j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 4 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 412418

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Optimization of kerf quality during pulsed laser cutting of

aluminium alloy sheet
Avanish Kumar Dubey , Vinod Yadava
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, U.P. 211004, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:

In laser beam cutting (LBC) process, the cut quality is of great importance. The quality of

Received 23 April 2007

laser cut kerf mainly depends on appropriate selection of process parameters. Uniform kerf

Received in revised form

with minimum kerf width is of todays demand. It has been found that the kerf width during

16 September 2007

LBC is not uniform along the length of cut and the unevenness is more in case of pulsed

Accepted 7 November 2007

mode of LBC. Till date, no experimental study has been done for kerf unevenness or kerf
deviation along the length of cut. In present paper, two kerf qualities such as kerf deviation
and kerf width have been optimized simultaneously using Taguchi quality loss function

Keywords:

during pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam cutting of aluminium alloy sheet (0.9 mm-thick) which is

Laser beam cutting

very difcult to cut material by LBC process. A considerable improvement in kerf quality has

Nd:YAG

been achieved.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kerf deviation
Kerf width
Simultaneous optimization
Taguchi method

1.

Introduction

In laser beam cutting (LBC) process, the thermal energy of laser

beam is used for melting and vaporizing the sheetmetal. The
molten material is removed by using suitable assist gas at high
pressure (Fig. 1). The most widely used lasers for sheet cutting are continuous wave (CW) CO2 and pulsed Nd:YAG (Luxon
and Parker, 1985). Pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting becomes an
excellent cutting process because of high laser beam intensity, low mean beam power, good focusing characteristics,
and narrow heat affected zone (HAZ) (Chryssolouris, 1991;
Steen, 1991). There has been growing interest in recent years in
the use of pulsed Nd:YAG lasers for precision cutting of thin
sheet metals and for applications that demand narrow kerf
widths and intricate cut proles. Due to its shorter wavelength
(1.06 m) in comparison to CO2 (10.6 m), it is reected to a
lesser extent by metallic surfaces and this high absorptivity

of the Nd:YAG laser enables cutting of even highly reective

materials with relatively less power (Majumdar and Manna,
2003).
The performance of LBC mainly depends on appropriate selection of input process parameters. Due to
convergingdiverging shape of laser beam prole (Fig. 2) the
kerf taper always exist during LBC. Various researchers have
experimentally studied the laser cut qualities such as kerf
width and kerf taper in order to analyse the effect of various process parameters on these quality characteristics. Chen
(1999), during his experimental investigation, found that kerf
width increases with increasing laser power and decreasing
the cutting speed during CO2 laser cutting of 3 mm-thick mild
steel sheet. He also observed that oxygen or air gives wider
kerf while use of inert gas gives the narrow kerf. Ghany and
Newishy (2005) have observed the same variation of kerf width
with cutting speed, laser power, and type of gas and pressure

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9336556602; fax: +91 5322445101/5077.

E-mail addresses: avanishdubey@yahoo.com, avanish@mnnit.ac.in (A.K. Dubey).
0924-0136/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2007.11.048

j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 4 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 412418

413

Nomenclature
k
Kd
Kw
li
lij
lij
li
Lj
n
p
wi
yi

number of signicant control factors

kerf deviation
kerf width
quality loss value in ith experimental run
the quality loss for the ith quality characteristic
at the jth trial condition or run
normalized quality loss value for ith experimental run and jth quality characteristic
maximum quality loss for the ith quality characteristic among all the experimental runs
total normalised quality loss value in jth experimental run
number of experimental runs
number of responses or quality characteristics
weighting factor assigned to ith response or
quality characteristic
response or observed quality value in ith experimental run

Greek symbols

mean value of multiple S/N ratios of all experimental runs
j
multiple S/N ratio of jth trial condition or experimental run
mi
multiple S/N ratio corresponding to optimum
level of ith control factor
opt
predicted multiple S/N ratio at optimum
parameter levels

as above during experimental study of Nd:YAG laser cutting

of 1.2 mm-thick austenitic stainless steel sheet. They have
also found that on increasing pulse frequency the kerf width
decreases. The same effect of laser power and cutting speed on
kerf width during CO2 laser cutting of steel sheets of different
thickness was observed by other researchers also (Lamikiz et
al., 2005; Rajaram et al., 2003; Duley and Gonsalves, 1974). Refs.

Fig. 2 Schematic of typical beam prole.

(Al-Sulaiman et al., 2006; Lum et al., 2000) also show the same
variation of kerf width with laser power and cutting speed
during CO2 laser cutting of different bre composites.
Karatas et al. (2006) found that the kerf width reduces to
minimum when the focus setting is kept on the workpiece
surface for thin sheets (1.5 mm) and inside the workpiece for
thicker sheets (3.5 mm) during hot rolled and pickled steel
cutting using CO2 laser. The experimental study by Prasad
et al. (1998) have shown that laser cutting of metallic coated
steel sheet (1 mm-thick) gives same kerf width for a particular combination of laserlensmetal irrespective of variations
in process parameters. Thawari et al. (2005) have constructed
a typical cutting regime for pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting
of 1 mm-thick nickel-base superalloy (Hastelloy-X) sheet in
terms of extent of spot overlap. It was found that spot overlap required for cut region decreases with increase in pulse
energy and a minimum of 45% spot overlap is suggested for
complete through cutting. They have found that on increasing
spot overlap, the kerf width increases. They also observed that
shorter pulse duration yields lower taper kerf compared to a
longer duration pulse.
Some researchers have applied the scientic way of performing the experiments such as Taguchi methodology (TM)
and response surface methodology (RSM) to analyse and opti-

Fig. 1 Schematic of Nd:YAG laser beam cutting system.

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mize the process parameters in order to achieve better kerf

qualities during LBC. In Refs. (Li et al., 2007; Tam et al., 1992),
authors have applied the Taguchi method to improve the
laser cut qualities in different operating conditions and they
have found the considerable improvement in different quality
characteristics. Mathew et al. (1999) have applied RSM during
pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting of bre reinforced plastic composite sheet (2 mm-thick) and found considerable reduction in
heat affected zone (HAZ) and kerf taper at optimum parameter
levels.
The kerf qualities studied so far does not include the
kerf unevenness or kerf deviation along the length of cut
which is an important quality characteristic for achieving
the stringent design requirements. TM- or RSM-based studies applied for LBC process were aimed to optimize a single
quality characteristic at a time. But it is always desired to
optimize the multiple quality characteristics of the product or process at the same time. Also, researchers have not
tried for optimizing the kerf qualities during pulsed laser cutting of aluminium/aluminium-alloy sheets, which are highly
reective and heat sensitive (thermally conductive) material
and pose difculty during LBC. Authors have found only one
paper concerned with laser cutting of aluminium alloy sheet
by Araujo et al. (2003) who have experimentally studied the
microstructure in HAZ during LBC of 2024 aluminium alloy
sheet by CW CO2 laser beam without using any of DOE techniques.
The objective of the present paper is to minimize the kerf
deviation during pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting of aluminium
alloy sheet (0.9 mm-thick) while maintaining the minimum
kerf width at the same time. For this, multi-objective optimization technique using Taguchi quality loss function has
been incorporated.

2.

Taguchi method for parameter design

Taguchi method of robust parameter design is an ofine

statistical quality control technique in which the level of controllable factors or input process parameters are so chosen
to nullify the variation in responses due to uncontrollable or
noise factors such as humidity, vibration, and environmental
temperature. In Taguchi method the experiments are performed as per standard orthogonal arrays (OA) (Ross, 1988;
Phadke, 1989). The experimental values of quality characteristics are used to compute the quality loss values for
each quality characteristic in all experimental runs. Depending upon the nature of quality characteristics the quality
loss function can be of several types. In the present case
the smaller value of both kerf deviation and kerf width is
desired, therefore the quality loss function in ith trial (li ) for

smaller-the-better case will be used which is given below in

mathematical form (Phadke, 1989):


li =

1 2
yi
n
n


(1)

i=1

where yi are the observed data (or quality characteristics) at

the ith trial of same parameter level, and n is the number of
trials.
For simultaneous optimization of more than one quality
characteristic it is required to compute the normalised quality
loss (lij ) because the unit of quality characteristics are not same
(Antony, 2001).
lij =

lij

(2)

li

where lij = normalized quality loss for ith quality characteristic

at the jth trial condition, and li = maximum quality loss for
the ith quality characteristic among all the trials/experimental
runs. The lij varies from a minimum of zero to a maximum of
1.
If wi represents the weighting factor for the ith quality characteristic, p is the number of quality characteristics, then the
total normalised quality loss for jth trial condition (Lj ) can be
computed as (Antony, 2001):

Lj =

p


wilij

(3)

i=1

Multiple S/N ratio (MSNR) is used to represent the quality

index at each design point. The signal to noise (S/N) represents
the desired part/wastage part. The MSNR corresponding to jth
trial condition (j ) is calculated as (Antony, 2001):
j = 10 log 10 (Lj )

(4)

The aim is always to maximize the MSNR. The average

value of all MSNR when a process parameter is at same distinct level is used to describe the effect of a process parameter
or factor on quality characteristics at that level. A parameter
level corresponding to the maximum average MSNR is called
the optimum level for that parameter. The predicted value of
MSNR (opt ) at optimum parameter levels is calculated by using
following formula (Yang and Tarng, 1998):

opt =  +

k


(mi  )

(5)

i=1

Table 1 Control factors and their levels used in the experiment for aluminium alloy sheet
Symbol
A
B
C
D

Factors

Unit

Gas pressure
Pulse width
Pulse frequency
Cutting speed

kg/cm2
ms
Hz
mm/min

Level 1
4.0
0.8
18
7.5

Level 2
6.0
1.0
23
12.5

Level 3
8.0
1.2
28
17.5

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Table 2 Experimental observations for aluminium alloy sheet using L9 OA

Experiment number

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Factor levels
A

1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3

1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3

1
2
3
2
3
1
3
1
2

1
2
3
3
1
2
2
3
1

where  is the mean MSNR of all experimental runs, k is the

number of signicant control factors, and mi is the average
MSNR for ith control factor corresponding to optimum parameter level. Some verication experiments are conducted at
suggested optimum parameter levels to conrm the predicted
response (Phadke, 1989).
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to estimate quantitatively the relative contribution that each control factor or
parameter makes on the overall measured response. The relative signicance of factors is often represented in terms of
F-ratio or in percentage contribution. Greater the F-ratio more
signicant will be the process parameter.

3.
Experimental procedure and operating
parameters
The experiment was performed on a 200 W pulsed Nd:YAG
laser beam system with CNC work table. The oxygen is used
as an assist gas. The variable process parameters (or control
factors) taken are: assist gas pressure (GP), pulse width (PW) or
pulse duration, pulse frequency (PF), and cutting speed (CS).
Focal length of the lens used is 50.0 mm. Nozzle diameter
(1.0 mm), and nozzle tip distance (1.0 mm), were kept constant
throughout the experiments. The Hindalco (India) made cold
rolled 8011 aluminium alloy sheet of thickness 0.9 mm was
taken as specimen. The quality characteristics analysed are
kerf deviation and kerf width. Four cuts each of 15 mm length
were obtained in each experimental run for all specimens.
The kerf width was measured using the tool makers microscope (Model RTM-900, RADICAL Instruments, India) at 10
magnication. The kerf deviation (Kd ) in each experimental
run is obtained by taking mathematical average of difference
between maximum and minimum top kerf widths for four
cuts measured along length (Fig. 3). The kerf width (Kw ) in each
experimental run is obtained by taking mathematical average
of top kerf widths of four cuts where the kerf width of each
cut is the average of top kerf widths measured at four places
along the length of cut.
Three levels of each control factors/process parameters
have been selected without considering the interaction effect.
The numerical value of control factors at different levels
for cutting aluminium alloy sheets is shown in Table 1.
An exhaustive pilot experimentation has been conducted
to decide the parameter range for complete through cutting. The initial setting (level) of process parameters for

Kd (mm)

Kw (mm)

0.0400
0.0900
0.0400
0.0500
0.0200
0.0200
0.0300
0.0200
0.0400

0.2625
0.2475
0.2300
0.2600
0.2500
0.2500
0.2225
0.2300
0.2225

Fig. 3 Schematic representation of laser cut kerf.

cutting aluminium alloy sheet is: oxygen pressure, 4 kg/cm2 ;

pulse width, 0.8 ms; pulse frequency, 18 Hz; cutting speed,
7.5 mm/min. The experiments are performed as per standard
L9 OA (Table 2).

4.

Results and discussion

The experimental values of responses Kd and Kw are shown in

Table 2. The variation of Kd and Kw with experiment number is shown in Fig. 4. The quality loss values for quality
characteristics Kd and Kw in each experimental run are calculated using Eq. (1). The quality loss, normalised quality
loss, total normalised quality loss, and MSNR values have

Fig. 4 Variation of kerf deviation and kerf width with

experiment number.

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Table 3 Quality loss values and multiple S/N ratio (MSNR) for aluminium alloy sheet
Experiment number

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Quality loss

Normalised quality loss

Kd

Kw

Kd

Kw

0.0016
0.0081
0.0016
0.0025
0.0004
0.0004
0.0009
0.0004
0.0016

0.0689
0.0613
0.0529
0.0676
0.0625
0.0625
0.0495
0.0529
0.0495

0.1975
1.0000
0.1975
0.3086
0.0494
0.0494
0.1111
0.0494
0.1975

1.0000
0.8897
0.7678
0.9811
0.9071
0.9071
0.7184
0.7678
0.7184

Total normalised quality loss

0.5988
0.9449
0.4827
0.6449
0.4783
0.4783
0.4148
0.4086
0.4580

MSNR (dB)

2.2272
0.2461
3.1632
1.9051
3.2030
3.2030
3.8216
3.8870
3.3913

Mean of MSNR,  = 2.7831 dB.

Table 4 Effect of factor level on multiple S/N ratio

Symbol

A
B
C
D
a

Factors

Gas pressure
Pulse width
Pulse frequency
Cutting speed

Mean of multiple S/N ratios (dB)

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

1.8788
2.6513
3.1057
2.9405

2.7704
2.4454
1.8475
2.4236

3.7000a
3.2525a
3.4177a
2.9851a

Maximum minimum

Rank

1.8212
0.8071
1.5702
0.5615

1
3
2
4

Optimum level.

Table 5 Results of ANOVA for multiple kerf quality (Kd and Kw )

Symbol
A
B
C
D
Error
Pooled error
Total
a

Factors

Degrees of freedom

Gas pressure
Pulse width
Pulse frequency
Cutting speed

2
2
2
2

Sum of squares

4.9759
1.0552a
4.1464
0.5877a

1.6429
10.7652

Mean squares

2.4880
0.5276
2.0732
0.2939

0.4107

6.0576
1.2846
5.0477
0.7156

Contribution (%)
46.2220
9.8022
38.5167
5.4593

100

Pooled factor.

been computed using Eqs. (2)(4). These values are shown

in Table 3. In calculating total normalized quality loss, two
equal weights, i.e. w1 = w2 = 0.5 for both Kd and Kw have
been assigned assuming equal importance of both the quality
characteristics.
The effect of different control factors on multiple quality characteristics Kd and Kw is shown in factor response
(Table 4). The optimum levels of different control factors for
minimum kerf deviation and kerf width obtained are: gas pressure at level 3 (8.0 kg/cm2 ), pulse width at level 3 (1.2 ms),
pulse frequency at level 3 (28 Hz), and cutting speed at level 3
(17.5 mm/min). The ranking shown in table shows the relative
contribution of the factors on multiple quality characteristics.
The graphical representation of factor effect on multiple quality characteristics (Kd and Kw ) at different levels is shown in
Fig. 5.
The analysis of variance is given in Table 5. The results of
ANOVA are compared with standard F-ratio table and it was
found that assist gas pressure and pulse frequency are the signicant control factors under more than 90% condence level.

The percentage contribution of different control factors on

multiple quality characteristics (Kd and Kw ) in increasing order
are: cutting speed (5.4%), pulse width (9.8%), pulse frequency
(38.5%), and gas pressure (46.2%).

Fig. 5 Effect of factor levels on multiple S/N ratio (0.9 mm

Al-alloy sheet).

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Table 6 Results of conrmation experiment at

optimum parameter level
Initial parameter
setting

Level
Kd (mm)
Kw (mm)
MSNR (dB)

A1 B1 C1 D1
0.0400
0.2625
2.2272

Optimal laser cutting

parameters
Prediction

Experiment

A3 B3 C3 D3

4.3346

A3 B3 C3 D3
0.0100
0.2250
4.2765

Improvement in MSNR = 2.0493 dB.

Fig. 6 Scanned view of kerf quality at (a) initial parameter

level and (b) optimum parameter level.

Conducting a verication experiment is a crucial nal step

of a robust parameter design. Its purpose is to verify that
the optimum conditions suggested by the matrix experiment
do indeed give the projected improvement. The conrmation
experiment is performed by conducting a test with optimal
levels of the control factors calculated previously. The predicted value of MSNR obtained using Eq. (5) and that from
conrmation tests are shown in Table 6. The improvement in
multiple S/N ratio at the optimum levels of process parameters
is found to be 2.0493 dB. The value of Kd (mm) and Kw (mm) at
optimum levels of process parameters are 0.01 and 0.2250 mm,
respectively against the initial parameter settings of 0.04 and
0.2625 mm. Hence, a considerable reduction in both, kerf deviation and kerf width has been obtained. The scanned view
of cut kerfs at initial and optimum parameter level both are
shown in Fig. 6.

5.

Conclusions

The multi-objective optimization of kerf quality such as kerf

deviation and kerf width using Taguchi quality loss function
has been done for pulsed laser cutting of thin sheet of aluminium alloy. Following conclusions can be drawn on the basis
of results obtained:
(1) The optimum levels of process parameters for minimum
kerf deviation and kerf width for cutting aluminium alloy
sheet of 0.9 mm thickness is: gas pressure at 8.0 kg/cm2 ,
pulse width at 1.2 ms, pulse frequency at 28 Hz, and cutting
speed at 17.5 mm/min.

417

(2) Assist gas pressure and pulse frequency signicantly

affect the kerf quality in the operating range of process
parameters.
(3) The kerf deviation and kerf width have been reduced up to
0.01 and 0.2250 mm, respectively against the initial value
of kerf deviation and kerf width as 0.04 and 0.2625 mm,
respectively.
(4) The multiple S/N ratio at any conditions has been
improved by 2.0493 dB.

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