Gas flow parameters in laser cutting of wood — nozzle design

The Automated Lumber Processing System (ALPS) is an ongoing team research effort to optimize the yield of parts in a furniture rough mill. The process is designed to couple aspects of computer vision, computer optimization of yield, and laser cutting. This research is focused on optimizing laser wood cutting. Laser machining of lumber has the advantage over conventional processing in that it reduces wasted material (i.e., kerf), it can be numerically controlled by computer, and it can make blind cuts around defective areas. Wood cutting is executed using a laser in conjunction with an air-jet nozzle. A supersonic nozzle of new design is used in this study to investigate the effect of high-velocity air on the cutting parameters by 1) maximizing the cutting speed (at a given thickness); and 2) improving the quality of the cut surfaces. A supersonic nozzle was designed and constructed to accelerate pressurized air to Mach = 1.8 at the nozzle orifice. The exit velocity was verified visually by a shadowgraph technique.

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