Laser cutting is now well established as the principal industrial application of high power CO2 lasers, cutting a wide range of engineering materials. The coaxial assist gas jet is a fundamental part of the laser cutting process. The process assist gas has generally been regarded as a commodity item with little realisation of its impact on the cutting process. Experimental results have shown that the purity of the assist gas can significantly affect cutting productivity and even cut quality.

The vast majority of laser cutting applications are in cutting steel, both C-Mn and stainless steel. This paper highlights the importance of the choice of assist gas and its purity on the cutting of these materials.

1.
A A
Wells
The Iron-Oxygen Combustion Process
”,
British Welding Journal
Sept
.
1955
.
2.
G
Broden
,
H O
Keeting
, “Inverkan av Skaroxygenets Renhet vid Laserskarning”,
2nd NOLAMP Conf.
Aug
30
31
1989
LuLea
,
Sweden (In Danish)
.
3.
I
Miyamoto
,
H
Mavro
The Mechanism of Laser Cutting
”,
Welding in the World
. Vol
29
No.
9/10
1991
.
4.
S E
Nilsen
, “
Laser Cutting with High Pressure Cutting Gases and Mixed Gases
”,
Int. Conf LIM
3
2
5
June
1986
Paris, France.
5.
I E
Ross
, “
Thick-Section Cutting with CO2 Lasers
”,
Industrial Laser Review
.
April
1992
.
6.
W
O’neil
,
W M
Steen
,
J T
Gabzdyl
, “The Dynamic Behaviour of Gas Jets in Laser Cutting”,
ICALEO ’92
,
25
29
Oct
1992
.
Orlando USA
.
7.
W
Schmidt
, “
Gas Supply Systems for CO2 Lasers
”,
Industrial Laser Review
.
June
1992
.
8.
Gas Supply Systems for Laser Processing Recommendations
Welding in the World
Vol
30
No.
3/4
1992
.
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.