MIET 2117 Project 1

Project Proposal

This form is to be completed by all students undertaking the MIET 2117 Project 1. It
should be submitted to supervisors sub gateway under MIET2117 main gateway in
Pebble Pad system by Friday the third week of the semester.
The project proposal is worth 10% of the total assessment of this subject.

Student Details:

KARAN MALIK
Name:
S3202426
Student ID:
S3202426@STUDENT.RMIT.EDU.AU
Email:

1. Project Details

Project Title:

Laser cutting of steels

Company Details (if a company based project):

Croft steel
Company
Name
n/a
Your Position

Summary Description of Project:

Croft steel, leader and member of Australian steel association are organizing a project to
analyze cutting efficiency of range of local and imported steels. As steel is the primary
resource in construction and elsewhere, the main idea is to create a platform to cut steel in
a best possible process by which it is of the best quality, keeping the cutting cost in mind.
The targets would be investigating steel flatness, steel cutting capabilities, quality of the
cut, steel sheet utilization, life of laser head and steel thickness. These tests can be
performed by certain laser equipments which will be provided by Croft steel. Materials for
this project would be local steel, imported steel, steel sheets which would be provided by
Croft steel.

2. Resources

Detail any funding, support etc. (including software)

required from RMIT:

Item Estimated Cost

RMIT library

Latest thesis

What other resources or access will you require to complete this project? Include
access to information and software:

Resource Availability Date

Croft steel laser cutting machine

What are the factors outside your control that might jeopardize successful
completion of this project (company changes etc.)
N/A
3. Objectives

What are the objectives of the project. List up to four and make sure they are
measurable and goal-oriented (eg. test, implement, design etc.)

To apply this technology on materials having thickness more than 15 mm, usually laser
cutting practices in Australia; apply on materials having 6-15 mm thickness.

Achieving highest quality of a laser split cut. By categorizing different levels of cut
quality and achieving the desired quality.

Successfully reducing the laser cutting cost for the entire operation by reducing layers
of cutting.

Using Laser cutting operations on different kind of materials like derlin(hard plastic)
metals, wood, fibers.
4. Project Plan

Draw a rough project plan showing the stages of your

project and the intended dates in the form of a Gantt
(bar) chart:
This project plan should include the key milestones:

Activity Milestone Date

Week 1-submission of project form 05/03/2010

Week 6 project proposal 26/03/2010

Week 5 collecting information 1/04/2010
Week 6,7,8 literature study 30/04/2010
Week 9, 10 performing laser cutting on 15/05/2010
chosen materials.

Week 11, 12, 13 conduct experiments using 04/06/2010

different kinds of laser cutting blades.

Week 14 intro to thesis 11/6/2010

Week 15 presentation 18/06/2010
 SEMESTER 2
Week 2 progress report 16/7/2010

Week 5,6,7,8,9,10 to explore and modify 01/9/2010

proposed laser design to obtain improved
quality of cuts between existing design and
experimental results.
Week11, 12, 13, 14 , final thesis draft, Sub. 29/10/2010
of Disk & thesis

5 Project Description

Background

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for
industrial manufacturing applications. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a
high power laser, by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then melts, burns,
vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high quality
surface finish. Industrial laser cutters are used to cut flat-sheet material as well as
structural and piping materials.

Advantages of laser cutting over mechanical operations include easier work holding and
reduced contamination of work piece (since there is no cutting edge which can become
contaminated by the material or contaminate the material). Precision may be better since
the laser beam doesn't wear during the process. There is also a reduced chance of warping
the material that is being cut, as laser systems have a small heat-affected zone. Some
materials are also very difficult or impossible to cut by more traditional means. A
disadvantage of laser cutting is the high energy required for the entire process.

The American Welding society laser beam cutting (LBC) as thermal cutting process.
Metals can be laser cut with or without an oxidizing assist gas (laser oxidation cutting
and laser fusion cutting, respectively) to remove the molten and vaporized material.
This technology looked attractive to fabricators, since it offered the advantages like less
edge rounding, less dross, narrow heat affected zone, less scrap.

Presently intense research and studies are going on to improve laser cutting on thicker
sections, since lasers capable of simultaneously delivering higher power levels and good
beam mode were not readily available until recently.
Objective:

1. To apply this technology on materials having thickness more than 15 mm, usually
laser cutting practices in Australia; apply on materials having 6-15 mm thickness.
This would be major success for croft steel and laser cutting technology. Thicker
blocks for construction would be able to cut by lasers.
2. Achieving highest quality of a laser split cut. By categorizing different levels of
cut quality and achieving the desired quality. This correspondingly will give us
the exact cut as designed without scraping off inner layer of finish.
3. Successfully reducing the laser cutting cost for the entire operation by reducing
layers of cutting. Targeted cost aims at reducing average cutting cost by 20 cents
per cut. This would be a good profit for the company.
4. Using Laser cutting operations on different kind of materials like derlin (hard
plastic) metals, wood and fibers. Currently Laser cutting practices are restricted to
metal family materials like steels. By introducing laser technology to other
materials will prove very significant in construction and building industry.

Major tasks:

First cutting attempt will be made with help of RMIT laser cutting machine installed in
manufacturing CNC lab. Croft steel will be organizing a desired site where machine
would be installed so as to perform tests to achieve targeted objectives.
In later weeks we will analyze and introduce laser cutting to other materials and
randomly passing it to laser operations. Before performing tests we will chose desired
cutting tool for each objective.

References

Prof M. Brandt, Steen, William M. (1998), Laser Material processing 2nd edition Ed.

6 Skill Areas and Research

The project must draw on knowledge and skill you have acquired during your course. In
addition to this you are expected to carry out extensive research into the key areas, so that
your knowledge and understanding goes beyond what you have learnt so far.

Detail the main areas that you will draw on and the key research areas. Use general terms
e.g. Preventative Maintenance, Robot Kinematics etc. The areas you identify will inform
your Project Introduction.

Use extra sheets if necessary

Project management

CNC machine