Laser beam machining

The cost of cutting hard-to-machine materials by conventional mechanical machining processes is high due to the low material removal rate and short tool life, and some materials are not possible to be cut by the conventional machining process at all. Laser beam machining is the machining processes involving a laser beam as a heat source. It is a thermal process used to remove materials without mechanical engagement with workpiece material where the workpiece is heated to melting or boiling point and removed by melt ejection, vaporization, or ablation mechanisms. In contrast with a conventional machine tool, the laser radiation does not experience wear, and material removal is not dependent on its hardness but on the optical properties of the laser and the optical and thermophysical properties of the material. This chapter summarizes the up-to-date progress of laser beam machining. It presents the basics and characteristics of industrial lasers and the state-of-the-art developments in laser beam machining.