Mining (Xuzhou), and the School of Mechanics and civil engineering (Beijing).