Experimental and numerical investigation into laser assisted aluminium foaming inside a hollow profile

In present work a numerical and experimental investigation into laser assisted foaming inside a hollow profile was conducted. The aim is to examine the feasibility of the laser foaming through laser irradiation of a steel hollow profile, which contains the aluminium foamable precursor. Experimental activity demonstrates that three process parameters have to be taken into account: interaction time, laser energy density and total amount of beam energy delivered towards the work-piece. Numerical simulations allows the qualitative evaluation of the temperature field inside the solid precursor with the purpose to better understand the process parameters modification effect onto the process.