Parametric investigation of CO2 laser cutting of 2024-T3 alloy

Influence of processing parameters and optimal conditions for CO2 laser cutting of an aluminium–copper alloy (2024-T3) have been determined. Results are evaluated in terms of productivity (i.e. cutting speed) and cut quality. Moreover, main observed effects in each processing mode are discussed. Superior cut quality is obtained when processing in CW mode versus pulsed mode. The results obtained allow affirming that adopting the necessary precautions for preventing laser beam backreflections and under optimized processing conditions (here identified), sound cuts can be made in 2024-T3 Al alloy. This opens a new sort of materials to be cut by existing CO2 laser cutting machines.