An Experimental Analysis and Optimisation of the CO2 Laser Cutting Process for Metallic Coated Sheet Steels

An experimental investigation is presented which analyses the CO2 laser cutting process for difficult-to-cut metallic coated sheet steels, which are called GALVABOND. It shows that by proper control of the cutting parameters, good quality cuts are possible at high cutting rates. Plausible trends of the energy efficiency (percentage of energy used in cutting) with respect to the various process parameters are analysed. Visual examination indicates that when increasing the cutting rate to up to 5000 mm min⁻¹ , kerfs of better quality than those produced using the parameters suggested in an early study can be achieved. Some kerf characteristics such as the width, heat affected zone and dross, in terms of the process parameters are also discussed. A statistical analysis has arrived at the relationships between the cutting speed, laser power and workpiece thickness, from which a recommendation is made for the selection of optimum cutting parameters for processing GALVABOND material.