Laser Cutting of Al 6061-T6 Aluminium Alloy Sheet: Effect of Cutting Condition and Sheet Thickness on the Temperature and Edge Cut Quality

摘要

The process parameters have a crucial role on the cutting region temperature and thereby cutting edge quality of Al 6061-T6 aluminium alloy in laser cutting. The cutting speed, laser power, sheet thickness and nozzle standoff distance were considered the main working variables and the cutting region temperature has been taken the response which in turn represent the variation of cutting conditions. The results showed that the sheet thickness significantly determine which kinds of parameters domain should be selected. The laser power is the most influential factor on the cutting region temperature and cutting edge quality; moreover, the selection of appropriate set of parameters such as power and cutting speed could be done through creation of appropriate temperature of cutting region. Changing the laser power density which results in an evident temperature variation of cutting region shows a remarkable effect on the quality of the cutting edge.