Experimental study of Nd : YAG laser beam machining - An overview

Since last four decades laser beams are being used in various manufacturing processes. CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers are most widely used in machining of engineering materials. In recent years the researchers have explored the number of ways to improve the quality of cutting, drilling and micromachining of different materials (metals, alloys, ceramics and composites) using Nd:YAG lasers. This paper reviews the experimental investigations carried out to study the effect of various factors/process parameters on the performance of Nd:YAG laser beam machining. The importance of different design of experiments (DOE) methodologies used by various investigators for achieving the optimum value of different quality characteristics has also been discussed in paper. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.