Abstract

Over the past two decades CO 2 laser cutting has grown from an obscure laboratory technique into an important branch of manufacturing engineering. The most commonly cut materials are steels and a great deal of industrial and scientific research has been carried out on the laser-material interactions that generate a cut. This paper concentrates on the phenomena which give rise to a cyclic cutting event when a CO 2 laser in conjunction with an oxygen jet is used to cut mild steel. The nature of the cut edge striation produced by the cyclic oxidation reaction is explained thoroughly and a possible oxidation cycle is postulated. It is demonstrated that the key to understanding the cyclic nature of the cutting event is the self-limiting nature of the oxidation of the steel in the cut zone.

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