Workpiece surface laser regulation in laser-induced plasma electrolyte jet machining: Position, shape, and energy

•High-energy coupling of laser-induced plasma electrolyte jet machining is realized.•The effect of laser beam refraction on machining is explored.•Compensation model for laser beam refraction is proposed. Laser-induced plasma electrolyte jet machining is a new hybrid machining method. This machining method utilizes the plasma impact effect and plasma to increase the inter-pole conductivity for material removal, with low laser energy loss, high material removal rate (MRR), and good surface quality. The advantages of laser machining and electrolyte jet machining are fully utilized. However, it is difficult to avoid refraction of the laser in the electrolyte column, which affects the efficient coupling of the laser to the electrolyte jet machining. In this paper, to improve the localization and MRR, a study is carried out to address the problem of energy utilization efficiency in laser-induced plasma electrolyte jet machining. A compensation model for the refraction of the laser beam in the electrolyte is proposed. Compensation improves the shape and positional accuracy of the laser beam coupled to the electrolyte beam during aluminum alloy machining. Compared before and after compensation, the MRR was improved by 30.2 %, and the groove localization was improved by 37.4 %. Realization of high energy coupling for laser electrolyte jet hybrid machining. [Display omitted]