Investigation on the melt ejection and burr formation during laser fusion cutting of stainless steel

Abstract

When the melt is ejected from the cut kerf by an assist gas during laser fusion cutting, a fraction of it may adhere to the lower cut edge and form a burr. Adjusting the process parameters to minimize burr formation is a challenging task that becomes more and more difficult as sheet thickness increases. The burr length has significant relevance when the quality of a cut is evaluated, but the underlying mechanisms that control its formation are still not fully understood. In this paper, new results of an experimental investigation focused on identifying characteristic melt ejection regimes are presented. The experiments were conducted on 6 mm thick stainless steel sheets using a disk laser at a power of up to 10 kW. The melt flow exiting the kerf channel and the temporal formation of burr were analyzed using two high-speed cameras. The dependency of melt ejection regimes from process parameters as well as their influence on burr formation is discussed. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that melt ejection forming a compact and stable threefold outflow is a characteristic property of a burrfree cut.

Understanding the Changed Mechanisms of Laser Beam Fusion Cutting by Applying Beam Oscillation, Based on Thermographic Analysis

“…Therefore, a high number of cross-sections per cut have to be performed to gain reliable results. Observing the melt flow is common to draw conclusions about the cutting result [21,22,[26][27][28][29][30][31]. Due to the limited accessibility of the process zone, artificial conditions have been created for process observation [21,27,28] or complex experimental setups have been designed [21,22,[27][28][29][30], which are not suitable as standard evaluation.…”

“…Observing the melt flow is common to draw conclusions about the cutting result [21,22,[26][27][28][29][30][31]. Due to the limited accessibility of the process zone, artificial conditions have been created for process observation [21,27,28] or complex experimental setups have been designed [21,22,[27][28][29][30], which are not suitable as standard evaluation. Nevertheless, the investigations found that melt flow generates striations [21,27] and influences burr attachment [29].…”

“…Due to the limited accessibility of the process zone, artificial conditions have been created for process observation [21,27,28] or complex experimental setups have been designed [21,22,[27][28][29][30], which are not suitable as standard evaluation. Nevertheless, the investigations found that melt flow generates striations [21,27] and influences burr attachment [29]. In addition, the melt flow contains information about the resulting intensity respectively temperature distribution of the process zone [30,32,33].…”

Laser Cutting Technologies and Corresponding Pollution Control Strategy

“…Adjusting the process parameters to minimize burr formation is a challenging task that becomes more and more difficult as sheet thickness increases. Stoyanov et al [75] studied the dynamics of the melt during its ejection from the kerf. A melt ejection forming a compact and stable threefold outflow is a characteristic property of a burr-free cut.…”

Comparativo entre un Modelo Real vs un Modelo Digital del Proceso de Corte de Láminas de Acero Frío

“…Se realiza la siguiente revisión bibliográfica, en donde se destacarán algunos autores acompañados de sus ideas. Dentro de los artículos revisados y relacionados al proceso productivo de corte convencional o láminas de acero, se pudo evidenciar que dentro de los procesos de simulación se implementan distintas técnicas de modelamiento que incluyen herramientas de programación que ayudaran a los gerentes a tomar decisiones que les permitan ser competitivos [7,8,9,10]. Con el modelado dinámico, según [11], se pueden probar cambios antes de realizarlos, como, por ejemplo, justificar la contratación de un mayor número de personal obrero, comprar máquinas, entre otros.…”