Thermal and efficiency analysis of the CO₂ laser cutting process

In the CO₂ laser gas-assisted cutting process, modeling of an interaction mechanism is important. Consequently, the present study treats the complete problem of the interaction of the melting surface with the boundary layer and describes the behavior of the melting layer. To achieve this, effects of momentum and gas-liquid interface shear stress, due to an assisting gas jet, are considered. The approximate magnitude of the heat absorbed is estimated and the thickness of the melting layer is predicted. An experiment is carried out and the theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental findings. First and second law efficiencies of the cutting process are predicted, which may, then, be used to improve the process. It is found that the assisting jet velocity increases the first and second law efficiencies of the CO₂ laser cutting process.