Cutting of thick steel with fiber-delivered high-power Nd:YAG laser beam

Takehiro Watanabe; Hiroyuki Kobayashi; Keiji Suzuki; Seiji Beppu

doi:10.1117/12.377074

7 February 2000 Cutting of thick steel with fiber-delivered high-power Nd:YAG laser beam

Takehiro Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Keiji Suzuki, Seiji Beppu

Proceedings Volume 3888, High-Power Lasers in Manufacturing; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.377074
Event: Advanced High-Power Lasers and Applications, 1999, Osaka, Japan

Abstract

One large advantage of Nd:YAG laser beam is easy beam-delivery with an optical fiber. By using this advantage, application area of Nd:YAG laser beam spreads widely. One area is the outside of workshops, for example, a construction spot where people cannot approach, a disaster spot and an operation under water. Therefore, the goal of this study is development of cutting technology of thick steel with fiber-delivered high power Nd:YAG laser beam of 3.8 kW or more in output power. Used materials were mild steel (SS400) and stainless steel (SUS304) of 50 mm in thickness. Oxygen gas, nitrogen gas and dry air were used as an assist gas. Obtained results were summarized as follows. (1) When oxygen gas was used as the assist gas, the kerf width at lower part of the plate was wider than one at higher part because of self-burning. However, the kerf width was almost uniform at both of the upper and the lower parts of the plate in case of dry air assist. (2) The kerf width decreased rapidly with increasing the cutting speed. (3) Maximum cutting speed decreased with increasing the plate thickness and the speed in case of using oxygen gas assist was higher than one using dry air or nitrogen gas assist. (4) When oxygen gas was used as assist gas, the maximum cutting speeds in mild steel and stainless steel of 50 mm thick plate were 200 mm/min and 50 mm/min respectively. We are now trying to cut thicker plate with higher output power of Nd:YAG laser beam.

Citation Download Citation

Takehiro Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Keiji Suzuki, and Seiji Beppu "Cutting of thick steel with fiber-delivered high-power Nd:YAG laser beam", Proc. SPIE 3888, High-Power Lasers in Manufacturing, (7 February 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.377074

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