A study into CO₂ laser cutting process

To improve the laser cutting process, the modeling of the heating mechanism is essential. In the present study a mathematical modeling of CO₂ laser cutting process is introduced and numerical solution of the heat transfer equation is obtained. The melting front velocities at different laser output power and workpiece thicknesses are predicted. The temporal development of the melting front profile is computed. The study is extended to include the experimental study of the transient behavior of the vapor ejected from the kerf in the initial stage of the cutting process. To achieve this two methods namely He-Ne laser transmittance and fiber-optic methods are introduced. It is found that the melting front velocity is high in the early stage of the cutting process which agrees with the experimental findings.