Reviews on laser cutting technology for industrial applications

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanin Muangpool ◽  
Saroj Pullteap
Keyword(s):  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Industrial Applications

scholarly journals On multi-sensor monitoring of fiber laser fusion cutting

2021 ◽  
Vol 1135 (1) ◽  
pp. 012014
Author(s):  
Nikita Levichev ◽  
Joost R. Duflou
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Laser ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Laser Cutting ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Process Zone ◽  
Industrial Process ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Laser Fusion ◽  
Thick Plates ◽  
Sensor Monitoring

Abstract Laser cutting is a well-established industrial process for sheet metal applications. However, cutting thick plates is still accompanied by problems because of the characteristic limited process parameter window. Since cutting by means of fiber lasers has become dominant, tailored solutions are required in such systems for industrial applications. The development of a robust real-time monitoring system, which adapts the process parameters according to a specific quality requirement, implies a significant step forward towards automated laser cutting and increases the process robustness and performance. In this work, a coaxial multi-sensor monitoring system is tested for fiber laser cutting of stainless steel thick plates. A high-speed camera and a photodiode sensor have been selected for this investigation. Experiments at different cutting speeds, representing primary cut quality cases, have been conducted and various features of the obtained process zone signals have been examined. Finally, the feasibility of industrial application of the developed setup for high-power fiber laser cutting is discussed, followed by several implementation recommendations.

scholarly journals Simultaneous Burr and Cut Interruption Detection during Laser Cutting with Neural Networks

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 5831
Author(s):  
Benedikt Adelmann ◽  
Ralf Hellmann
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Fiber Laser ◽  
Convolutional Neural Networks ◽  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Single Mode ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Single Mode Fiber ◽  
Burr Formation ◽  
The Neural Network ◽  
Failure Classification

In this contribution, we compare basic neural networks with convolutional neural networks for cut failure classification during fiber laser cutting. The experiments are performed by cutting thin electrical sheets with a 500 W single-mode fiber laser while taking coaxial camera images for the classification. The quality is grouped in the categories good cut, cuts with burr formation and cut interruptions. Indeed, our results reveal that both cut failures can be detected with one system. Independent of the neural network design and size, a minimum classification accuracy of 92.8% is achieved, which could be increased with more complex networks to 95.8%. Thus, convolutional neural networks reveal a slight performance advantage over basic neural networks, which yet is accompanied by a higher calculation time, which nevertheless is still below 2 ms. In a separated examination, cut interruptions can be detected with much higher accuracy as compared to burr formation. Overall, the results reveal the possibility to detect burr formations and cut interruptions during laser cutting simultaneously with high accuracy, as being desirable for industrial applications.

Ti-6Al-4V Cutting by 100W Fibre Laser in Both CW and Modulated Regime

2013 ◽  
Vol 554-557 ◽  
pp. 1835-1844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonello Astarita ◽  
Silvio Genna ◽  
C. Leone ◽  
Fabrizio Memola Capece Minutolo ◽  
Valentino Paradiso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Cutting Speed ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
High Reactivity ◽  
Fibre Laser ◽  
Optimum Process ◽  
Chemical Plants ◽  
Mean Power ◽  
Red Power ◽  
Reinforced Plastics

Titanium and its alloys are nowadays widely used in many sectors: in the medical field (orthopedic and dental ones), in the architectural field, in the chemical plants field and in aeronautic [1]. In this last field it is more and more used both for its contribution to make lightweight and time durable structures and for its compatibility with new materials, first of all Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP). Cutting of titanium sheets is one of the primary requirements in the fabrication of most of the components. Laser cutting offers several advantages over conventional cutting methods. It includes narrow kerf width (minimum material lost), straight cut edges, low roughness of cut surfaces, minimum metallurgical and surface distortions, easy integration with computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines for cutting complex profiles and importantly non-contact nature of the process (suitable for cutting in hostile environments and in areas with limited access) [2]. However, due to very limited literature available on laser cutting of titanium, it is very difficult to predict the cut surface quality and optimum process parameters for laser cutting, especially when dross-free cuts are required. Laser cutting of titanium and titanium alloys needs to be carried out with an inert gas, this due to the high reactivity of the titanium with the oxygen at high temperatures [3]. However when the available power is limited, as in the present case, the use of a reactive gas (air) can help to achieve cutting speed value reasonable for industrial applications. The aim of this work is to study the cutting of Ti-6Al-4V rolled sheets 1 mm in thickness, by means of a 100 W fibre laser, (SPI-Red Power) working at wavelength  = 1090 nm. The maximum cutting speed were measured in both CW and pulsed regime at different mean power and different duration. Furthermore, the kerf geometry and the heat affected zone (HAZ) were studied decreasing the cutting speed from the maximum to the 80 % of this values. The results obtained showed that both the power and the cutting speed influence the cutting kerf geometry and HAZ. In particular the synergy of power and speed, resulting roughly into the heat input, seems to rule the whole cutting process.

Diagnosis and Modelling of Nonlinear Dynamics in Laser Cutting, Welding and Drilling

2004 ◽  
Vol 850 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Beam Power ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Laser Beam Power ◽  
Monitoring And Control Systems ◽  
And Control

ABSTRACTLaser cutting and welding are well established industrial applications. To maintain productivity and to guarantee product quality the industry tries to introduce monitoring and control systems. The long term goal is the autonomous laser machine. Signal assessment is advancing by monitoring and simulation of the dynamical processes. Applying the advanced results about diagnosis and modelling broadens the potentials to cope with productivity and quality features in drilling, trepanning and fine cutting.As result, in cutting two mechanisms for the formation of adherent dross are revealed theoretically, identified by the monitoring system and can be avoided by modulation of the laser beam power. In welding, the dynamic model predicts the formation of pores sets in or is suspended depending on modulation frequency for the laser power. In drilling the mechanisms governing the maximum depth of the drilled hole – still showing efficient melt removal – are identified experimentally and can be related to the processing parameters theoretically

scholarly journals Analysis of Stainless Steel Waste Products Generated during Laser Cutting in Nitrogen Atmosphere

Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1572
Author(s):  
Maciej Zubko ◽  
Jan Loskot ◽  
Paweł Świec ◽  
Krystian Prusik ◽  
Zbigniew Janikowski
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Electron Backscatter Diffraction ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Nitrogen Atmosphere ◽  
304 Stainless Steel ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Basic Approaches

Laser cutting technology is one of the basic approaches used for thermal processing of parts fabricated from almost all engineering materials. Various types of lasers are utilized in the industry with different attendant gases such as nitrogen or argon. When the laser beam interacts with a metal surface, the area underneath is heated to the melting point. This liquid or vaporized metal is ejected from the kerf area to the surrounding atmosphere by attendant gas and becomes undesirable waste in the form of powder. In the presented work, the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy methods were used to analyze AISI 304 stainless steel, which was cut by a semiconductor fiber laser, and the waste powder generated during the laser cutting process. The results suggest that this waste material may be reused for industrial applications such as additive manufacturing.

The Application of Ultra-Thin Sectioning Techniques to Non-Biological Samples

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 332-333
Author(s):  
C. F. Oster
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Epoxy Resin ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Biological Samples ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Photographic Film ◽  
Silver Particles ◽  
Thin Sectioning ◽  
Embedding Medium

Although ultra-thin sectioning techniques are widely used in the biological sciences, their applications are somewhat less popular but very useful in industrial applications. This presentation will review several specific applications where ultra-thin sectioning techniques have proven invaluable.The preparation of samples for sectioning usually involves embedding in an epoxy resin. Araldite 6005 Resin and Hardener are mixed so that the hardness of the embedding medium matches that of the sample to reduce any distortion of the sample during the sectioning process. No dehydration series are needed to prepare our usual samples for embedding, but some types require hardening and staining steps. The embedded samples are sectioned with either a prototype of a Porter-Blum Microtome or an LKB Ultrotome III. Both instruments are equipped with diamond knives.In the study of photographic film, the distribution of the developed silver particles through the layer is important to the image tone and/or scattering power. Also, the morphology of the developed silver is an important factor, and cross sections will show this structure.

The mensuration of interfaces

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 216-217
Author(s):  
W.M. Stobbs
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Dynamical Theory ◽  
Large Strains ◽  
Reasonable Approach ◽  
Lattice Resolution ◽  
Analogue To Digital ◽  
The Way

I do not have access to the abstracts of the first meeting of EMSA but at this, the 50th Anniversary meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America, I have an excuse to consider the historical origins of the approaches we take to the use of electron microscopy for the characterisation of materials. I have myself been actively involved in the use of TEM for the characterisation of heterogeneities for little more than half of that period. My own view is that it was between the 3rd International Meeting at London, and the 1956 Stockholm meeting, the first of the European series , that the foundations of the approaches we now take to the characterisation of a material using the TEM were laid down. (This was 10 years before I took dynamical theory to be etched in stone.) It was at the 1956 meeting that Menter showed lattice resolution images of sodium faujasite and Hirsch, Home and Whelan showed images of dislocations in the XlVth session on “metallography and other industrial applications”. I have always incidentally been delighted by the way the latter authors misinterpreted astonishingly clear thickness fringes in a beaten (”) foil of Al as being contrast due to “large strains”, an error which they corrected with admirable rapidity as the theory developed. At the London meeting the research described covered a broad range of approaches, including many that are only now being rediscovered as worth further effort: however such is the power of “the image” to persuade that the above two papers set trends which influence, perhaps too strongly, the approaches we take now. Menter was clear that the way the planes in his image tended to be curved was associated with the imaging conditions rather than with lattice strains, and yet it now seems to be common practice to assume that the dots in an “atomic resolution image” can faithfully represent the variations in atomic spacing at a localised defect. Even when the more reasonable approach is taken of matching the image details with a computed simulation for an assumed model, the non-uniqueness of the interpreted fit seems to be rather rarely appreciated. Hirsch et al., on the other hand, made a point of using their images to get numerical data on characteristics of the specimen they examined, such as its dislocation density, which would not be expected to be influenced by uncertainties in the contrast. Nonetheless the trends were set with microscope manufacturers producing higher and higher resolution microscopes, while the blind faith of the users in the image produced as being a near directly interpretable representation of reality seems to have increased rather than been generally questioned. But if we want to test structural models we need numbers and it is the analogue to digital conversion of the information in the image which is required.

The influence of confocal microscope design on imaging performance

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 144-145
Author(s):  
C J R Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Fluorescence Imaging ◽  
Confocal Microscope ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Weak Signals ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Imaging Performance ◽  
Fundamental Limitation

The confocal microscope is now widely used in both biomedical and industrial applications for imaging, in three dimensions, objects with appreciable depth. There are now a range of different microscopes on the market, which have adopted a variety of different designs. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects on imaging performance of design parameters including the method of scanning, the type of detector, and the size and shape of the confocal aperture.It is becoming apparent that there is no such thing as an ideal confocal microscope: all systems have limitations and the best compromise depends on what the microscope is used for and how it is used. The most important compromise at present is between image quality and speed of scanning, which is particularly apparent when imaging with very weak signals. If great speed is not of importance, then the fundamental limitation for fluorescence imaging is the detection of sufficient numbers of photons before the fluorochrome bleaches.

Microstructural characterization of sol-gel coating on PET films

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 886-887
Author(s):  
R. T. Chen ◽  
R.A. Norwood
Keyword(s):  
Ion Beam ◽  
Sol Gel ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Hard Coatings ◽  
Nanometer Scale ◽  
Ion Beam Sputtering ◽  
Process Technology ◽  
Refractive Index Measurement ◽  
Organically Modified ◽  
Pet Films

Sol-gel processing has been used to control the structure of a material on a nanometer scale in preparing advanced ceramics and glasses. Film coating using the sol-gel process was also found to be a viable process technology in applications such as optical, porous, antireflection and hard coatings. In this study, organically modified silicate (Ormosil) coatings are applied to PET films for various industrial applications. Sol-gel materials are known to exhibit nanometer scale structures which havepreviously been characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), neutron scattering and light scattering. Imaging of the ultrafine sol-gel structures has also been performed using an ultrahigh resolution replica/TEM technique. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ultrafine structures inthe sol gel coatings using a direct imaging technique: atomic force microscopy (AFM). In addition, correlation of microstructures with processing parameters, coating density and other physical properties will be discussed.The materials evaluated are organically modified silicate coatings on PET film substrates. Refractive index measurement by the prism coupling method was used to assess density of the sol-gel coating.AFM imaging was performed on a Nanoscope III AFM (by Digital Instruments) using constant force mode. Solgel coating samples coated with a thin layer of Ft (by ion beam sputtering) were also examined by STM in order to confirm the structures observed in the contact type AFM. In addition, to compare the previous results, sol-gel powder samples were also prepared by ultrasonication followed by Pt/Au shadowing and examined using a JEOL 100CX TEM.

Electron energy loss near edge structures of intermetallic alloys and grain boundaries in NiAl

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 522-523
Author(s):  
G.A. Botton ◽  
C.J. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Transition Metal ◽  
Energy Loss ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Edge Structure ◽  
Structural Applications ◽  
Yield Behaviour ◽  
Late Transition ◽  
Metal Aluminides

Transition metal aluminides are of great potential interest for high temperature structural applications. Although these materials exhibit good mechanical properties at high temperature, their use in industrial applications is often limited by their intrinsic room temperature brittleness. Whilst this particular yield behaviour is directly related to the defect structure, the properties of the defects (in particular the mobility of dislocations and the slip system on which these dislocations move) are ultimately determined by the electronic structure and bonding in these materials. The lack of ductility has been attributed, at least in part, to the mixed bonding character (metallic and covalent) as inferred from ab-initio calculations. In this work, we analyse energy loss spectra and discuss the features of the near edge structure in terms of the relevant electronic states in order to compare the predictions on bonding directly with spectroscopic experiments. In this process, we compare spectra of late transition metal (TM) to early TM aluminides (FeAl and TiAl) to assess whether differences in bonding can also be detected. This information is then discussed in terms of bonding changes at grain boundaries in NiAl.

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