System and method for laser drilling of shaped cooling holes
A laser hole drilling system. The system includes a laser source that generates a laser beam along an optical axis, a cylindrical lens along the optical axis downstream of the laser source, and a spherical lens downstream of the cylindrical lens, the spherical lens offset from the optical axis to provide an anamorphic optical train to generate an asymmetric teardrop shaped energy distribution at a focal plane.
1. A laser hole drilling system, comprising:
a laser source that generates a laser beam along an optical axis (L);
a cylindrical lens along the optical axis (L) downstream of the laser source; and
a spherical lens downstream of the cylindrical lens to provide an anamorphic optical train, the spherical lens having a central axis that is offset from the optical axis (L) to generate an asymmetric teardrop shaped energy distribution at a focal plane;
wherein the spherical lens is located at an angle (A) with respect to the optical axis (L); the angle (A) is defined between a plane of the spherical lens and the optical axis L, and is less than 90°.
2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical lens provides a 1-D convergence of the laser beam.
3. The system as recited in claim 2 , wherein the cylindrical lens focuses the laser beam into a line.
4. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the spherical lens introduces a distortion in the line.
5. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the spherical lens de-magnifies the line.