Dross formation and process parameters analysis of fibre laser cutting of stainless steel thin sheets

Abstract

The coronary stent fabrication requires a high-precision profile cut. Fibre lasers present a solution to accomplish these requirements. This paper presents an experimental study of fibre laser cutting of 316L stainless steel thin sheets. The effect of peak pulse power, pulse frequency and cutting speed on the cutting quality for fixed gas type and gas pressure was investigated. A mathematical model based on energy balances for the dross dimensions was formulated. The dross height and the dross diameter were analysed and compared with the experimental results. This allows adjustment of the process parameters to reduce the dimensions of the dross deposited at the bottom of the workpiece during laser cutting of thin sheets