THERMAL AND EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF THE CO2-LASER CUTTING PROCESS

In the CO2 laser gas-assisted cutting process, modeling of an interact ion mechanism is important. Consequently, the present study treats the complete problem of the interaction of the melting surface with the b oundary layer and describes the behavior of the melting layer. To achi eve this, effects of momentum and gas-liquid interface shear stress, d ue to an assisting gas jet, are considered. The approximate magnitude of the heat absorbed is estimated and the thickness of the melting lay er is predicted. An experiment is carried out and the theoretical pred ictions are compared with the experimental findings. First and second law efficiencies of the cutting process are predicted, which may, then , be used to improve the process. It is found that the assisting jet v elocity increases the first and second law efficiencies of the CO2 las er cutting process. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.