Experimental investigation and intelligent optimization of machining parameters in co2 laser cutting on ferrous and non ferrous alloys

Abstract

Metal cutting is one of the key techniques in manufacturing industrial products. The non-traditional machining process compensates the nonfeasibility of traditional machining in processing various advanced engineering materials. Among the non-traditional machining processes, technological advancement, increased operational efficiency and the economic advantages, drive laser cutting to dominate the metal cutting industries. Lasers are commonly used to cut complex shapes, on different types of materials with good accuracy. The major trend in laser beam cutting industry is to produce the end product with good cutting quality, which involves surface roughness, kerf, hardness and metallurgical characteristics. Among these distinct performance measures, kerf and surface roughness are the important characteristics, which define the dimensional accuracy of the component. Hence, it is necessary to keep the kerf characteristics and the surface quality of the finished component promisingly, nearer to the design specifications. These trends lead to the development of various measures in which the determination of optimal laser machining parameters to achieve higher productivity, with superior quality is much needed. The availability of literature resources in these areas of research reveals that minimal research has been carried out to optimize the parameters to achieve good quality during CO2 laser cutting of ferrous and non-ferrous materials with different thicknesses and profiles. The quality characteristics of the cut predominantly depend upon the combination of laser processing parameters. Hence, the manufacturers continuously work on controlling these process variables to improve the cutting quality and in practice, the operator has to relate the laser system, control system and the material to set the appropriate parameters. The selection of laser parameters involves the trial and error method by conducting several experiments. Hence the development of mathematical models for laser cutting to achieve high quality, smaller kerf width and heat affected zone is highly demanding. newline