• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.71-81
• /
• 1994

Laser cutting is experiencing a rising worldwide acceptance in the industry. Expert systems are necessary for the systematic arrangement and searching of experimental data existing in journal papers, job handbooks, etc.. This paper proposes an expert system for the selection of the appropriate laser cutting variables from the available database. Optimum cutting conditions according to the given cutting velocity were searched and qualitative comments which are difficult to be used as database variables were shown at each velocity using the binary and fuzzy inference. These comments could be informative to unskilled operators of the laser cutting process. Typical cutting conditions of the mild steel and stainless steel were included and the working range and quality variations were displayed graphically. The proposed algorithm was implemented in an IBM compatible personal computer as an expert system for CO$_{2}$ laser cutting to derive the optimum cutting conditions by using the turbo prolog.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.35-40
• /
• 2011

5-axis laser cutting has great advantages when it is applied to three dimensional machining requiring high cutting quality. For developing 5-axis CNC laser cutting systems, however, many problems such as rotating a laser head or a working table, 5-axis servo-control mechanism, tool path generation and post-processing, and collision avoidance between a laser head and a work-piece should be solved. In this paper, we deal with developing a motion simulator for 5-axis laser cutting machine with a nutating cutting head whose rotational axis is in an inclined plane. Two essential modules such as post-processor and cutting motion simulator was developed based on a commercial 3D CAD of UG-NX. The developed system was applied to three dimensional cutting products and showed the validity of the developed methods.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.7-13
• /
• 2009

Five-axis laser cutting has great advantages when it is applied to 3-dimensional machining requiring high cutting quality. For developing 5-axis CNC laser cutting systems, however, many problems such as rotating a laser head or a working table, 5-axis servo-control mechanism, tool path generation and post processing, and collision avoidance between a laser head and a work-piece should be solved. In this paper, we deal with developing a dedicated CAM system based on UG-NX3 for 5-axis laser cutting machine. Two essential modules such as post-processor and cutting motion simulation was developed. The developed system was applied to cutting curve defined on 3-D workpiece in order to show the validity of the proposed methods.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2002

Though the laser cutting process is increasingly used in industry, a process automation and systematic database is still yet to be developed. In this study, as the fundamental step toward the construction of a reliable process expert system, a laser cutting quality monitoring/analysis system is developed based on simulations and experimental results. The relations between laser process parameters and laser cutting surface quality parameters such as kerf geometry, striation, surface roughness and dross formation are characterized and analyzed. A graphical user interface is used to visualize the results.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2010

The FPCB is used for electronic products such as LCD display. The process of manufacturing FPCB includes a cutting process, in which each single FPCB is cut and separated from the panel where a series of FPCBs are arrayed. The most-widely used cutting method is the mechanical punching, which has the problem of creating burrs and cracks. In this paper, the cutting characteristics of the FPCB have been experimented using Nd:YAG DPSS UV laser as a way of solving this problem. To maximize the industrial application of this laser cutting process, test samples of the multilayered FPCB have been chosen as it is actually needed in industry. The cutting area of the FPCB has four different types of layer structure. First, to cut the test sample, the threshold laser cut-off fluence has been found. Various combinations of laser and process parameters have been made to supply the acquired laser cut-off fluence. The cutting characteristics in terms of the variation of the parameters are analyzed. The laser and process parameters are optimized, in order to maximize the cutting speed and to reach the best quality of the cutting area. The laser system for the process automation has been also developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.20-24
• /
• 2010

High speed cutting processes of rigid flexible printed circuit board by making use of high power UV laser with nano-second pulse width have been proposed and investigated experimentally. Also robust laser cutting system has been designed and developed in order to obtain a good cutting quality of rigid and flexible PCB with multi-layers (2-6 layers). Power controller module developed for ourselves is adapted to control the laser output power in the range less than 1%. The systems show the good performance of cutting speed, cutting width and cutting accuracy, respectively. Especially we have confirmed that the short circuit problem due to the carbonized contamination occurred in cross section of multi-layers by thermal effect of high power laser has been improved largely by using multi-pass cutting process with low power and high speed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.39-44
• /
• 2002

As laser cutting process is widely used in industry, an automated on-line process control system has become very important. In this paper, development of a laser cutting monitoring system, which is regarded as the fundamental step toward automation of the process, is presented. Acoustic emission and an artificial neural network were used for the monitoring system. With given process Parameters including laser power and scanning speed the system can predict the suitability of laser beam for the cutting or a stainless steel (STS304) plate.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.576-581
• /
• 2012

A 23 W continuous wavelength $CO_2$ laser system exited by a high-frequency LCC resonant converter is adapted to cut a biodegradable rope fabricated with polybutylene succinate. As the biodegradable rope consists of three twisted strands, the thickness changes relative to the position of the laser beam and we thus propose a method to determine exact cutting depth. In order to obtain the parameters related to the rope cutting, the experimental and theoretical cutting depths are compared and analyzed for a range of laser heat sources. The melted thickness and groove width of the cut biodegradable rope are also examined. The proposed theoretical cutting depth depends on the incident power and target velocity ratio. From these experimental results, the biodegradable rope with a diameter of 22 mm can be cut with a heat source of 50 J/cm resulting in a melted thickness of 1.96 mm and a groove width of 0.65 mm. The laser system is shown to be perfect tool for the processing of biodegradable rope without the occurrence of raveling.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.409-412
• /
• 2004

In this paper, an integrated automation system of pattern design and $CO_2$ laser cutting for diving suits is presented. Pattern design includes grading which creates a full-size range from a base pattern. Tool path for laser cutting from the patterns is generated in G-code format. $CO_2$ Laser cutting machine is developed to help cut the patterns with accuracy and speed. Aluminum profiles, ball screws, and stepping motors are engaged into the machine as frame structure, transfer unit, and driving devices respectively. The developed system is tested in dry suit cutting, convincing it can be readily introduced in driving suits manufacturing with respect to cost and efficiency.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
• /
• v.17 no.10
• /
• pp.2418-2425
• /
• 1993

A two-dimensional transient heat transfer model for reactive gas assisted laser cutting process with a moving Gaussian heat source is developed using a numerical finite difference technique. The kerf width, melting front shape and temperature distribution were calculated by using the boundary-fitted coordinate system to handle the ejection of workpiece material and heat input from reaction and evaporation. An analytical solution for cutting front movement was adopted and numerical simulation was performed to calculate the temperature distribution and melting front thickness. To calculate the moving velocity of cutting front, the normal distribution of the cutting gas velocity was used. The kerf width was revealed to be dependent on the cutting velocity, laser power and cutting gas velocity.