A TWO-DOF Controlled Lens Drive Actuator for Off-Axis Laser Beam Cutting

Abstract

This paper describes a two-degree-of-freedom (two-DOF) controlled electromagnetic actuator guided by an elastic hinge mechanism to realize off-axis laser beam cutting. In the laser beam cutting process, a focused laser beam melts and vaporizes part of the workpiece, and the molten material is blown away by an assist gas jet. The cutting speed and quality are related to the flow of the assist gas jet. In order to improve the removal capability of the molten material and to reduce gas consumption in off-axis laser beam cutting, the lens is driven radially by the proposed two-DOF actuator to generate relative motion between the assist gas nozzle and the laser. Experimental results show the prototype actuator possesses a positioning stroke of ±500µm within 3µm of tracking error and bandwidths more than 150Hz in the two-DOF directions. In the acceleration test supposed at a maximum acceleration of 2G, the prototype actuator maintains the relative displacement between the lens holder and the laser head within 10µm. Off-axis laser beam cutting by using the prototype actuator achieves high speed and less dross processing.