Numerical analysis of supersonic gas-dynamic characteristic in laser cutting

The influnce of the processing parameters oil the dynamic characteristic of supersonic impinging jet in laser cutting is studied numerically. The numerical modeling of a supersonic jet impinging on a plate with a hole is presented to analyze the gas jet-workpiece interaction. The model is able to make quantitative predictions of the effect of the standoff distance and exit Mach number oil the mass flow rate and the axial thrust. The numerical results show that the suitable cutting range is slightly different for different exit Mach number, but the optimal cutting parameter for certain exit total pressure is nearly changeless. So the better cut quality and capacity can be obtained mainly by setting the suitable standoff distance for a certain nozzle pressure. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved