Product Code: ICAL09_P102

The Effect of Moisture Content and Tracheids Orientation in Fibre Laser Cutting of Dry and Wet Pine Wood
Authors:
Juan Carlos Hernandez-Castaneda, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Huseyin Kursad Sezer, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Lin Li, The University of Manchester; Manchester Great Britain
Presented at ICALEO 2009

This paper reports a statistical analysis of the multiple-pass laser cutting of dry and wet pine wood with a single mode Ytterbium fibre laser. The laser wood-cutting is a multi-factor process requiring parameter optimization to deliver good quality cuts at optimum process efficiency. This study employs a Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical modelling approach to investigate the significant process parameters and their interactions. A high brightness, 1 kW IPG single mode Ytterbium-doped fibre laser was employed to cut dry and wet pine wood samples. The anisotropic nature of wood means that yield and cut quality needs to be analysed both parallel and perpendicular to the wood fibre. Additional parameters investigated were laser power, focal plane position (f.p.p.), traverse speed, gas pressure and number of passes. Results were compared against a range of process responses that define the efficiency (kerf depth, mass removal, specific energy consumption) and quality of the cut section (heat affected zone - HAZ, kerf width, edge surface roughness, and perpendicularity). It was concluded that majority of these responses are significantly affected by the physical structure of the wood under study (i.e. direction of cut) and its moisture content.

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