Investigating the CO2 laser cutting parameters of MDF wood composite material

Laser cutting of medium density fibreboard (MDF) is a complicated process and the selection of the process parameters combinations is essential to get the highest quality of the cut section. This paper presents laser cutting of MDF based on design of experiments (DOE). CO2 laser was used to cut three thicknesses 4, 6 and 9 mm of MDF panels. The process factors investigated are: laser power, cutting speed, air pressure and focal point position. In this work, cutting quality was evaluated by measuring, upper kerf width, lower kerf width, ratio between the upper kerf width to the lower kerf width, cut section roughness and the operating cost. The effect of each factor on the quality measures was determined and special graphs were drawn for this purpose. The optimal cutting combinations were presented in favours of high quality process output and in favours of low cutting cost

Effect of laser-welding parameters on the heat input and weld-bead profile

Laser butt-welding of medium carbon steel was investigated using CW 1.5 kW CO2 laser. The effect of laser power (1.2 - 1.43 kW), welding speed (30 - 70 cm/min) and focal point position (-2.5 - 0 mm) on the heat input and the weld-bead geometry (i.e. penetration (P), welded zone width (W) and heat affected zone width (WHAZ)) was investigated using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The experimental plan was based on Box-Behnken design. Linear and quadratic polynomial equations for predicting the heat input and the weld-bead geometry were developed. The results indicate that the proposed models predict the responses adequately within the limits of welding parameters being used. It is suggested that regression equations can be used to find optimum welding conditions for the desired criteria

Optimising the laser-welded butt-joints of medium carbon steel using RSM

The optimization capabilities in design-expert software were used to optimise the keyhole parameters (i.e. maximize penetration (P) and minimise the heat input, width of welded zone, (W) and width of heat affected zone (WHAZ)) in CW CO2 laser butt-welding of medium carbon steel. The previous developed mathematical models to predict the keyhole parameters in terms of the process factors namely; laser power (LP), welding speed (S) and focused position (F) were used to optimize the welding process. The goal was to set the process factors at optimum values to reach the desirable weld bead quality and to increase the production rate. Numerical and graphical optimization techniques were used. In fact, two optimization criteria were taken into account. In this investigation optimal solutions were found that would improve the weld quality, increase the productivity and minimize the total operation cost. In addition to that, superimposing the contours for the various response surfaces produced overlay plots

Evalaution and optimization of laser cutting parameters for plywood materials

Laser process parameters influence greatly the width of kerfs and quality of the cut edges. This article reports experiments on the laser plywood-cutting performance of a CW 1.5 kW CO2¬ Rofin laser, based on design of experiments (DOE). The laser was used to cut three thicknesses 3, 6 and 9 mm of plywood panels. The process factors investigated are: laser power, cutting speed, air pressure and focal point position. The aim of this work is to relate the cutting edge quality parameters namely: upper kerf (UK), lower kerf (LK), the ratio between upper to lower kerfs and the operating cost to the process parameters mentioned above. Mathematical models were developed to establish the relationship between the process parameters and the edge quality parameters, and special graphs were drawn for this purpose. Finally, a numerical optimization was performed to find out the optimal process setting at which both kerfs would lead to a ratio of about 1, and at which low cutting cost take place

Effect of CO2 laser cutting process parameters on edge quality and operating cost of AISI316L

Laser cutting is a popular manufacturing process utilized to cut various types of materials economically. The width of laser cut or kerf, quality of the cut edges and the operating cost are affected by laser power, cutting speed, assist gas pressure, nozzle diameter and focus point position as well as the work-piece material. In this paper CO2 laser cutting of stainless steel of medical grade AISI316L has been investigated. Design of experiment (DOE) was implemented by applying Box-Behnken design to develop the experiment lay-out. The aim of this work is to relate the cutting edge quality parameters namely: upper kerf, lower kerf, the ratio between them, cut section roughness and operating cost to the process parameters mentioned above. Then, an overall optimization routine was applied to find out the optimal cutting setting that would enhance the quality or minimize the operating cost. Mathematical models were developed to determine the relationship between the process parameters and the edge quality features. Also, process parameters effects on the quality features have been defined. Finally, the optimal laser cutting conditions have been found at which the highest quality or minimum cost can be achieved

Prediction and optimization of residual stresses, weld-bead profile and mechanical properties of laser welded components

Recently, laser welding has become a leading industrial joining process. Mainly because it has become highly automated using sophisticated robotic systems. However, to make effective use of automated laser welding it is essential to have a high degree of confidence in predicting the welding outcome. To achieve a desired weld quality, the weldments are normally examined and related to the weld input parameters. This input-output relationship can be in the form of mathematical models that can be programmed and fed to the robotic control system. This work aims to introduce experimentally based mathematical models developed by applying Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using Design-Expert software V7 to relate the residual stress distribution, weld bead parameters, mechanical properties and operating cost to the laser welding input parameters, namely: laser power, welding speed and focal point position. Also, the desirability approach was used in conjunction with RSM to find out the optimal combination of the welding parameters to achieve the required weld quality. In addition to this, microstructural investigation of the welded joints was carried out to study the effect of varying the welding conditions on the microstructure of the Weld zone (WZ) and Heat affected zone (HAZ). Common materials were investigated in this work (i.e.AISI1016, AISI1045 and AISI304) with different thicknesses and joint configurations using a 1.5 kW CW C02 Rofin laser as a welding source and two focusing lenses with focal lengths of 127 and 190 mm. Many models were developed to predict the responses of interest for similar and dissimilar welding. Also, the main effects and the interaction effects of the process parameters on the responses were discussed and presented graphically for all materials and joint configurations. Moreover, by using the developed models the welding process was optimized by determining the optimal combination of the process input parameters at which the desired weld quality can be achieved for each material. Finally, the size and orientation of the solidified structures were related to the welding conditions. It was observed that when the heat input increases the weldbead geometry and the microstructures become bigger and coarser respectively

Multi-response optimization of CO2 laser welding process of austenitic stainless steel

Recently, laser welding of austenitic stainless steel has received great attention in industry, due to its wide spread application in petroleum refinement stations, power plant, pharmaceutical industry and households. Therefore, mechanical properties should be controlled to obtain good welded joints. The welding process should be optimized by the proper mathematical models. In this research, the tensile strength and impact strength along with the joint operating cost of laser welded butt joints made of AISI304 was investigated. Design-expert software was used to establish the design matrix and to analyze the experimental data. The relationships between the laser welding parameters (laser power, welding speed and focal point position) and the three responses (tensile strength, impact strength and joint operating cost) were established. Also, the optimization capabilities in design-expert software were used to optimise the welding process. The developed mathematical models were tested for adequacy using analysis of variance and other adequacy measures. In this investigation the optimal welding conditions were identified in order to increase the productivity and minimize the total operating cost. Overlay graphs were plotted by superimposing the contours for the various response surfaces. The process parameters effect was determined and the optimal welding combinations were tabulated

Using Taguchi method to optimize welding pool of dissimilar laser welded components

In the present work CO2 continuous laser welding process was successfully applied and optimized for joining a dissimilar AISI 316 stainless steel and AISI 1009 low carbon steel plates. Laser power, welding speed, and defocusing distance combinations were carefully selected with the objective of producing welded joint with complete penetration, minimum fusion zone size and acceptable welding profile. Fusion zone area and shape of dissimilar austenitic stainless steel with ferritic low carbon steel were evaluated as a function of the selected laser welding parameters. Taguchi approach was used as statistical design of experiment (DOE) technique for optimizing the selected welding parameters in terms of minimizing the fusion zone. Mathematical models were developed to describe the influence of the selected parameters on the fusion zone area and shape, to predict its value within the limits of the variables being studied. The result indicates that the developed models can predict the responses satisfactorily

Effect of process parameters and optimization of CO2 laser cutting of ultra high performance polyethylene

The aim of this work is to relate the cutting edge quality parameters (responses) namely: upper kerf, lower kerf, ratio of the upper kerf to lower kerf and cut edge roughness to the process parameters considered in this research and to find out the optimal cutting conditions. The process factors implemented in this research are: laser power, cutting speed and focal point position. Design of experiment (DoE) was used by implementing Box-Behnken design to achieve better cut qualities within existing resources. Mathematical models were developed to establish the relationship between the process parameters and the edge quality parameters. Also, the effects of process parameters on each response were determine. Then, a numerical optimization was performed to find out the optimal process setting at which the quality features are at their desired values. The effect of each factor on the responses was established and the optimal cutting conditions were found

Optimization of different welding processes using statistical and numerical approaches – A reference guide

Welding input parameters play a very significant role in determining the quality of a weld joint. The joint quality can be defined in terms of properties such as weld-bead geometry, mechanical properties, and distortion. Generally, all welding processes are used with the aim of obtaining a welded joint with the desired weld-bead parameters, excellent mechanical properties with minimum distortion. Nowadays, application of design of experiment (DoE), evolutionary algorithms and computational network are widely used to develop a mathematical relationship between the welding process input parameters and the output variables of the weld joint in order to determine the welding input parameters that lead to the desired weld quality. A comprehensive literature review of the application of these methods in the area of welding has been introduced herein. This review was classified according to the output features of the weld, i.e. bead geometry and mechanical properties of the welds