The Perforation of Thin Metal Sheets by a Continuous-Wave Carbon-Dioxide Laser

摘要

A 2-kw continuous wave carbon dioxide laser was used to investigate the energy density required to perforate a thin metal sheet as a function of pulse length for long pulses (0.02 to 1.3en1 s). Experimental results were compared with a simplified solution of the thermal-conductivity equation, and reasonable agreement was found in the cases of nickel, steel and aluminium. Titanium required a much greater energy density than predicted by the mathematical model. (Author)