The effect of moisture content and tracheids orientation in fibre laser cutting of dry and wet pine wood

Abstract

This paper presents data on statistical analysis of the multiple-pass laser cutting of dry and wet pine wood with a single mode Ytterbium fibre laser. Laser wood-cutting is a multi-factorial process requiring parameter optimization to deliver good quality cuts at high efficiency. This study employed a Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical modelling approach to determine the most significant process parameters and their interactions. A high brightness 1 kW IPG single mode Ytterbium-doped fibre laser was employed to cut dry and wet pine wood samples. The anisotropic nature of wood means that yield and cut quality need to be analysed both parallel and perpendicular to the wood fibre. Additional parameters investigated were laser power, focal plane position (f.p.p.), traverse speed, gas pressure and number of passes. Results were compared against a range of process responses that define the process efficiency (kerf depth, mass removal, specific energy consumption) and quality of the cut section (heat affected zone - HAZ, kerf width, edge surface roughness, and perpendicularity). It was concluded that the majority of these responses are significantly affected by the orientation of wood tracheids (i.e. direction of cut) and wood moisture content.This paper presents data on statistical analysis of the multiple-pass laser cutting of dry and wet pine wood with a single mode Ytterbium fibre laser. Laser wood-cutting is a multi-factorial process requiring parameter optimization to deliver good quality cuts at high efficiency. This study employed a Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical modelling approach to determine the most significant process parameters and their interactions. A high brightness 1 kW IPG single mode Ytterbium-doped fibre laser was employed to cut dry and wet pine wood samples. The anisotropic nature of wood means that yield and cut quality need to be analysed both parallel and perpendicular to the wood fibre. Additional parameters investigated were laser power, focal plane position (f.p.p.), traverse speed, gas pressure and number of passes. Results were compared against a range of process responses that define the process efficiency (kerf depth, mass removal, specific energy consumption) and quality of the cut section (heat af...