The Effect of Power, Maximum Cutting Speed and Specific Point Energy on the Material Removal Rate and Cutting Volume Efficiency in CO2 Laser Cutting of Polyamide Sheets

Material removal rate (MRR) and cutting volume efficiency (αVol) in laser cutting of commercial polyamide (Nylon) sheets have been studied in this research. A CO2 laser cutting machine with the power of 100 W was used to cut polyamide (PA) sheets with thicknesses of 2 to 8 mm. The beam spot size on the upper surface of the sheet was 0.1 mm. The maximum cutting speeds for a variety of powers and thicknesses were specified under the same other laser cutting parameters. The specific point energy (Esp) was calculated for every combination of maximum cutting speed and power. Results show that for a given power, the maximum cutting speed exponentially decreases with increasing sheet thickness. The MRR increases logarithmically with power and for a given power, it rises as the sheet thickness decreases. The αVol increases with power until it reaches the apex of efficiency, then it slightly reduces with increasing power. Overall, the αVol decreases with increasing sheet thickness and Esp.