Efficiency analysis of laser hole cutting

The efficiency analysis of laser cutting of holes into Kevlar plates is carried out and the specific energy requirement for cutting is computed for different cutting speeds and laser output power levels. The maximum laser scanning speed required for cutting Kevlar plates of different thicknesses is determined. It is found that the minimum specific energy requirements decrease with increasing hole diameter. The energy and exergy efficiencies predicted are related to the resulting cut quality and it is concluded that cutting quality improves significantly at high energy and exergy efficiencies.