Abstract
Cutting of advanced oxide ceramics is still a difficult task. In this work, the possibility to effectively cut them using a Nd:YAG laser guided by an optical fiber is demonstrated. The key points are the aerodynamic interactions of the assist gas jet in the fusion laser cutting of ceramics. A comprehensive study of the influence of these aerodynamic interactions on the laser cutting of advanced oxide ceramics has been carried out. The characteristics of the heat affected zone (HAZ) were studied related to the efficiency of the assist gas to eject the molten material. It has been demonstrated that the HAZ can be avoided with a suitable design of the gas injection system combined with an appropriate selection of the values of the processing parameters. With the aim of improving the efficiency of the assist gas injection system, a new cutting head with an off-axis supersonic nozzle was developed. Furthermore, a comparison between the utilization of a conventional coaxial conical nozzle to inject the assist gas and the new system is presented. The results obtained give clear proof that the use of the new gas injection system leads to a great improvement on the cut quality by means of a more efficient removing of the molten material out of the cutting front. This result is of special interest in the laser fusion cutting of thick ceramic plates at high processing rates.
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