Surface Quality of Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy Parts Machined by Laser Cutting

Abstract

This paper investigates high power CO2 laser cutting of 5mm-thick Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy sheets, aiming to evaluate the effects of various laser cutting parameters on surface roughness. Using multiple linear regression, a mathematical model based on experimental data was proposed to predict the maximum height of the surface Sz as a function of two laser cutting parameters, namely cutting speed and assist-gas pressure. The adequacy of the proposed model was validated by Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA). Experimental data were compared with the model’s data to verify the capability of the proposed model. The results indicated that, for fixed laser power, cutting speed is the predominant cutting parameter that affects the maximum height of surface roughness.