The first experiment in laser materials processing which was subsequently to evolve into a significant industrial process, was conducted in May 1967 when Peter Houldcroft used an oxygen assist gas to cut 1mm thick steel sheet with a focused CO2 laser beam. Using archive photographs and early film, this paper will describe the pioneering work on laser cutting using a 300W slow flow CO2 laser. This laser was operational in the UK only two years after Patel had demonstrated lasing action from the CO2 molecule. Early examples of laser cutting will be shown and reference made to the predictions of the early experimentalists. The paper will also discuss the evolution of the fast axial flow CO2 laser and its subsequent use to produce the first keyhole laser welds.
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ICALEO 2002: 21st International Congress on Laser Materials Processing and Laser Microfabrication
October 14–17, 2002
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
ISBN:
978-0-912035-72-7
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
In the beginning……..
P A Hilton
P A Hilton
Laser and Sheet Processes Group
, TWI Ltd Granta
Park, Great Abington. Cambridge, CB1 6AL, UK
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Published Online:
October 01 2002
Citation
P A Hilton; October 14–17, 2002. "In the beginning……..." Proceedings of the ICALEO 2002: 21st International Congress on Laser Materials Processing and Laser Microfabrication. ICALEO 2002: 21st International Congress on Laser Materials Processing and Laser Microfabrication. Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. (pp. 171727). ASME. https://doi.org/10.2351/1.5066210
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