Gas Jet–Workpiece Interactions in Laser Machining

Laser machining efficiency and quality are closely related to gas pressure, nozzle geometry, and standoff distance. Modeling studies of laser machining rarely incorporate gas effects in part because of the complex structure and turbulent nature of jet flow. In this paper, the interaction of a supersonic, turbulent axisymmetric jet with the workpiece is studied. Numerical simulations are carried out using an explicit, coupled solution algorithm with solution-based mesh adaptation. The model is able to make quantitative predictions of the pressure, mass flow rate as well as shear force at the machining front. Effect of gas pressure and nozzle standoff distance on structure of the supersonic shock pattern is studied. Experiments are carried out to study the effect of processing parameters such as gas pressure and standoff distance. The measured results are found to match and hence validate the simulations. The interaction of the oblique incident shock with the normal standoff shock is found to contribute to a large reduction in the total pressure at the machining front and when the nozzle pressure is increased beyond a certain point. The associated reduction in flow rate, fluctuations of pressure gradient and shear force at the machining front could lower the material removal capability of the gas jet and possibly result in a poorer surface finish. The laser cutting experiments show that the variation of cut quality are affected by shock structures and can be represented by the mass flow rate. [S1087-1357(00)01702-0]