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An Experimental Comparative Study of Laser Cutting of Mild Steel Sheets

With and Without Zinc or Aluminum Surface Coating

Conference Paper · May 1997

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1213.1928

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Publication: ‘97 Meeting of Red Iberoamericana sobre Procesamiento de
Materiales por Laser, CYTED Program, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; 05/1997
An Experimental Comparative Study of Laser Cutting of Mild Steel Sheets With
and Without Zinc or Aluminum Surface Coating

Edgardo Gerck - Lasertech1S/A - DEF/FEM/UNICAMP2

Jorge L. Lima - Lasercam1- DEF/FEM/UNICAMP

Abstract

This paper presents the summary of a experimental study related to the

gas-assisted CO2 laser cutting of mild steel sheets, with and without a

surface coating, of zinc or aluminum. The main objective of the study was

the comparative analysis of the achieved results of the laser cutting of a

complex geometrical part profile, including sharp angles. Other parameters

were the sheet thickness and the temporal laser power output mode, with the

laser cutting always occurring at maximum speed. The conclusions were

that, for a thin steel sheet, the addition of a surface coating layer with few

tens of micron can affect more the laser cutting process results than a

comparatively much higher increase in the sheet thickness, and that the laser

power output regime may remarkably influence the cutting results. Some

results tables and photos are presented.

Keywords: laser cutting; coated steel sheets; superpulse; CO2 laser system.

(originally written in Portuguese, delivered in Portuguese and Spanish)

1 C.P. 1201; C.E.P.: 13001-970, Campinas - SP - Brazil; Current email: [email protected]

DEF/FEM/UNICAMP - Campinas - São Paulo - Brazil; E-mail: [email protected]

© Copyright by the authors, 1997

1 . Introduction

We present an experimental study related to laser cutting realized on mild steel

sheets with or without zinc or aluminum coating. Nowadays, these surface-coated steel

sheets types has been widely utilized in several industrial manufacturing activities, then

a better comprehension of the laser cutting process of such materials is very important.

Here, the major objective was to investigate the influence of the presence of thin anti-

corrosives metallic surface coatings on mild steel sheets relatively to the results of

oxygen gas-assisted CO2 laser cutting process of a complex geometrical cut path, and to

compare with the results obtained on the corresponding uncoated steel sheets.

Assuming here that some common criteria for laser cut quality on the parts such

as mean roughness, inclination of cut surface, and the HAZ (heat-affected zone) width

would not be considered, due to the fact that many adopted experimental process

parameters were not the more appropriate ones for a real production case. So, the

quality analysis of the parts formed by laser cutting on the steel sheets was concentrate

on the geometrical features of the formed part’s cutting profile, and it was made through

the comparison of the obtained part’s shape by laser cutting with the ideal part’s shape

made by CAD, and through direct measures realized on the laser cut parts, Also, the

characteristics of the HAZ formed by the laser cutting in some parts were

microscopically observed and compared in this experimental study.

As it has been recognized [1], the reactive gas-assisted laser cutting of ferrous

metals is still considered a complex phenomenon because, beyond the mechanisms of

laser beam energy absorption by the metal surface and thermal conduction through the

metal volume, it takes place convective mechanisms and thermochemical reactions

between the iron and the O2 gas cutting into the thin melt metal layer formed in the cut

front advance during the laser cutting process [1]. Moreover, the laser cutting,

differently of the others thermal cutting processes, involves a extremely fast application

and transfer of heat which is accompanied by very high temperatures and thermal

gradients. So, the conventional thermodynamic approaches were not adequate to explain

fully and correctly the laser cutting process.

2 . Experimental Procedure

The selected materials for the laser cutting were composed by hot-rolled SAE

1006 steel sheets, which were present in the following nominal thickness: 0.9 mm, 1.5

mm, and 2.0 mm. A percentage of the total number of these mild steel sheets was

constituted by zinc-coated sheets and by aluminum-coated sheets. The rest of them was

formed by sheets without any metallic coating. The aluminum-coated steel sheets was

present in the 1.5-mm thickness only.

It was utilized for this experimental procedure of laser cutting a 3-axis CNC

(Computer Numerical Control)-controlled CO2 laser system. This CNC/laser system

was integrated with a CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided

Manufacture) system wherein the drawings of the bidimensional parts designed to laser

cutting operation was made by CAD with a final precision of ± 0.00001 mm. The CAD

software was integrated with the CAM3™, a CAM software optimized for laser

processing of materials, and its precision is ± 0.001 mm for the x-y Cartesian

Coordinates of the relative laser head/workpiece movement. With only a few process

data, the CAM3™ automatically generated a CNC part program with the complete data
both of the part laser cutting path, based on the previous CAD drawing data, and of the

laser cutting process parameters.

The laser machine utilized was the MT-1000Ô model [2], a CNC-controlled

high-power CO2 laser developed by LASERTECH© S/A. The CNC unit of the

MT-1000Ô was commanded through the CNCXY-2Ô software, which controlled, in

real-time, every parameter of the laser cutting process. The functional characteristics of

the CNCXY-2Ô were established in manner of to warrant the laser cutting process

repeatability inside a tolerance range superior to mechanical capability of the laser

cutting system.

The MT-1000Ô laser source was an axial slow-flow CO 2 laser type. It power

output regime occurs both in CW and superpulsed laser modes [2], and it achieves

3,000 watts peak-power in superpulsed mode. The table 1 following presents an

informative summary of the MT-1000Ô machine’s principal features.

TABLE 1 : Technical features of CNC Laser Cutting Machine MT-1000Ô. [2]

Laser power:............................3,000 W Capacity:...................up to 12.0 mm steel
Cutting area:.....................2 m X 1.6 m Cutting types:..................CW, superpulse
Max. speed:....................30 mm/minute Smallest drilled hole:...................0.1 mm
Precision:................................0.05 mm Z axis:.........................Contactless sensor
Weight:...................................4,500 Kg Structure:..............Pre-aligned monoblock
Motors:...................................Servo AC Laser base:....................Granite 1,000 Kg
Linear guides:.......................Dust-proof CNC with 80 bits precision
Control pad............................Hand-held Gases controlled by CNC

The following figures show photos of the MT1000™ CNC laser system:
 FIGURE 1 - Photo showing the opened front view of the MT-
1000 laser machine and the work area, where are seen the laser
head block (A), the X-axis movement system of laser head block
(B), and the Y-axis movement work table (C), the gas cutting
nozzle assembly (D), and the contactless sensor (E). [2]

FIGURE 2 - Detail of the MT-1000 laser machine showing the laser

head set during a steel sheet laser cutting job. The laser focusing
optics lodgment (A), the gases cutting nozzle assembly (B), the
contactless inductive sensor (C), the flow tubes for N 2 (T1) and O2
gases cutting (T2), and for exit (T3) and entry (T4) of pumped water
for laser focusing optics cooling, are presented.[2]
So, for the experimental procedure, it was initially produced a drawing of a

bidimensional test part, which had arbitrary dimensions and a geometrical profile with

the presence on it of sharp angles, and the CNC laser cutting program by the
CAD/CAM system. Some experimental part and process’s parameters determined were:

 Cutting perimeter = 558.600 mm  Part area = 8420 mm2

 Maximum width = 99.046 mm  Laser beam cutting entries = 3
 Maximum height = 85.000 mm  Auxiliary cutting gas = O2

It was established the use of distinct laser operation parameters sets, with the laser

operating both in CW and geometrical superpulse2 modes. Then, it was performed a

initial test series on laser cutting of the mild steel sheets, whose major objective was to

find the more appropriate parameters sets for the laser beam output and cutting process

for the laser cutting of all experimental steel sheets.

Some prefixed process parameters were:

 Clearance of nozzle tip to sheet surface Þ 1 mm;

 Gas-cutting jet pressure on the sheet surface Þ around 300 kPa;

 Drilling time for the laser beam entry on the sheet Þ 1,55 ms.

After the initial laser cutting tests, a number of ten parts were laser cut for each

workpiece group characterized by its same sheet thickness class, surface coating type,

and laser source output temporal mode. Each workpiece group was identified according

to an alphanumeric code related to its characteristics, and for each part inside each

group was given a identification number. Hence, it was used a XYZ-sequence of

variables for the code of each workpiece group with the following meanings:

 X-variable Þ the type of surface coating present on the sheets: X = AA

® aluminum-coated steel sheet; X = AC ® steel sheet without surface coating;

X = G ® zinc-coated steel sheet.

 Y-variable Þ the steel sheet thickness: Y = 20 ® 2.0 mm-thickness

2 A superpulse regime type wherein the pulse frequency was constant relatively to space instead of time.
 sheets; Y = 15 ® 1.5 mm-thickness sheets; Y = 10 ® 0.9 mm-thickness sheets.

 Z-variable Þ the laser operating parameter set: Z = cw ® set of laser

parameters in CW operation; Z = sp ® set of laser parameters in full superpulse

operation.

After the realization of the laser cutting of all parts inside each group, it was made

the evaluation of the dimensional and shape quality of each obtained part through visual

examination and direct measures on them.

In terms of quality criterion, it was previously determined here that the quality of

the experimental parts should to consider theirs use in a posterior fabrication process

wherein previous part quality aspects like kerf roughness and inclination would not be

important, and, by other hand, the dimensional and shape precision would be

fundamentals, e.g. a welding process. So, for the characterization of shape quality of the

parts was adopted here a classification criterion whereby each sample received a

graduation value of 1, 2 or 3, corresponding to quality classes. This criterion is

concisely showed in the table 2 following.

TABLE 2 : Classification key for the quality based on shape deviations of the
laser cut parts.
Quality Meaning Part geometry Kerf edges
Class
1 Refused Severe defects
2 Acceptable Negligible defects Small defects
3 Good No defects No defects

The dimensional quality succeeds the shape quality classification of the parts,
conform the table 2 above. It was selected some dimensions in the geometrical profile

on the parts for a comparative analysis. The part’s dimension quality was not defined

for the class 1 shape quality (conform the table 2); for the classes 2 and 3 it was

established that, taking into account a laser beam spot size of 0.1 mm, the part’s

dimensional quality should to be considered excellent for the average dimension

deviations lesser or equal to 0.1 mm, and acceptable between 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm

included.

For the microstructural analysis of the parts in their kerf region, the procedure of

metallographic samples preparation was made conform the related ASTM A3-80 norm3.

The area of parts chosen for metallographic analysis was the same in all of them,

and it was located in their upper-right region, near to a right corner. The metallographic

sample’s face of interest was corresponding to the inner thickness sheet region located

along and subjacent to the kerf wall. For it carry out the chemical etching of the

metallographic samples was utilized Nital 2% as reagent, with a application period of 15

seconds on each sample. The samples were identified and then analyzed in a

metallographic analysis optical equipment. In sequence, microphotos of the samples

were taken.

3. Results and Conclusions

The results of measures and data collection realized during and after the

experimental procedure of laser cutting of the workpieces are summarized in the tables

3, 4, 5, and 6, forward. Some macrophotos of a laser cut part are showed following.

3 ASTM A3-80
 FIGURE 3 - A laser cut part G15sp without defects along its geometrical
profile. The mild steel sheet is zinc-coated and the laser cutting was
performed in laser superpulse regime.

FIGURE 4 - A detail of the part in the figure 3, which it is showing one of

the sharp angles in the its profile.

TABLE 3 : Comparative summary of dimension quality achieved in laser cut

parts (all surface coating types; 1.5 mm-thickness steel sheets).

Obs.:
1) A, B, C, D e E ® selected dimensions for measure along the part’s perimeter.
2) The figures below are the relative deviations relating to each selected dimension of part. They
represent the difference between the measure dimension and the CAD nominal dimension.
Part Dimensional deviation relating to the indicated nominal
code part dimension (mm)
A B C D E
AC15cw-6 -0.16 -0.10 +0.07 -0.12 +0.10
G15cw-9 -0.16 -0.10 +0.08 -0.14 +0.04
 AAcw-3 -0.20 -0.12 +0.07 -0.16 +0.06
AC15sp-3 -0.10 -0.04 +0.03 -0.06 +0.06
G15sp-10 -0.20 -0.08 +0.06 -0.13 +0.10
AAsp-7 -0.12 -0.08 +0.06 -0.10 +0.06

TABLE 4 : Experimental data and results for the laser cutting of mild steel sheets
with aluminum surface coating.
Parts distribution due to the
laser cutting quality
Parts Sheet Speed Laser Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Cutting
group thickness cutting power Cf. table Cf. table Cf. table 2 time
(mm) (mm/min) output 2 2 (%) (%) (s)
regime (%)
AAcw 1.5 2012 CW 20 60 20 38.6
AAsp 1.5 913 SP 0 20 80 55.7

TABLE 5 : Experimental data and results for the laser cutting of mild steel sheets
with zinc surface coating.
Parts distribution due to the
laser cutting quality
Parts Sheet Speed Laser Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Cutting
group thickness cutting power Cf. table 2 Cf. table 2 Cf. table 2 time
(mm) (mm/min) output (%) (%) (%) (s)
regime
G10cw 0.9 3386 CW 30 70 0 26.7
G10sp 0.9 1543 SP 0 70 30 36.7
G15cw 1.5 2292 CW 50 50 0 34.5
G15sp 1.5 909 SP 0 50 50 45.9
G20cw 2.0 1729 CW 80 20 0 45.1
G20sp 2.0 835 SP 0 70 30 60.0

TABLE 6 : Experimental data and results for the laser cutting of mild steel sheets
without surface coating.
Parts distribution due to the
laser cutting quality
Parts Sheet Speed Laser Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Cutting
group thickness cutting power Cf. table Cf. table Cf. table time
(mm) (mm/min) output 2 2 2 (s)
regime (%) (%) (%)
AC10cw 0.9 3464 CW 20 70 10 25.4
AC10sp 0.9 1740 SP 0 50 50 33.6
AC15cw 1.5 2526 CW 20 80 0 32.5
 AC15sp 1.5 1474 SP 0 40 60 38.0
AC20cw 2.0 1985 CW 40 60 0 39.9
AC20sp 2.0 1589 SP 0 30 70 55.9

According to the results tables previously showed, from a macroscopic point of

view the major conclusion is that, for a 1.5-mm-thickness mild steel sheet, the presence

of a zinc coating layer with a thickness between 20 mm to 30 mm in each sheet face can

change remarkably the final quality characteristic of a workpiece cut by CO2 laser, with

the laser source operating in continuous wave and the same laser cutting parameters,

comparatively to a increase of 0.5 mm in the base metal thickness of the sheet without

surface coating. This change is less notable when is considered the sheets with 0.9 mm

in thickness. Probably, the influence of the zinc and aluminum coatings on the final

results may to increase with the sheet thickness as well as the coating thickness, but this

assumptions must be verified in a posterior experimental study.

It was observed that the thermogeometrical4 features related to present sharp

angles of the part, which, in general, are adverse for continuous wave laser cutting since

they provoke overburning [3], sometimes with small explosions on the coated sheets

generating defects in the workpiece profile during the laser cutting at these points, can

be strongly reduced with the use of a appropriated laser geometrical-superpulse regime,

although with the sacrifice of the laser cut speed.

As the microstructural observation, the thermal cycle of the laser cutting process

produced a heat affected zone (HAZ) in the formed workpiece kerf region, varying from

40 mm to 70 mm in width, with a microstructural phase clearly visible from microscopic

magnifications equal or greater than 200X in metallographic samples etched by Nital

4 Ability of the part’s geometrical profile to concentrate, or to dissipate, heat during the laser cutting.
 2%. This microstructure presented irregular globules scattered in a homogeneous

matrix. The size, distribution density, and extension of this globules in the HAZ was

modified along with all the others parameters that had influenced the laser cutting

thermal cycle.

The table 7, forward, shows the microscopic measures obtained related to the

microscopic aspects of the experimental procedure. It is noted in table 7 that the HAZ

extension of the aluminum-coated steel sheets (1.5-mm thickness) was equal or greater

than the HAZ extension of the 2-mm-thickness steel sheets (with or without zinc

coating). This result was due to the greater CO2 laser power density necessary to

overcome the high reflectivity of the aluminum surface to the CO 2 laser beam

wavelenght during the laser cut front advance.

TABLE 7 : HAZ width, and zinc and aluminum surface coatings thickness in the
metallographic samples, measured by the microphotos and optical microscopy.
Part Sheet HAZ Thickness of the Thickness of the
code thickness dimension zinc coating aluminum coating
(mm) ± 2.5 mm ± 2.5 mm ± 2.5 mm
AC20cw-1 2 60
AC20sp-5 2 50
AC20sp-9 2 55
G20cw-5 2 60 20
G20cw-6 2 65 20
G20sp-2 2 50 20
G20sp-3 2 45 20
AAcw-4 1.5 70 25
AAsp-2 1.5 60 25
 AAsp-5 1.5 60 25
AAsp-10 1.5 65 25

Forward, it is showed some microphotos of the metallographic samples, wherein

is noted the HAZ microstructural phases.

FIGURE 5 - Cut kerf’s subjacent inner zone in the G15cw-1 part, wherein
is noted the characteristic microstructural phase formed in the HAZ.
Etching: Nital 2%

FIGURE 6 - Laser beam entry side in the AC20cw-1 part. It is noted the
 globules of the HAZ microstructure subjacent located to the kerf (left).
Etching: Nital 2%

FIGURE 7 - Lower cutting edge (left) of the part AAsp-2. It is showed

a discrete dross puddle near to the kerf edge. Etching: Nital 2%

4. References

[ 1 ] - Hsu, M. J., Molian, P. A., Thermochemical modelling in CO2 laser cutting of

carbon steel; Journal of Materials Science, n.29, 1994, pp.5607-5611.

[ 2 ] - CO2 Laser/CNC Machine MT-1000Ô - Technical Characteristics and Operation

Manual, LASERTECHÒ S/A, 1993.

[ 3 ] - Moryasu, M., Hiramoro, S., Hoshinouchi, S. & Ohmine, M., Adaptative control
for high-speed and high-quality laser cutting; In: Laser Welding, Machining and
Materials Processing: Proceedings of the International Congress on Applications of
Lasers and Electro-optics, 1985, pp.129-136.

[ 4 ] - Mazunder, J., Steen, W. M., Heat transfer model for CW laser material
processing, Journal of Applied Physics, v.51, n.2, 1980, pp.941.

[ 5 ] - Powell, J., King, T. G., Menzies, I. A., Frass, K., Optimization of pulsed laser
cutting of mild steels; In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Lasers in
Manufacturing, 1986, pp. 67-75.

[ 6 ] - Powell, J., Frass, K., Menzies, I.A., Fuhr, H., CO2 laser cutting of non-ferrous
metals; In: High Power CO2 Lasers Systems and Applications, Proceedings of SPIE
n.1020, 1989, pp.156-164.

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