Laser Micro-Machining of Aluminium Alloy 8090: A Review on High Precision and Sustainable Manufacturing

The need of aluminium-lithium alloys has increasing consistently in aerospace, defence and transportation industries due to its light weight, high corrosion resistance and high strength. Aluminium Alloy 8090 grade has a suitable candidate for a structural material due to its low density, high specific stiffness, excellent fatigue resistance and superior fracture toughness. However, traditional machining of AA8090 results in excessive wear, burr formation, poor dimensional accuracy and surface defects. A well-studied non-contact high precision fabrication method such as Laser micro-machining for fabricating complex micro-features with low mechanical stresses addresses the challenges faced by the traditional machining. This review explores the laser micromachining characteristics of AA8090, effect of its parameters on machining quality and sustainability aspects associated with laser-based manufacturing. The study includes present challenges and future research directions for high precision and environmentally sustainable laser micro-machining of AA8090.