Effect of nozzle types on the laser cutting performance for 60-mm-thick stainless steel

•Gas flow behavior emerging from nozzles was studied by interferometric analysis.•Weak or no shockwaves were observed in supersonic nozzles.•Stainless steel plates with 60-mm-thick were cut using a 6-kW fiber laser.•The standoff distances were varied from 1 to 60 mm.•Supersonic nozzles show better m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOptics and laser technology Vol. 119; p. 105607
Main Authors Oh, Seong Y., Shin, Jae Sung, Kim, Taek Soo, Park, Hyunmin, Lee, Lim, Chung, Chin-Man, Lee, Jonghwan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2019
Elsevier BV
Subjects
Convergence
Fiber lasers
Interferometry
Laser beam cutting
Laser cutting
Lasers
Nomarski interferometer
Nozzles
Stainless steel
Stainless steels
Steel plates
Supersonic nozzle
Supersonic nozzles
Laser cutting
Nomarski interferometer
Supersonic nozzle
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Summary:•Gas flow behavior emerging from nozzles was studied by interferometric analysis.•Weak or no shockwaves were observed in supersonic nozzles.•Stainless steel plates with 60-mm-thick were cut using a 6-kW fiber laser.•The standoff distances were varied from 1 to 60 mm.•Supersonic nozzles show better melt-removal capability at longer standoff distance. The laser cutting of 60-mm-thick stainless steel using a 6-kW fiber laser was performed to investigate the effect of the geometric nozzle configuration on the operating tolerance of the stand-off distance. The stand-off distance is the distance between the nozzle tip and the top surface of the steel plate. Two types of nozzles—a subsonic nozzle with a convergent geometry and a supersonic nozzle with a convergent-divergent geometry—were used to comparatively evaluate the flow behavior through interferometric analysis. A laser cutting experiment was conducted in accordance with the interferometric analysis, focusing on the stand-off distance variation. The stand-off distance was varied from 1 to 60 mm in consideration of the melt-removal capability of the applied cutting nozzles. The throat diameters of the nozzles were 2 and 3 mm. According to the results, the supersonic nozzle has a better operating tolerance of the stand-off distance for the laser cutting of 60-mm-thick stainless steel.
ISSN:0030-3992
1879-2545
DOI:10.1016/j.optlastec.2019.105607