Improving the Dynamical Behaviour of a Laser Cutting Equipment by Using a Carbon Fibre Composite Main Structural Runway Frame

In order to improve the dynamic behaviour of an industrial laser cutting equipment a sandwich solution, using a carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and polyester foam core, was implemented to construct its main runway structural frame, which supports the cutting head and major laser beam mirrors and lens. Nowadays, the commercial competiveness of laser cutting equipments is considerable enhanced by their higher cutting speed and precision, as well as, cost. With the recent available higher power laser beam generators and swifter motors quicker and powerful cuts may be already done. However, at accelerations of 3 and 4 g’s already enabled by linear motors, the lack of stiffness and high mass and consequent inertia of the traditional runway structural frames, made from steel and/or aluminium, do not allow achieving high required cutting precisions. Thus, the present study considered replacing those conventional materials by much lighter advanced CRFP composites to improve the dynamic performance of an existing laser cutting equipment. Advanced numeric Finite Element Method (FEM) calculations by using the ANSYS package software were made to verify the static and dynamic behaviours of the new composite structural frame and compare them to simulations made with the currently used steel solution. The composite structural frame processing method has been also studied and defined in this work. Furthermore, the composite laminate has been optimised by defining the better number of stacking layers and fibre orientations to be used, as well as, the foam core thickness. The failure of the new sandwich structural composite runway frame has been verified through the Tsai-Wu criterion. Finally, an economic analysis of the viability of the new composite solution adopted will be also presented.

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Pulsed Nd: YAG Laser Cutting of Carbon Fibre Composite Materials

CIRP Annals ◽

10.1016/s0007-8506(07)61030-0 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 179-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

W.S. Lau ◽

W.B. Lee ◽

S.Q. Pang

Keyword(s):

Composite Materials ◽

Carbon Fibre ◽

Laser Cutting ◽

Fibre Composite ◽

Carbon Fibre Composite ◽

Yag Laser

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Determining optimal laser-beam cutting equipment investment through a robust optimization modeling approach

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0254893 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0254893

Author(s):

Juan Feller ◽

Alejandro F. Mac Cawley ◽

Jorge A. Ramos-Grez ◽

Iván La Fé-Perdomo

Keyword(s):

Laser Beam ◽

Robust Optimization ◽

Optimization Model ◽

Laser Cutting ◽

Demand Uncertainty ◽

Cutting Speed ◽

Production Plan ◽

Optimal Production ◽

Cutting Equipment

The acquisition of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), such as high-power fiber or CO2 laser cutting equipment, generally involves high investment levels. Its payback period is usually more extended, and there is a moderate-to-high risk involved in adopting these technologies. In this work, we present a robust model that optimizes equipment investing decisions, considers the process’s technical constraint and finds an optimal production plan based on the available machinery. We propose a linear investment model based on historical demand information and take physical process parameters for a LASER cutting equipment, such as cutting speed and gas consumption. The model is then transformed into a robust optimization model which considers demand uncertainty. Second, we determine the optimal production plan based on the results of the robust optimization model and assuming that demand follows a normal distribution. As a case study, we decided on the investment and productive plan for a company that offers Laser-Beam Cutting (LBC) services. The case study validates the effectiveness of the proposed model and proves the robustness of the solution. For this specific application of the model, results showed that the optimal robust solution could increase the company’s expected profits by 6.4%.

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Experimental Analysis of Tool Wear when Drilling Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) without Cutting Fluid, with Cutting Fluid and with a Pre-Cryogenically Cooled Tool

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.372.512 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 372 ◽

pp. 512-515

Author(s):

Aishah Najiah Dahnel ◽

Stuart Barnes ◽

Pipat Bhudwannachai

Keyword(s):

Tool Wear ◽

Carbon Fibre ◽

Fibre Composite ◽

Cutting Speed ◽

Cryogenic Cooling ◽

Cutting Fluid ◽

Heterogeneous Structure ◽

Carbon Fibre Composite ◽

Dry Drilling ◽

Carbon Fibre Composites

Machining of Carbon Fibre Composites (CFCs) particularly drilling, is frequently employed in industry especially when dealing with joining, assembly and structural repair of the parts. However, the nature and heterogeneous structure of CFCs often results in rapid wear of the cutting tool. This research studied the relationship and compared the effect of drilling a CFC plaque without cutting fluid, with conventional cutting fluid and with cryogenic cooling at constant cutting speed of 94 m/min and feed rate of 0.065 mm/revolution using tungsten carbide twist drill. The conventional cutting fluid was supplied continuously to the drill and the CFC plaque during the drilling cycle; while for the cryogenic cooling tests, the drill tip was immersed in liquid nitrogen for 10 and 30 seconds prior to drilling the CFC. It was found that the tool wear increased with the increasing number of drilled holes at all machining conditions. After drilling of 325 holes, the largest tool wear observed was 181 μm which was produced when drilling the CFC plaque with conventional cutting fluid. The corresponding tool wear for drilling with cryogenic cooling was 164 μm and the smallest tool wear of 155 μm was observed during dry drilling. Dry drilling produced the smallest tool wear because the heat generated reduced the strength of the CFC, particularly polymer matrix. Therefore, this situation led to easier machining of CFC materials; consequently reduced the wear of the tool.

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