CNC Control of a Laser Cutting Machine

Lucian0 E. Chiang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Jorge Ramos G., Civil Engineer
Instructor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
P. Universidad CatBlica de Chile
Avda. Vicuiia Mackenna 4860
Santiago, Chile
FAX: (056)-552-4054

Abmaci - This article describes the design and construction of a low
power laser cutting machine with three degrees o f freedom for
applications such as wood, textile fabrics and the like. An available
10 Watt laser gun is used to provide the cutting mechanism.
T h e results s h o w that such a m a c h i n e is f e a s i b l e a t a
reasonable cost for applications where speed and repeatability are
more important than high precision and power
LASER CU?TLNG A T LOW POWERS (FUNDAMENTALS)
Laser cutting of materials is today a feasible and well studied
process. Its usage in industry has grown steadily and with great
s u c c e s s f o r the past 20 years, specially in the manufacturing
industry where the majority of the large industrial lasers for cutting
are found. A large number of applications can be found for example
in the automobile, aircraft and other high-tech companies.
It is also noticeable that in the last few years the laser market
has experienced a surprisingly large growth in the demand for small
sized low power lasers, i.e. ranging from 10 to 200 watts. This is
a consequence of becoming available at affordable prices and yet
offering simple, safer and cheaper maintenance. When used in
conjunction with a CNC beam delivery system connected to P C
units they are known as "Laser Desktops", because the physical
space required to carry the work is relative small compared with the
large industrial units and yet the range of materials and applications
attainable is still enormous.
Cuiiing of Meials
In metal cutting the laser beam focused at a very small spot
diameter in the substratum causes the material to raise its temperature
to the point at which a phase change from solid to liquid occurs. If
the optical power applied is pulsed and high enough, vaporization of
the molten pool that gets formed will take place increasing the
pressure locally. In turn this will cause the ejection of the molten
material out of the pool. The melt leaves the area as droplets and the
walls of the resulting blind hole solidify rapidly after the laser pulse
ends leaving a stressed zone which can then be linked to another by
the next pulse. Once the whole depth of the material has been drilled
through, the laser beam can start IO move, delivering its power
continuously or pulsed. A cutting front is then sustained, in which
the solid is melted and the molten material is forced out underneath
the sheet by means of a high pressure assist gas jet [ 11.
Ferrous alloy sheets such as low carbon and stainless steels
require optical power in amounts as high as 1 k W in order to be cut
successfully. For high conductivity and reflectivity metals such a s
copper and aluminum and their respective alloys the a m o u n t o f
power density to start a localized fusion zone is of the order o f 2
kW. Most metals und met:illic nlloys hnve high melting nnd boiling
points due to their strong metallic-type bonding, and once the metal
has been melted its viscosity and surface tension offer strong
resistonce to the motion o f the liquid out off the cutting front.
Laser cutting of metals i s enhanced with the action of a
coaxial gas jet at high pressure (250 psig and above) which serves
as a shear force that impels the melted material out of the cut. This
process is called "melt shearing", and it leaves good quality edge
finish but with the presence of striations at different degrees.
Commonly oxygen is applied when cutting ferrous metals
generating an exothermic chemical reaction that releases almost 50%
of the total heat required in the process. Nitrogen is often applied
when it is necessary to avoid oxide formation at the cut edges.
Cutring of non-meials
For the majority of non-metallic materials such as polymers,
woods, ceramics and organic substances, the absorptivity at the CO2
laser wavelength (10.6 p m ) is very high, reaching close to 90% at
room temperature. Therefore the p r o c e s s involved in cutting
requires less energy density at an early stage than metal cutting.
Laser cutting of non-metals involves three mechanisms in
which one of them becomes more dominant for a given nonmetallic
material. They are: melt shearing, vaporization a n d chemical
degradation. They determine the cut edge quality possible in every
case. A description of each process is given below:
M d i shearing : most thermoplastics (nylon, polystyrene etc.) are cut
quickly with a high q u a l i t y e d g e w h i c h m a y b e c o v e r e d by
microscopic ripples associated with the melt ejection from the cut
zone. I n this process the CO2 laser generates a small molten pool
which is blown away by the gas jet acting coaxially with the beam.
The material ejected during cutting, by means of a inert gas jet, has
the same chemistry as the material being cut and thus it experiences
only a p h a x change from solid to liquid [2].
Vaporizafion: polymethyl methacrylate (acrylic) and polyacetal are
commonly laser cut by this mechanism. In the case of acrylic, it
boils to give off a vapor of methyl methacrylate and the process is
mostly a physical phase change from solid to liquid to vapor with
minimal breaking of chemical bonds. The cut edge is of extremely
high quality and superior to flame polished or mechanically cut
edges.
The vapor of methyl methacrylate formed when cutting
acrylic is highly absorptive of the laser radiation and can be ignited
by the beam. This has to be avoided as i t damages the surrounding
acrylic. One way to prevent this is increasing the feed rate or the
p r e s s u r e o f the assist gas. C u t t i n g polyacetal produces large
volumes of gaseous formaldehyde but the cut edge is flat, smooth
and has a polished appearance similar to acrylic cuts.
Chemical degradation: m o s t thermoset polymers, wood based
products. rubber products und epoxy resins a r e laser cut by this
mechanism. It involves the laser beam carrying out a large chemical
work during cutting (combustion . The energy delivered by the laser
f'
serves to mcxlify the integrity o the material by means of breaking
the chemical bonds. In wood cutting the large cellulose molecules
are reduced to their constituent parts of carbon and water vapor. The

2 36
 cut edges generated by this mechanism tend to be flat and smooth
but covered in a fine layer of residual carbon dust. PVC is also cut
by this process, g i v i n g off highly toxic f u m e s of HCI while
polyurethane gives off HCN fumes [2].
W h e n c u t t i n g cellulosic materials (wood, fiberboard,
hardboard, paper etc.) the temperature in the zone can reach over
2000PC depending in the density of the material.. The oxidation of
the carbon content is an exothermic process which supplies the cut
front with energy. T h e quality of the cut edge is superior t o a
mechanical one, being smooth and splinter free. This process tends
to generate a carbon based smoke and residual carbon deposit on the
cut edge.
In summary a focused low power CO2 laser beam will
produce a temperature raise at the focal spot due to the amount of
heat applied locally. The thermal gradient will be enough to Stan a
phase change, the breaking of the molecule bonds or both; thus
inducing the melting, vaporization and chemical degradation of the
material. The application of an inert assist gas at high pressure is
useful for removing the vapors and products of combustion out of
the cut zone hence increasing the depth of penetration of the cut and
preventing, a s in the c a s e of polymers and woods, the sudden
ignition of the fumes given off.
Cuaingp a m e l e r s
The interaction time between the laser beam and the material
i s an important parameter to consider when cutting soft materials
such cloth, textile fabrics and woods. The optimum velocity of the
beam relative to the surface (feed rate) controls the amount of energy
delivered on the material. The amount of energy deposited must be
s u f f i c i e n t to v a p o r i z e a n d c h e m i c a l l y degrade the material,
preventing a burning front to expand to the lateral sides of the cut.
Many non-metals combine low thermal conductivity with a
high coefficient of expansion. For this reason, since at low feed
rates the time exposure is longer, the localized heating by the laser is
higher and the material cutting would be less accurate and repeatable
and would present Severe burned edges. If the feed rate of the C N C
is set too high the cut front will not have enough exposure time to
penetrate the material completely and also the waste material will not
leave the interaction zone out of the bottom of the cut.
THE P R O T O W E
A schematic of the prototype that was built is shown in
Figure No. 1. The material or workpiece being cut moves on an X-
Y table, where each coordinate position is controlled by a stepper
motor.
' h e laser beam is generated separately and enters the cutting
machine pointing horizontally to the center of a beam deflector. The
ray then changes direction painting vertically towards the workpiece.
Before striking the workpiece the laser beam passes through a
focusing fens in order to concentrale energy to be able to actually cut
the material.
The vertical position of the focusing lens respect to the
workpiece is controlled by a third stepper motor. This allows to cut
different thickness materials as well as to vary the cut width since the
focus point distance varies acut)rdingly.
T h e motion of the stepper motors are synchronized by a
C N C system based on a Z80A microprocessor 131. Appropriate
software was written for the interpolation of linear trajectories in the
X-Y plane based o n a n extension to the Rresenham algorithm
1411101.
T h e C N C system executes the instructions that it receives
from a conventional P C via an RS-232 connection. A simplified
language has been designed towards this effect, which is similar in
nature to that used in commercial C N C laser-cutting machines. In
this manner more optimal and sophisticated cutting strategies can be
developed on the P C side, and the corresponding lower level Is0
i n s t r u c t i o n s c a n b e d o w n l o a d e d to the C N C control system
afterwards. T h i s approach allows for a more economical C N C
control system relying o n the P C for any heavy computation
required.
2 37
Next the most important design and operational aspects of the
prototype are discussed.
Mechanical Design
T h e prototype has a welded metallic frame made o u t of
square section tubes (2.5 mm thickness). Fastened to the frame are
three displacements units. Each accounts for one degree of freedom.
Almost identical to each other, they differ mainly in the travel length.
The largest of the units is called the longitudinal displacement
unit, a n d i t lays horizontally. Attached to its moving plate i s the
second largest unit, which can be called the transverse displacement
unit since it is laid horizontally in an orthogonal direction respect to
the longitudinal unit. The moving plate in the transverse unit carries
the workpiece. T h e synchronized motion of the motors in both the
longitudinal and transverse units allows to move the workpiece in a
skewed horizontal direction.
The third displacement unit is the vertical displacement unit
which s u p p o r t s in its m o v i n g plate the focusing system. T h e
focusing system has a travel range of 100 mm.
As s h o w n in Figure No. 2, in any displacement unit the
moving plate ib firmly attached to a screw bearing. A screw shaft
connected directly to the stepper motor provides the thrust for the
motion of the moving plate. A maximum thrust of 20 kg. can be
obtained, w h i c h is sufficient t o meet the requirements of t h e
application.
The thread profile is a 2 mm square section which gives a
pitch of 4 mm. The pitch diameter of the screw shaft is 20 mm.
CNC MicroController Syslem
T h i s C N C MicroController System has been also used in
other non-conventional C N C applications by the principal author
such as a CNCmilling machine [SI and a C N C lathe (61. The most
relevant characteristics of this controller are given in Table No. 1.
T A B L E NO. 1
M I C R O C O N T R O L L E R SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
[Parallel Ports 16 (3 BO-P10) 1
A Lo ic Diagram of the system is shown in Figure No.3.
The 8 N C MicroController System receives instructions from
a P C in a language with IS0 type commands. Almost all C N C
m a c h i n e s u n d e r s t a n d I S 0 c o m m a n d s a s it is an international
standard.
The C N C monitor program receives one instruction at a time.
After it has been executed a signal is sent to the PC to inform that
t h e C N C s y s t e m is r e a d y to e x e c u t e a n e w instruction. A n
instruction is a a r e set of o n e or more characters that must b e
interpreted by the monitor program before taking the proper action.
T h e m i c r o c o n t r o l l e r g e n e r a t e s the t i m i n g and s i g n a l
sequences which are output through the parallel ports to the power
amplification stage.
Power Amplificarion
T h e circuit shown in Figure N 4 was used to power each
I
of the six-lead, 180 stepshev, 5 Volt and 4 Amp current stepper
motor working in full-step mode. It is a well documented and tested
circuit [7][S]. T h e input sequence to the four inputs for smooth
operation is given in Table No 2.
 n

Moving Plate
Mofor
Slides
\

Sh o f 1 Screw Screw Nut

Figure No. 2. Moving Plate Mechanism

Figure No. 1. The Prototype

Figure No. 3. CNC Logic Schematics

Figure No. 4. Power Amplification Stage Figure N o . 5. Optical System

2 38
 TABLE No. 2
STEPPER MOTOR M O T I O N INPUT SEQUENCE
For reverse operation the input sequence must be executed
backwards. The input sequence is provided by a parallel port from
the microcontroller system. Next, a 1 T L signal coming from the
z8O-PIOs is first amplified by a Darlington transistor pair and later
by a 3055 NF" power transistor. The output of the latter is wired to
a motor lead. For faster operation an additional resistance has been
a d d e d t o the amplification s t a g e although this reduces overall
efficiency.
OPTlCAL BEAM DELIVERY SY!STEh4
Laser gun
Tbe NllC CO2 laser gun used in this experience consists of
a slow axial flow optical resonator, D C excited and water cooled by
means of a heat exchanger. The length of the resonator tube is 50
cm,its diameter is 5 mm and through it flows the active medium, a
mixture of CO1 , H e a n d N 2 which is provided from a tank that
contains the gas mixture at the ratio of (7,4:14,6:78).The D C power
Supply generates a maximum discharge of 15.000 volts between the
a n o d e a n d t w o c a t h o d e s inside the resonator and an electrical
current of 45 ma. T h e laser beam is emitted through the output-
coupler in continuous waves with a TEMoo gaussian profile and a 2
m m external diameter. Its maximum power is 10 watts and its
propagation direction is parallel to the horizontal plane. When the
shutter is off, the exit of the beam is blocked by a metal plate that
reflects the beam towards a water cooled heat sink. When the shutter
is on, the plate is rotated by an electro-magnetic actuator allowing
the beam to pass and exit the gun.
Deliwry system
The beam is guided to the cut zone through a delivery system
shown in fig.. It consists in an aluminium tube of 25 cm length and
2" external diameter screwed to the front of the laser gun at the exit
of the beam, the rear end of the tube is screwed to an aluminium
elbow deflector. A coated plane mirror is placed at 45O inside the
elbow so that the horizontal beam is bent down 9. The surface
coating on Ihe mirror deflects the beam towards a focusing lens. The
laser beam remains fixed at a position while the material is moved in
the x-y direction by the CNC machine.
Focusing system
T h e f o c u s i n g s y s t e m c o n s i s t i n a 25 mm d i a m e t e r
germanium lens, dielectric coated, meniscus shaped, mounted in a
cylindrical cup screwed to the vertical displiicrment unit of the C'NC
machine, allowing i t to move along the z axis (See Figure 5 ) . The
optimally corrected meniscus shape of the lens minimizes spherical
aberration. Its focal lens is 100 mm, the movement in the z direction
permits to focus the beam IO minimal spot limited by diffraction. The
focal length is related directly to the focused spot radius by the
relation given in ref.[ 11:
2.f A
WO =-
I[' D1
239
where wo corresponds to the laser spot radius at a cross section
perpendicular to the propagation direction of the beam, where the
.
laser front is plane That is the focal plane obtained through the
focusing of a beam of wavelength A and external diameter Dl,
using a lens of focal length f . The radial propagation of a TEMoo
gaussian beam at any cross section parallel to the focal plane at a
distance z is given in ref. [9] by :
W O d 4 = WO[ 1 + [q2]"2
From eq.( l ) , we see that a reduction in focal length gives a
smaller focal spot and therefore a high energy density and reduced
kerf width, which means that the cutting speed can be increased. But
in the other hand a smaller focal length lens has a lower depth of
focus making the process more susceptible to surface irregularities.
A practical definition for the depth of focus of a TEh4oo beam may
be written as ref. [ 11:
d = 7
W f (3)
A
The mode of the laser beam also affects the ability of the lens
to p r o d u c e a small focused spot, any variation away from the
TEMoo gaussian cross section renders a larger spot radius thus
reducing the cutting speed [9].
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Using the NIIC gun and the beam delivery system already
described, and in addition, the developed CNC XYZ machine and
c o n t r o l s o f t w a r e , t h e a u t h o r s w e r e a b l e to p e r f o r m c u t t i n g
experiences with soft materials: soft wood, cloth. pasteboard and
textile mills. A 30 mm side squared contour was cut moving the x-y
table relative to the fixed laser beam focused at its spot size.
Evaluating eqs. (1) and (3), the spot radius and depth of focus
respectively are 0.165 mm a n d 2.66". The square CUI w a s
performed by the following C N C program:
r
f 1
g 1500,0,0
ex
g 0, 1500,o
CX
g -1500,0,0
ex
g 0, -1500, 0
ex
F i g u r e No. 6. CNC T e s t P r o g r a m
T h e power o f the laser beam was SCI h y varying the pressure
of the gas mixture inside the optical resonator. That parameter affects
directly the voltage across the resonator while the electric current
remaincd constant. The feed ritte of the CNC x-y table was reduced
from 50% to 25% of the maximum velocity 4 "/sec.
The results obtained are shown in Figure No. 7.
CONCLUSIONS
Even though at the time of the experience there was no high
pressure assist system gas available, the quality of the cuts obtained
appear good especially in textile mills and cloth noticing the lack of
debris. The edge cut obtained in soft wood is splinter free but shows
 ~

Figure No. 7 Sample Cuts.

240
a notorious burned region which is minimized a1 the highest feed rate
of 4 "/sec. Pasteboard edge cut quality is the best obtained with
minimal bums. With all samples the repeatability and precision of
the cuts performed are acceptable.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank CONlCYT for granting Project
No. 1940670 which has made possible this research.

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241