Fiber laser cutting of AZ31 magnesium alloy: numerical and experimental investigation

Fiber laser cutting of AZ31B magnesium alloy is considered. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) for simulation of the transient temperature field in laser cutting process is developed. The FEM take into account of the thermal physical parameters change with temperature, the moving heat source, the surface effect element, the reasonable boundary conditions, etc. The temperature evolution, the temperature gradient, the kerf shape and dimensions are simulated. Kerf width are measured using the Olympus optical microscopy and is compared with the predicted value. The microhardness near the kerf is measured by a Vickers microhardness tester. The results show that the maximum temperature gradually increased with the increase of cutting time. The workpiece temperature rise to 135.72°C from the room temperature. The simulated kerf width are in good agreement with measured results. The heat affected zone is not obvious and the microhardness change little perpendicular to laser cutting direction.

[1]  Bekir Sami Yilbas,et al.  Laser cutting of triangular blanks from thick aluminum foam plate: Thermal stress analysis and morphology , 2014 .

[2]  Bekir Sami Yilbas,et al.  Laser cutting of rectangular geometry in 2024 aluminum alloy: Thermal stress analysis , 2014 .

[3]  B. Yilbas,et al.  Laser cutting of holes in thick sheet metals: Development of stress field , 2009 .

[4]  Jie Zhou,et al.  Optimizing and identifying the process parameters of AZ31 magnesium alloy in hot compression on the base of processing maps , 2015 .

[5]  K. Chung,et al.  Characterization of mechanical property of magnesium AZ31 alloy sheets for warm temperature forming , 2015 .

[6]  C. Chatwin,et al.  Laser hole cutting into bronze: Thermal stress analysis , 2011 .

[7]  A. Pandey,et al.  Numerical Study of Temperature and Stress Fields in Laser Cutting of Aluminium Alloy Sheet , 2014 .

[8]  Q. Le,et al.  Numerical simulation of DC casting of AZ31 magnesium slab at different casting speeds , 2013 .

[9]  S. Bhaduri,et al.  Rapid coating of AZ31 magnesium alloy with calcium deficient hydroxyapatite using microwave energy. , 2015, Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications.

[10]  Karim Kheloufi,et al.  Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Some Parameters on Temperature Field and Kerf Width in Laser Cutting Process , 2012 .

[11]  E. Toyserkani,et al.  A 3D dynamic numerical approach for temperature and thermal stress distributions in multilayer laser solid freeform fabrication process , 2007 .