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CO2 laser studies at Loughborough
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 5 (1984) 59—60
Research Note CO2 Laser Studies at Loughborough I would like to draw your readership’s attention to the increasing significance of the CO2 laser in the manufacturing and process industries. Laser profile cutting under computer control is now well established with industrial units being manufactured under leading names. The full capability of laser technology is often not harnessed by these machines when heat treatment advantages can be gained alongside the profiling operation. Workers at Loughborough have studied the processes of cutting, heat treatment and surface alloying using laser beams from a 500 Watt Coherent laser model 525 and a 2000 Watt Control carbon dioxide laser both producing radiation of 10~6p. wavelength. Some significant advantages have been demonstrated by the laser process in combined cutting and hardening to give fatigue strength and in surface treatments for reduced wear or corrosion resistance. To date such processes have not been well documented and I am seeking to collect some composite data through a series of papers with laser manufacturing as a theme. Within this work, which will utilise facilities and expertise in both the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering and Design, an early paper describing our findings relating cutting parameters to cut edge quality will be produced. A computer based analysis is in progress relating cut edge surface properties measured by Talysurf with metallographic data and related to cutting machine parameters. The development of a theoretical model incorporating all significant parameters seen to affect the process is also under way. This follows in part some leading Japanese work from a team led by Professor Y Arata at Osaka University which makes use of fundamental heat transfer studies developed by D Rosenthal. The approach will be used at Loughborough to study thermal effects in the heat affected zone bordering the cut edge. A particular aspect in the Loughborough work will be a specific study into the effects of cutting 59 Optics and Lasers in Engineering 0143-8166/84/$0300 © Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1984. Printed in Northern Ireland
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coated materials. The findings will also provide insight into laser surface treatment processes. The purpose of this note is to inform readers of the progress of the work and to invite correspondence offering an exchange of ideas and experimental data which may be incorporated to augment the analysis.
John Powell Department of Materials Engineering and Design, Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, Leics LE1 1 3TU, UK
Research Note CO2 Laser Studies at Loughborough I would like to draw your readership’s attention to the increasing significance of the CO2 laser in the manufacturing and process industries. Laser profile cutting under computer control is now well established with industrial units being manufactured under leading names. The full capability of laser technology is often not harnessed by these machines when heat treatment advantages can be gained alongside the profiling operation. Workers at Loughborough have studied the processes of cutting, heat treatment and surface alloying using laser beams from a 500 Watt Coherent laser model 525 and a 2000 Watt Control carbon dioxide laser both producing radiation of 10~6p. wavelength. Some significant advantages have been demonstrated by the laser process in combined cutting and hardening to give fatigue strength and in surface treatments for reduced wear or corrosion resistance. To date such processes have not been well documented and I am seeking to collect some composite data through a series of papers with laser manufacturing as a theme. Within this work, which will utilise facilities and expertise in both the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering and Design, an early paper describing our findings relating cutting parameters to cut edge quality will be produced. A computer based analysis is in progress relating cut edge surface properties measured by Talysurf with metallographic data and related to cutting machine parameters. The development of a theoretical model incorporating all significant parameters seen to affect the process is also under way. This follows in part some leading Japanese work from a team led by Professor Y Arata at Osaka University which makes use of fundamental heat transfer studies developed by D Rosenthal. The approach will be used at Loughborough to study thermal effects in the heat affected zone bordering the cut edge. A particular aspect in the Loughborough work will be a specific study into the effects of cutting 59 Optics and Lasers in Engineering 0143-8166/84/$0300 © Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1984. Printed in Northern Ireland
60
Research note
coated materials. The findings will also provide insight into laser surface treatment processes. The purpose of this note is to inform readers of the progress of the work and to invite correspondence offering an exchange of ideas and experimental data which may be incorporated to augment the analysis.
John Powell Department of Materials Engineering and Design, Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, Leics LE1 1 3TU, UK