Understanding the changed mechanisms of laser beam fusion cutting by applying beam oscillation, based on thermographic analysis

The latest research on applying beam oscillation in laser beam fusion cutting revealed significant process improvements regarding speed and quality. The reason for this increasing process efficiency remains unexplained; however, theoretical investigations suggest the change in energy deposition (respectively heat conduction) as the cause. The present paper aims to analyze the energy deposition by a novel temperature measurement method. For this purpose, a conventional laser beam cutting setup was equipped with beam oscillation technology and a high-speed temperature measurement setup. Various characteristics of the temperature distribution in the process zone (spatial and temporal resolved temperature profiles, maximum and average values, as well as melt pool size) were evaluated for different conditions of beam oscillation (amplitude, frequency, cutting speed). Additionally, the geometrical properties of the process zone, defining the absorptivity have been measured. The comparison with static beam shaping reveals strong temperature volatility, which is induced by the way of energy deposition and an improved absorptivity over a substantial part of the cut front, with the overall result of enhanced heat conduction. For the first time, changed mechanisms applying beam oscillation instead of static beam shaping have been experimentally identified. Based on these measurements, a previously developed explanatory model was not only confirmed but also extended.