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Analysis of the dynamic characteristics of gas flow inside a laser cut kerf under high cut-assist

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1999 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 32 1469

(http://iopscience.iop.org/0022-3727/32/13/306)

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J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 32 (1999) 14691477. Printed in the UK PII: S0022-3727(99)00006-6

Analysis of the dynamic

characteristics of gas flow inside a
laser cut kerf under high cut-assist
gas pressure
H C Man, J Duan and T M Yue
Laser Processing Center, Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Received 8 December 1998

Abstract. The behaviour of the cut-assist gas jet inside a simulating laser cut kerf for a
supersonic and a conical nozzle tip were studied by a shadowgraphic technique under
conditions of inlet stagnation pressure from 3 to 7 bar. The effects of the stand-off distance,
kerf width, material thickness and the inlet stagnation pressure upon the dynamic
characteristics and momentum thrust of the gas flow inside the cut kerf were investigated.
It was found that under a gas pressure of 7 bar, the gas jet from a conical nozzle tip expands
radially and the jet momentum deteriorates rapidly inside the kerf. The behaviour of the jet is
strongly influenced by the stand-off distance and thickness of the workpiece. On the other
hand, the gas jet from a supersonic nozzle inside the cut kerf has tidy boundary and uniform
distribution of pressure and thrust. The sensitivity to the stand-off distance and the workpiece
thickness of the supersonic nozzle are much less as compared with the conical nozzle. With
the supersonic nozzle, a dross free clean cut on 5 mm stainless steel can be achieved at an
inert cut-assist gas pressure as low as 5 bar instead of the normal operating range of 10 bar or
above for the conical nozzle.

1. Introduction
Recent developments in the high-pressure inert gas laser
cutting process have mainly been applied in materials
containing chromium, aluminium and titanium alloys, which
are classified as difficult materials to cut in the conventional
oxygen-assisted laser cutting process because the molten
oxides of these alloys are all of high viscosity. In this cutting
technique, the cut assist-gas jet obviously plays an important
role [15]. Although some investigations have been carried
out into the characteristics of the low-pressure gas jet [613],
the dynamic characteristics of the exit jet from a supersonic
nozzle tip and the behavioural difference of the exit jets
between the supersonic and subsonic nozzle tips have not
been investigated clearly and systematically.
In our previous works, the method of designing a
supersonic nozzle tip and the characteristics of the exit jets for
both supersonic and subsonic nozzles at free space have been
analysed [1416]. These results showed that the exit gas jet
from a supersonic nozzle tip can offer much better dynamic
characteristics than that from a subsonic nozzle tip under
conditions of the designed working inlet stagnation pressure.
The existence of shock waves, loss of jet momentum and
divergence characteristic etc of the gas jet inside the cut kerf
Some of the results were presented at the Int. Conf. on Applications of
Lasers and Electro-Optics 1997 (San Diego, California, USA).
all play a very important role for the laser cutting process,
especially the high gas pressure laser cutting. However, no
published work on the behaviour of the cut assist-gas jet
inside the cut kerf was found.
In this paper, the results of the investigations on the
effects of inlet stagnation pressure, nozzle tip to workpiece
stand-off distance, cut kerf width and thickness of the
workpiece upon the behaviour of the gas jet patterns inside a
simulated kerf using shadowgraphic techniques are reported.
Both supersonic and subsonic nozzle tips were used for a
comparison study. Laser cutting experiments were carried
out to confirm the simulation work.
2. Experiment methods and conditions
Two supersonic nozzle tips (designed and manufactured by
ourselves according to [14]) with throat diameters of 1.2 and
1.3 mm and exit diameters of 1.6 and 1.7 mm, respectively,
and two commonly used conical nozzle tips (subsonic nozzle
tips) with exit diameters of 1.5 and 2 mm, respectively, were
used.
In order to observe clearly the dynamic behaviour of the
gas jet inside the cut kerf by a shadowgraphic technique, a
slot that simulates the laser cut kerf in practice was created by
assembling two sheets of clear Perspex with a controlled gap
in between them. A similar experimental arrangement and

0022-3727/99/131469+09$30.00 1999 IOP Publishing Ltd 1469

H C Man et al
nozzle
tip
stand- thin steel
off
plate
clear perspex
gap
widt
z
h inclined leading edge of the kerf, the supersonic jet inside the
depth of
x-y-z
kerf microtable
Figure 1. A schematic drawing of the simulated cut kerf.
technique was used by Berger et al [17] to study the behaviour
of a conicalcylindrical nozzle. In order to simulate the
effect of different thicknesses of the workpiece upon the
dynamic behaviour of the gas flow inside the cut kerf, sheets
with different depths were used, i.e. 10 mm and 20 mm,
respectively. The kerf width in between the Perspex sheets
was controlled by a steel plate of thickness 0.5 or 0.7 mm.
The steel plate has an angle of 12 which simulates the angle
of the leading edge of the laser cut slot [18]. The distance
between the nozzle tip and the simulated kerf was adjusted
by a xyz microtable. Figure 1 shows the simulation set-up.
The range of inlet stagnation pressure (P0 ) was 37 bar.
The cutting experiments were carried out using a PRC
3.5 kW CO2 laser to cut 2 mm thick SiC/Al metal matrix
composites and 5 mm thick stainless steel. A 190 mm focal
length plano-convex ZnSe lens was used for the cutting.
The cut-assist gas (nitrogen) was introduced coaxially with
the focused beam via the supersonic or subsonic nozzle tip.
Cutting performance was evaluated in terms of the amount of
dross and the cut edge quality. To compare the effect of the
supersonic nozzle tip with that of the subsonic nozzle tip, all
cutting experiments were made under the same conditions of
continuous wave laser power, focus position, cutting speed
and cut-assist gas pressure.
3. Experimental results and analysis
3.1. Conical nozzle tip
3.1.1. Effect of stand-off distance. Figure 2 shows a series
of shadowgraphs of the gas flow pattern inside the cut kerf
for a jet exiting from a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter
2 mm under an inlet stagnation pressure of P0 = 7 bar. The
gap width (w) and the depth (h) of the simulating kerf are
0.7 and 10 mm, respectively. Under the condition of an inlet
stagnation pressure P0 = 7 bar and the ratio of specific heats
k = 1.4, the nozzle exit pressure, Pe (Pe = 3.69 bar) is
greater than the back pressure, Pb (Pb = 1.01 bar) [14].
When the stand-off distance is d = 0 mm, figure 1(a),
although the exit jet from the conical nozzle tip has an under-
expanded form, the gas flow pattern inside the kerf exhibits a
much better profile than that at free space as the boundary of
gas flow is tidier and the normal shock wave disappears. This
phenomenon is produced by the fact that the flow entering
1470
the kerf is limited by the leading edge of the kerf and the two
side walls, and will only expand radially along one direction
against the kerf leading edge so that the radial expansion
inside the kerf is smaller than that for free space. This results
in only a small decrease in the centreline pressure and the gas
density of the flow inside the cut kerf. As a result, a normal
shock wave can not be formed in the supersonic flow inside
the cut kerf. However, when the gas jet passes through the
cut kerf encounters a flow deflection during expanding so that
two left-hand straight oblique shock waves were observed, as
shown in figure 2(a). One of them starts at the kerf entrance
and another forms near the bottom of the kerf leading edge
together with a very weak expanded wave. These results
indicate that the gas jet along the kerf leading edge has
little loss of available energy and contains greater momentum
thrust because the decrement of the gas density is small and
the supersonic speed of the gas jet is maintained along the
whole kerf leading edge. Dross removal is effective with this
jet pattern. However, as it is impossible to operate at zero
stand-off distance due to workpiece movement and wear of
the nozzle, this theoretical process condition is inapplicable.
When the stand-off distance d = 1 mm, the gas jet, after
leaving the exit of the nozzle tip, expands radially at once to
form an unsteady supersonic jet, which causes not only the
cross section of the jet to increase but the centreline pressure
and the density of the gas flow to decrease sharply when the jet
reaches the top of the kerf. A large portion of the jet impinges
upon the surface of the workpiece to form a detached normal
shock wave on top of the kerf and a smaller part of the
supersonic flow enters the cut kerf after passing through the
detached normal shock wave. The transverse diameter of
the gas jet entering the kerf is continuously enlarged along
the depth direction and against the kerf leading edge due
to the fact that the pressure in the gas jet is higher than the
back pressure, i.e. atmospheric pressure. A left-hand oblique
shock wave exists at the kerf entrance, followed by a right-
hand reflected oblique shock at the flow boundary. The gas
jet beyond the oblique shock waves becomes turbulent at the
bottom of the cut kerf and is then weakened after flowing
out of the bottom of the kerf. In particular, the fact that the
left-hand oblique shock on the bottom of the kerf disappears
proves that the speed of the gas flow along the kerf leading
edge becomes weakened after passing two oblique shocks,
which means a decrease of momentum thrust along the kerf
leading edge, as shown in figure 2(b).
As the stand-off distance is increased, the radial
expansion of the jet flow on top of the kerf also increases.
Not only is the portion of the jet flow entering the slot further
reduced (more gas flow impinges on the workpiece surface
to form detached normal shocks) but also the centreline
pressure of the jet flow on top of the kerf is lower than
the back pressure. The gas flow entering the kerf meets a
left-hand strong oblique shock (i.e. a curved oblique shock)
immediately, as shown in figure 2(c). After passing through
the strong oblique shock, the gas flow expands rapidly due
to the increasing gas pressure. In this case, although causing
re-acceleration of the gas, this further expansion of the gas
flow again decreases the gas pressure and density sharply,
which causes the right-hand oblique shock to be curved (i.e.

nozzle
Oblique
thin steel shock
plate
free
space
Perspex
Figure 2. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter 2 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 0 mm; (b) d = 1 mm; (c) d = 2 mm; (d) d = 3 mm.
Figure 3. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter 2 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.5 mm, h = 20 mm. (a) d = 0 mm; (b) d = 1 mm; (c) d = 2 mm; (d) d = 3 mm.
a strong oblique shock). As a result, the gas flow field inside
the kerf becomes more turbulent near the top of the kerf due to
the extreme non-uniform distribution of the gas parameters.
The loss in available energy of the gas increases and the
momentum thrust along the kerf leading edge decreases
greatly after the gas flow passes two strong oblique shocks.
When d = 3 mm, the exit jet begins to compress after
expanding from the exit of the nozzle tip to form a normal
shock wave in free space. The jet flow through the normal
shock is decelerated to subsonic speed while the gas pressure
is increased again. These two factors compel the gas flow
entering the kerf to intensely expand at once, which causes the
gas pressure and density in the gas flow to drop sharply once
more, i.e. to much lower than the back pressure. As a result,
the gas flow in the kerf must meet a much strong right-hand
oblique shock which curves at the boundary, then becomes
a normal shock at the kerf leading edge. The flow behind
the shock wave will be decelerated to subsonic speed once
again and become a complex and rotational field. It is evident
that more loss of available energy of the gas occurs and the
momentum thrust decreases sharply along the kerf leading
edge after the gas flow passes two normal shock waves. The
gas flow behind the second normal shock wave is weakened
almost at the middle of the kerf, as shown figure 2(d).
The above shadowgraphic experimental results imply
that when applied in practice, for the conical nozzle, with
increase of the stand-off distance, the loss in jet energy and
momentum increases and the effectiveness of dross removal
A laser cut kerf under high cut-assist gas pressure
d
Normal
shock
decreases. This explains the fact that for most laser cutting
using a conical nozzle the maximum stand-off distance is
about 0.5 mm. This limits the operating tolerance for most
cutting systems and requires the use of an expensive height
sensing nozzle to overcome some of the stand-off tolerance
problems.
3.1.2. Effect of kerf width and depth. With the gap width
of the kerf being reduced from 0.7 to 0.5 mm and the depth of
the simulating kerf being increased from 10 to 20 mm, the gas
jet inside the cut kerf becomes worse, as shown in figure 3;
besides greatly expanding inside the cut kerf, the flow lines
of the gas are very turbulent. The flow direction is not along
the kerf leading edge but at an angle, as shown in figures 3(a)
and 3(b). As the stand-off distance is increased, the flow lines
disappear gradually and the effective length of the gas flow is
also reduced, and a strong right-hand curved oblique shock is
formed at the right boundary of the flow. The shock impinges
on the kerf leading edge, as shown in figures 3(c) and (d), and
the gas flow is weakened immediately after passing through
the oblique shock. The reason that the reduction in the gap
width and the increase in the depth of the kerf deteriorates
seriously the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow in the
kerf is that the amount of gas flow entering the kerf is reduced
and most of the gas flow impinges on the surface and forms
strong detached normal shock waves. The shock waves
reduce the available kinetic energy of the gas jet and aggravate
1471
H C Man et al
Figure 4. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.5 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 0 mm; (b) d = 1 mm; (c) d = 2 mm; (d) d = 3 mm.
Figure 5. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.5 mm,
P0 = 4 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 1 mm; (b) d = 2 mm; (c) d = 3 mm.
the interactions with the boundary layers of the mixed flow,
which is created at the entrance by the radial flow behind
the detached normal shock impinging on the axial stream.
On the other hand, the influence of friction choking and gas
viscous effects at the kerf wall will be strengthened with the
decrease in the gap width and the increase in the depth of
the kerf. As a consequence, a turbulent dissipative flow is
formed by lower-speed gas mixed with high-velocity gas,
which disrupts the streamlines and reduces energy from the
high-speed stream so that the detachment of the stream from
the kerf leading edge is produced. With increasing stand-
off distance, the influences of these factors on the gas flow
inside the kerf becomes more pronounced due to increase in
the radial expansion of the exit jet. This results in the effective
length of the gas jet inside the kerf being reduced rapidly.
The above results explain the mysterious phenomenon
that in order to achieve an acceptable cut edge in the
conventional laser cutting of steels thicker than 8 mm or
so, the laser focus is often located a few millimetres above
or below the metal surface. The defocused beam diameter
allows a wider cut kerf to be initiated which permits a slightly
better gas jet profile inside the kerf.
The shadowgraphic results imply that in practice, for
a conical nozzle tip with exit diameter 2 mm, the dynamic
characteristics of the gas flow inside the cut kerf are strongly
affected and worsened with the increase in the stand-off
distance, the thickness of the material and the decrease of
the kerf width.
3.1.3. Effect of exit diameter of the nozzle tip. Figure 4
shows a series of shadowgraphs of the gas flow pattern inside
1472
the cut kerf (w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm) for a jet exiting
from a conical nozzle tip with an exit diameter of 1.5 mm
under conditions of stagnation pressure of 7 bar. Compared
with the jet from a similar nozzle but with an exit diameter of
2 mm, the characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf are
better because not only are the radial expansions of the gas
jet at the exit of the nozzle tip and inside the kerf reduced,
but also the strengths of the gas jet along the leading edge of
the kerf and at the exit at the bottom of the kerf are increased.
However, there still exist normal and strong oblique shocks
in the flow pattern and the characteristics of the gas flow
inside the kerf are still strongly dependent on the stand-off
distance. That is, with increase in the stand-off distance, the
flow pattern becomes turbulent and the strength of the gas
jet is weakened. When the kerf width is reduced from 0.7 to
0.5 mm and the depth (i.e. material thickness) is increased
from 10 to 20 mm, the characteristics of the gas jet coming
from the conical nozzle with an exit diameter of 1.5 mm are
still better than that coming from a similar conical nozzle
with an exit diameter of 2 mm. However, with increase in
the stand-off distance, the characteristics of the gas jet also
degrade. When d = 2 mm, a curved and strong oblique shock
forms and the jet begins to be detached from the surface so
the strength of jet is quickly weakened. When d = 3 mm,
the flow pattern inside the kerf is basically the same as that
from the conical nozzle tip with an exit diameter of 2 mm.
Thus, for a conical nozzle, the smaller the exit diameter, the
better the flow pattern inside the cut kerf and its effectiveness
in dross removal provided that the stand-off distance is close
to zero.

Figure 6. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a supersonic nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.6 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 0 mm; (b) d = 1 mm; (c) d = 2 mm; (d) d = 3 mm.
Figure 7. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a supersonic nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.6 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.5 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 0 mm; (b) d = 1 mm; (c) d = 2 mm; (d) d = 3 mm.
3.1.4. Effect of inlet stagnation pressure. Figure 5 shows
the characteristics of the gas flow inside the cut kerf for jets
coming from conical nozzle tips with an exit diameter of
1.5 mm (w = 0.7 mm, h = 10 mm) at an inlet stagnation
pressure of 4 bar. Similar results were obtained on a nozzle
with an exit diameter of 2 mm. The shadowgraphic results
show that with the inlet stagnation pressure being decreased
from 7 to 4 bar, the dynamic characteristics of the flow inside
the kerf are better at 4 bar than those at 7 bar because the gas
flow not only passes through the whole kerf leading edge but
also flows out of the bottom of the kerf without significant
divergence. The sensitivity of the gas flow inside the kerf to
the change of stand-off distance is also less in the case of 4
bar of pressure.
The results imply that in practice, for the conical nozzle
tip, the higher the inlet stagnation pressure, the greater the
influence of the stand-off distance, the kerf width and the
thickness of material on the dynamic characteristics of the gas
flow inside the kerf. Effective dross removal is not achievable
by simply increasing the inlet pressure.
3.2. Supersonic nozzle tip
3.2.1. Effect of width, depth and stand-off distance. For
the supersonic nozzle tip with an exit diameter of 1.6 mm
and a working pressure of 7 bar, the dynamic characteristics
of the gas flow pattern inside the kerf with a kerf width of
0.7 mm and a depth of 10 mm are much better than those
of the conical nozzle tip, as shown in figure 6. The gas jet
almost does not expand radially after it enters the kerf. The
gas boundary is tidy and only very weak oblique shock waves
are observed in the gas flow field. The obvious features of
A laser cut kerf under high cut-assist gas pressure
the supersonic nozzle tip are that the gas flow inside the kerf
is independent of the stand-off distance and that the strength
of the gas jet departing from the bottom of the kerf is much
stronger than that of a conical nozzle tip. This provides a
large process tolerance.
These characteristics are attributed to the steady exit jet
with a uniform distribution and a tidy boundary without radial
expansion. In this case the portion of the gas flow entering the
kerf is obviously much greater than that of a conical nozzle
tip. The radial uniform distribution of pressure, density and
speed in the flow field eliminates totally any strong oblique
and normal shock waves in the flow field inside the kerf and
makes the effects of friction choking and gas viscosity very
small. Only a very weak oblique wave exists in the flow field
near the bottom of the kerf due to the angle of the kerf leading
edge. With all these reasons, the dynamic characteristics of
the gas flow inside the kerf are independent of the stand-
off distance. The loss of total available energy becomes a
minimum and the average momentum thrust along the kerf
leading edge achieves a maximum value. This makes dross
removal very effective.
When the kerf width is reduced to 0.5 mm, the supersonic
flow pattern inside the cut kerf deteriorates because the gas
jet begins to expand and the oblique shock wave forms near
the kerf entrance. The strength of the gas jet departing from
the bottom of the kerf is weakened significantly, as shown
in figure 7. One reason for this is that the portion of the
gas jet entering the cut kerf is reduced. Another is that the
effects of gas friction choking and viscosity in the boundary
layers gradually become stronger. Nevertheless, the dynamic
characteristics are still better than those of the conical nozzle
tip and they are not sensitively affected by the increase in the
stand-off distance.
1473
H C Man et al

Figure 8. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a supersonic nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.6 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.35 mm, h = 10 mm. (a) d = 1 mm; (b) d = 2 mm; (c) d = 3 mm.

Figure 9. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a supersonic nozzle tip with exit diameter 1.6 mm,
P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 20 mm. (a) d = 1 mm; (b) d = 2 mm; (c) d = 3 mm.

As the kerf width is further reduced to 0.35 mm, the gas
jet inside the kerf expands significantly, as shown in figure 8.
A detached normal shock forms on the top of the kerf due
to a large portion of the gas jet impinging on the workpiece
surface when the stand-off distance is 1 or 2 mm, as shown in
figures 8(a) and 8(b). The gas jet begins to be detached from
the middle of the leading edge of the kerf due to the strong
effect of friction choking and gas viscosity. This results in
the gas jet departing from the bottom of kerf at an angle to the
kerf leading edge, as shown in figure 8(a). With increase of
the stand-off distance, the gas jet departing from the bottom
of the kerf is gradually weakened. The results indicate that
there exists a minimum kerf width below which effective
dross removal cannot be achieved.
The effect of the depth of the simulating kerf seems
to be smaller than that of the kerf width, as shown in
figure 9. Although the gas jet inside the kerf is gradually
weakened with increase in the depth, the gas jet keeps moving
downwards along the leading edge of the kerf and leaves the
kerf at the bottom without both the detachment of the gas jet
and a normal shock on the top of the kerf. There is only a
weak oblique shock in the gas flow field. On the other hand,
the changes in flow pattern are also small with increase in the
stand-off distance.
The results imply that in practice the dynamic
characteristics of the gas jet of a supersonic nozzle tip inside
the kerf are much better than those of the conical nozzle tip
and that they are almost independent of the nozzle stand-off
distance. The kerf width has a greater effect on the dynamic
characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf than that of the
depth of the kerf.
3.2.2. Effect of inlet pressure deviating from the designed
pressure. When the inlet stagnation pressure is higher
than the designed pressure, i.e. the inlet stagnation pressure
increases from the set 5 to 7 bar, the gas jet expands radially
and further expands after entering the kerf, as shown in
figure 10. With the increase in stand-off distance, the
momentum thrust gradually becomes weakened and the
straight oblique shock in the gas pattern is also changed into
a normal shock, as shown in figures 10(b) and 10(c). After
passing the normal shock, the gas jet becomes turbulent and
is further weakened, as shown in figure 10(c).
The above shows that, for the supersonic nozzle tip,
any great deviation from the designed pressure would
deteriorate the dynamic characteristics of the gas jet inside
the kerf and increase the sensitivity to the stand-off distance.
From the results above, the strong relationship between
the dynamic characteristics of the gas jets inside the cut kerfs
and the stand-off distances for both the conical and supersonic
nozzle tips is mainly caused by the radial expansion of the
exit jet. Radial expansion can result in:
(i) a large portion of the gas jet impinges on the workpiece
surface to form detached normal shocks,

1474
 A laser cut kerf under high cut-assist gas pressure

Figure 10. Shadowgraphs of the dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the kerf for a supersonic nozzle tip with exit diameter
1.7 mm, designed pressure 5 bar, operating pressure P0 = 7 bar, w = 0.7 mm, h = 20 mm. (a) d = 1 mm; (b) d = 2 mm; (c) d = 3 mm.

(a) (b)
Figure 11. SEM micrographs of the laser cut edges of a 2 mm thick SiC/Al metal matrix composite using (a) a supersonic nozzle tip and
(b) a conical nozzle tip.

(a) (b)
Figure 12. SEM micrographs of the laser cut edges of 5 mm thick stainless steel using (a) a supersonic nozzle tip and (b) a conical nozzle tip.

(ii) disruption of the radial uniform distribution of the gas
pressure, density and speed in the flow field;
(iii) the occurrence of some strong oblique and normal shock
waves.
These effects result in high gas consumption, loss in
the available kinetic energy and reduction of the momentum
thrust of the gas jet inside the cut kerf. For the subsonic
nozzle tip, this situation will become more serious with an
increase in inlet stagnation pressure P0 and an increase in
stand-off distance. Therefore, reducing the exit diameter of
the nozzle tip and decreasing the inlet stagnation pressure
P0 will improve the dynamic characteristics of the gas jet
inside the kerf and, because the radial expansion of the exit
jet becomes smaller, the sensitivity to the stand-off distance
will be weakened, as shown in figures 4 and 5. However,
the reduction in the exit diameter will shorten the effective
length of the exit jet and the decrease of P0 will decrease the
total available energy of the exit jet. Most of these problems
can be overcome by the supersonic nozzle.

1475
H C Man et al
3.3. Laser cutting experiment
A supersonic nozzle tip with an exit diameter of 1.7 mm
and a designed working pressure of 5 bar, and a subsonic
nozzle tip (conical type) with an exit diameter of 1.5 mm
were used in the laser cutting experiments with a 2 mm
SiC/Al metal matrix composite and 5 mm stainless steel. All
cutting experiments were carried out under an inlet stagnation
pressure of 5 bar of nitrogen.
The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs
of the cut edges of the SiC/Al metal matrix composite are
shown in figure 11. The cutting parameters are: stand-off
distance, 1 mm; cutting speed, 4.5 m min1 ; laser power at
workpiece, 2 kW; focus point on the workpiece surface; and
nitrogen pressure, 5 bar. In the case of a conical nozzle, as
shown in figure 11(b), dross adhesion on the bottom cut edge
is more serious than that obtained from a supersonic nozzle,
as shown in figure 11(a).
Figure 12 shows the SEM micrographs of the cut
edges of the laser cutting of 5 mm stainless steel under
the following conditions: stand-off distance, 1 mm; laser
power at workpiece, 2.5 kW; focus point at 3.5 mm
into the workpiece surface; cutting speed, 1.4 m min1 ;
and nitrogen pressure, 5 bar. The dross adhesion at
the bottom was eliminated when a supersonic nozzle was
used.
From the above laser cutting experiments, it is evident
that the flow pattern of the exit jet and the dynamic
characteristics of the gas flow inside the cut kerf play an
important role in the quality of the cut edges. A good gas
jet pattern imparts better dynamic characteristics and enough
momentum thrust into the kerf. It blows away the viscous
molten slag of oxides from the cut kerf with a straight,
uniform and non-turbulent motion thereby creating fine and
uniform striations along the cut surface.
4. Conclusions
Based on the shadowgraphic observations on the dynamic
characteristics of the gas flow patterns inside the simulated
laser cut kerfs and the experiments of laser cutting
using supersonic and subsonic nozzle tips, the following
conclusions can be drawn.
For the conical nozzle tip:
(i) under high inlet stagnation pressure, the exit jet
presents a radially expanding flow, which deteriorates
the dynamic characteristics of the gas jet inside the cut
kerf;
(ii) the behaviour of the gas jet inside the cut kerf is strongly
influenced by the variations in stand-off distance and is
worsened with increase in stand-off distance;
(iii) the sensitivity of the flow pattern to the variations in
the stand-off distance is enhanced with an increase in
the inlet stagnation pressure and the thickness of the
workpiece, and with a decrease in kerf width;
(iv) the wastage of laser cut-assist gas is serious and increases
with increase in the inlet stagnation pressure P0 .
1476
For the supersonic nozzle tip:
(i) when operating at the designed pressure, the exit
jet imparts a pattern with a tidy boundary and
a uniform distribution which greatly improves the
dynamic characteristics of the gas flow inside the cut
kerf;
(ii) under the conditions of designed pressure, the
behaviour of the gas flow inside the cut kerf is
independent of the variations of stand-off distance but
is influenced by the kerf width and the thickness of the
workpiece;
(iii) any great deviation, i.e. >40%, from the designed
pressure results in the deterioration of the gas dynamic
characteristics and an increase in the sensitivity to the
variations in stand-off distance;
(iv) under the conditions of designed pressure, the quality
of the cut edge is significantly better than that obtained
from a subsonic nozzle.
The clean cut effect obtained by the conventional
practice of using a conical nozzle tip and 1030 bar of inert
cut-assist gas can be achieved by using a supersonic tip at a
much lower gas pressure, i.e. 510 bar. This alternative can
greatly help to cut down dramatically the operational cost of
high-pressure laser cutting.
Acknowledgments
The work described in this paper was substantially supported
by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region, China (project No HKP
107/95E).
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