Water Jet-assisted Laser Machining of Al 5052 Alloy and the Effects Thereof on Groove Characteristics
K. Shao, Q-L. Zhou, Y. Liu and C-F. Wang
Experiments and finite element (FE) software were used to examine the impact of different water jet velocities on the surface of Al 5052 alloy during water jet-assisted laser machining in terms of the machined groove characteristics. The results show that the impact effect of the water jet on the material increases with the velocity of the water jet. Water jet-assisted laser machining of the Al 5052 alloy was seen to be basically free of defects such as slag and a resolidified layer, which can improve the processing quality. At the same time, it was found in that when the water jet velocity reaches 30 m/s, a better groove quality can be obtained, which does not have defects such as slag, microcracks and a re-coagulated layer. This work demonstrates that water jet-assisted laser technology is a promising machining method for difficult-to-process metal materials.
Keywords: Fibre laser, Al5052, aluminium alloy, water jet-assisted laser machining, water jet velocity, groove, finite element (FE)