Title: Efficiency analysis of laser hole cutting

Authors: Ahmet Z. Sahin, Tahir Ayar, Bekir S. Yilbas

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. ' Systems Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: The efficiency analysis of laser cutting of holes into Kevlar plates is carried out and the specific energy requirement for cutting is computed for different cutting speeds and laser output power levels. The maximum laser scanning speed required for cutting Kevlar plates of different thicknesses is determined. It is found that the minimum specific energy requirements decrease with increasing hole diameter. The energy and exergy efficiencies predicted are related to the resulting cut quality and it is concluded that cutting quality improves significantly at high energy and exergy efficiencies.

Keywords: laser cutting; hole drilling; energy efficiency; exergy efficiency; entropy; exergy analysis; holes; Kevlar plates; cutting speeds; power output; laser scanning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2009.026679

International Journal of Exergy, 2009 Vol.6 No.4, pp.592 - 604

Published online: 22 Jun 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article