| The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of the cut, the thickness of the heat-affected zone, and the amount of dross produced by laser cutting green china ceramics.;This study seeks an alternative method to cut greenware, which will reduce the high rate of defect found in conventional punching and trimming. The study was centered on laser cutting and in any machining process the surface properties of the material were considered. This study provides the processing parameters relating to one type of china greenware, but the information gathered will be important in the development of any new laser cutting process for green china ceramic.;The independent variables that were manipulated in this experiment were: moisture content of the greenware, feed rate at which samples are cut, and power of the laser beam. Specimens were laser cut at high, medium, and low levels of each of the independent variables. The investigation was concerned with the effect(s) the independent variations may have on the following dependent variables: quality of cut measured in micro inch, thickness of the heat-affected zone measured in thousandths of an inch, and weight of dross measured in thousandths of a gram.;Statistical analyses were performed on the sets of data obtained after laser cutting. Greatest attention was given to qualifying and quantifying the effects and any relationship with respect to the quality of cut, the thickness of the heat-affected zone, and the amount of dross produced.;The results of this study indicated that the higher the moisture content the better the quality of cut. Low feed rate and/or high power causes the widest heat-affected zone. The higher the power the greater the weight of dross. |
