Development and analysis of plasma-assisted laser beam fusion cutting

在计划的研究项目框架内，将首次全面和系统地研究一种用于切割金属材料(黑色金属和有色金属)的新型激光切割工艺(等离子体辅助激光切割)，并测试与传统切割工艺相比可实现的工艺优势。被寻址的混合工艺的特征特征是激光束和同轴导引等离子体射流的组合，由此通过使用非转移弧来分离能量传递和材料去除。其目的是将聚焦激光束的优势与等离子切割的优势结合起来，以协同的方式产生具有几乎平行的切割刃的窄切割缝，而等离子切割的优势在于切割刃粗糙度低、可切割材料厚度和气体消耗适中。为鉴定该方法所需而计划的工作包括最有效地形成和引导等离子体射流的设计研究、关于由此产生的参数相关性的广泛实验研究以及模型开发和模拟，以便从理论上深刻理解过程特性。作为这项研究的结果，与现有的激光切割和等离子切割的单独热切割工艺相比，有望开发出一种潜在的高效和创新的混合工艺，提高加工质量并减少制造工作量。

Within the framework of the planned research project, a novel laser-based cutting process (plasma-assisted laser beam cutting) for cutting metallic materials (ferrous and non-ferrous metals) will be comprehensively and methodically investigated for the first time and tested with regard to the achievable process advantages compared to conventional cutting processes. A characteristic feature of the addressed hybrid process is the combination of a laser beam and a coaxially guided plasma jet, whereby the energy transfer and the material removal are decoupled by use of a non-transferred arc. The aim is to combine the advantages of a focused laser beam for generating narrow cut kerfs with almost parallel cutting edges in a synergetic manner with the advantages of plasma cutting in terms of low cutting edge roughness, cuttable material thicknesses and moderate gas consumption. The work planned for the required qualification of the approach includes design studies for the most efficient formation and guidance of the plasma jet, extensive experimental studies on resulting parameter dependencies as well as model developments and simulations for a profound theoretical understanding of the process characteristics. As a result of the research, a potentially highly efficient and innovative hybrid process with improved processing quality and reduced manufacturing effort compared to the established individual thermal cutting processes of laser beam cutting and plasma cutting is expected.