Investigation of Groove Width Created by Fiber Laser on ST52 Steel

Abstract

This paper has presented the results of a study aiming to identify the effects of laser power and two other parameters on groove formation in ST52 steel using a fiber laser and to optimize these parameters so that the groove aspect ratio could be maximized. The Taguchi method has been used to explore the effects of three parameters, namely, laser power, scan speed, and frequency, on the laser grooving characteristics. The analysis has shown that the first parameter has a strong impact of about 69.95 %, while the other two have led to about 15.73 % and 14.31 %, respectively. Each scenario included three arrangements of factors and levels that corresponded to the L9 orthogonal array. Subsequently, a total of nine experiments were conducted, with an extensive variation in the formed grooves observed. The obtained results have shown that the groove’s deepness and grooves’ width vary substantially when the laser step settings through the developed quantitative range. The subsequent achievement in optimal response elaboration has the following ratio: 100 W laser power, 100 mm/s scan speed, and 20 kHz is a frequency. Moreover, the described ration corresponds to values derived through regression analysis. For that reason, the performed research provides a valuable contribution to furthering knowledge in laser-material interaction during the texturing procedure.