Flow structures around an inclined substrate subjected to a supersonic impinging jet in laser cutting

In laser cutting, the flow structure around a substrate significantly affects the material removal rate, the cutting depth and the surface finish of the cutting front. In this paper, the phenomena of shock wave that is induced by a supersonic impinging jet emanating from a straight nozzle onto a substrate with varying inclined angles has been simulated numerically and visualized experimentally. The numerical model offers fairly good prediction in comparison with the experiments. It transpires that the angle of inclination has a significant and dramatic effect on the flow structure and that a large wall pressure with a steep gradient can be built up when the angle is large. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.