During pulsed laser cutting of aluminum with a repetitively pulsed carbon-dioxide laser a strong correlation between quality of the cut judged by the burr height and electron density of the laser induced plasma on the surface and in the kerf occurs. The electron density is supervised by an absorption experiment and can be adjusted by the pulse duration. A feedback loop based on a comparison between the actual absorption signal and an absorption set point on the one hand and a variation of the laser pulse duration on the other hand is developed to provide an in situ control of the quality of the cut. The system works suitable for different sheet thicknesses and for outlined cuts. The results of optimized cuts are introduced.

Date Published: 4 April 1997
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 3092, XI International Symposium on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers and High-Power Laser Conference, (4 April 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.270150

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3092:
XI International Symposium on Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers and High-Power Laser Conference
Denis R. Hall; Howard J. Baker, Editor(s)