Investigating the effect of laser power modulation in transient states during fusion cutting of 10 mm thick AISI304

In fusion laser cutting of intricate geometries, the processing speed often varies significantly from its nominal value due to inherent machine dynamics. These variations can lead to excessive energetic input and drifts from the reference cut quality. To address defect formation during transient conditions, a conventional approach involves power reduction to compensate for speed variations. This help prevent thermal imbalances and material overheating issues, ultimately preserving the final cut’s quality. An alternative solution is based on pulsed wave emission, providing dynamic and precise control over the thermal energy delivered to the workpiece. In this work, pulsed wave emission was employed to ensure process stability during transient conditions for fusion cutting of 10mm AISI304. A 6kW fiber laser was utilized alongside a coaxial camera-based monitoring setup to observe the melt dynamics. Results demonstrate that power modulation effectively reduces defect formation, and process emission images can be exploited to identify successful cuts.