Laser-assisted Turning of Aluminium 3003 Alloy
N. Deswal and R. Kant
Experimental work is performed to investigate the machinability of Al 3003 alloy by varying cutting speed and laser power during conventional turning and laser-assisted turning (LAT) with a fibre laser. The outcomes presented that the machining forces and surface roughness could be reduced significantly in LAT compared with conventional turning; however, machining forces and surface roughness were found to be increased during high laser power and low scan speed. Higher machining temperature is obtained during LAT than conventional turning due to extra heating by the laser at the workpiece surface. Low tool wear was observed at low cutting speed whereas high tool wear was obtained at high cutting speed in LAT than conventional turning. Higher chip segmentation frequency is obtained during LAT compared to conventional turning. The presented results are important for manufacturing industries seeking to enhance the machinability of the materials.
Keywords: Fibre laser, aluminium 3003 alloy, turning, hybrid machining, laser-assisted turning(LAT), machinability, machining forces, temperature, tool wear, chip morphology, surface roughness