Numerical study and experimental comparison of laser cutting of 1.2MM thick austenitic stainless-steel using CW Nd: YAG laser

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Authors
Atayo, Asonganyi
Bashir, Mahmood Al
Advisors
Nair, Rajeev
Rahman, Muhammad M.
Issue Date
2020-05-01
Type
Abstract
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Research Projects
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Citation
Atayo, A., Bashir, M. 2020. Numerical study and experimental comparison of laser cutting of 1.2MM thick austenitic stainless-steel using CW Nd:YAG laser -- In Proceedings: 16th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p.7
Abstract

Stainless steel-304 is the most common steel used for corrosion resistance applications, but higher melting point is a limitation in industrial manufacturing. The non-conventional and subtractive manufacturing technique of laser cutting- a beam directed method, is suitable for these applications. The gaussian laser beam is directed at the material that melts, burns, vaporizes, or blows away by a jet of gas leaving an edge with a good surface finish. In this work, numerical study was performed to study insights into the multi-physical fluid process of laser cutting. To study this, 1.2 mm thick austenitic stainless-steel was cut using a continuous width neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (CW Nd: YAG) laser and the process was verified with the already published experimental results. The simulation was carried out with TruVOF, FLOW-3D as it has the capabilities for simulating advanced algorithm for free-surface fluid tracking. To evaluate the optimum condition for kerf width, smooth surface cut, roughness, and heat affected zones within limited time, the input parameters: laser power (660-1980 watts), cutting speed (2 - 8 m/min), oxygen gas pressure (9 - 11 bars) and focal distance (-1m - 1.0m) were varied and analyzed using a full 3D model. The simulation results showed smoother surface cut, little dross formation, lower temperature rise on heat affected zones, and less finished time at cutting speed 8m/min, higher laser power above 1000, gas pressure of 11 bars, and focus distance of -1.0 m. It was noticed that increase in laser power at a faster cutting speed led to an increase in kerf width, reduction in dross formation, lower temperature rises on heat affected zones and a reduced finish time. The simulation led to a good agreement with experimental results within a 15% percentage error.

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Description
Presented to the 16th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held online, Wichita State University, May 1, 2020.
Research completed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Publisher
Wichita State University
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Series
GRASP
v. 16
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