Experimental Investigation on Laser Cutting of Aluminium Alloy BS 1100 Sheet using CO2 Laser

Abstract

Laser cutting has been considered as a one stop solution for the industrialists for cutting sheet metals of any material and thickness. There were certain materials categorized as difficult-to-laser-cut materials which were found difficult to cut using laser beam. materials were difficult to cut because of their high reflectivity of laser beam and conductivity. These type of materials were cut using pulsed Nd:YAG laser source so far and this project work intended to do the cutting operation using continuous wave CO2 laser. The laser cutting operation on aluminium alloy using CO2 laser was carried out by considering the process parameter laser power, cutting speed, nozzle standoff distance and assist gas pressure. A model was to be developed using multiple regression analysis technique relating the input process parameters and output quality characteristic based upon the data obtained. This developed model was then validated with actual data of the output quality characteristic. The measured parameters were then optimized using grey relational analysis technique to obtain the optimal cut quality using existing equipment and cutting conditions. The optimized results were validated by performing a confirmation experiment.