An Investigation Into the Effect of Co2 Laser Cutting Variables on Cutting Edge Quality of Stainless Steel 316 Sheets

Abstract

Laser beam cutting is one of the major applications of lasers in sheet metal working. In this investigation, an experimental study in CO 2 laser cutting process is presented. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the laser cutting process variables on the cutting-edge quality parameters. A sheet of stainless steel with a standard grade of 316, 2 mm thickness was chosen as a workpiece material. Several experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of four input variables: laser power (P), traverse speed (v), assist gas pressure (p) and focal plane position (F) on the three most important performance parameters, namely: upper kerf width (UKW), lower kerf width (LKW), and the average surface roughness (R a ). Minitab software was used to determine the main effects of the process variables on the performance parameters. Signal to noise ratio analysis (SN) was used to determine the optimum process variables in their operating rage. This investigation would provide a good demonstration for the most significant input variables on the cutting-edge quality parameters, which will be used for solving related industrial problems. KEYWORDSLaser beam cutting, stainless steel 316, Average surface roughness, Upper kerf width, Lower kerf width.---Fig. 3. Plot of the effect of the different parameters on the surface roughness R a , (The mean value = 0.802, Standard Deviation = 0.354). 132 PT