ARTICLE IN PRESS

Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110

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Optics and Lasers in Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/optlaseng

Numerical analysis of supersonic gas-dynamic characteristic in laser cutting

Shaogang Guo , Hu Jun, Luo Lei, Zhenqiang Yao
School of Mechanical and Power Energy Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

a r t i c l e in fo abstract

Article history: The inuence of the processing parameters on the dynamic characteristic of supersonic impinging jet in
Received 18 June 2007 laser cutting is studied numerically. The numerical modeling of a supersonic jet impinging on a plate
Received in revised form with a hole is presented to analyze the gas jetworkpiece interaction. The model is able to make
26 July 2008
quantitative predictions of the effect of the standoff distance and exit Mach number on the mass ow
Accepted 30 July 2008
Available online 1 October 2008
rate and the axial thrust. The numerical results show that the suitable cutting range is slightly different
for different exit Mach number, but the optimal cutting parameter for certain exit total pressure is
Keywords: nearly changeless. So the better cut quality and capacity can be obtained mainly by setting the suitable
Laser cutting standoff distance for a certain nozzle pressure.
Jet
& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Shock
Standoff distance
Cut quality

1. Introduction pressure, dynamic characteristics of gas jets from the supersonic

The assist gas plays an important role in laser cutting. It
provides a mechanical force to eject the melt from the cut zone
and cools the cut zone by forced convection. Inefcient removal of
the molten layer can lead to deterioration in cut quality. Hence,
the quality of laser cutting is strongly dependent on the
interaction of the gas jet with the workpiece.
The role of oxygen pressure in laser cutting was studied
analytically, experimentally and numerically by Ivason et al. [1]
and ONeill and Steen [2]. They found that for the subsonic nozzles
there are two optimum pressure ranges where the cut quality is
good. In most laser cutting cases, the nozzle standoff distance is
often chosen to be 0.51.5 mm, sometimes it is smaller. In fact,
some favorable operating conditions do exist for larger nozzle
standoff distances within a certain range of the nozzle pressure
[35] for all kinds of assist gas. Here, we call larger nozzle standoff
distances the second cutting range. In those situations, it is
possible that the better cutting quality is obtained. But there is,
however, little work to study the selection and optimization of
suitable cutting parameters in this operating condition.
For the supersonic nozzles, there is only one reasonable range
when the inlet pressure is equal to the computed pressure [6,7],
which ensures the nozzle tip pressure equal to the back pressure,
but the range is wider than the sum of two ranges of the subsonic
nozzles. But if the inlet pressure is not equal to the computed
 Corresponding author.
E-mail address: guoshaogang1217@yahoo.com.cn (S. Guo).
nozzles are similar to the subsonic nozzles for high-pressure gas
laser cutting.
A comprehensive review of the gas jet effects was presented by
Fieret et al. [8], in which a Mach shock was found to reduce the
stagnation pressure at the workpiece and to encourage the formation
of a stagnation bubble on the surface of the workpiece. There is some
work to systematically study the effects of a gas jet and process
parameters such as nozzle position and gas pressure [912].
Customarily, nozzles are positioned vertical and close to the
workpiece and nozzle pressures are chosen within a certain range.
The ow downstream of the nozzle exit becomes supersonic if the
upstream total reservoir pressure is greater than 1.89 bar [4,6], a
condition common to laser cutting, which is applied to the
subsonic nozzles and the subsonicsupersonic nozzles. The jet is
underexpanded if the total pressure exceeds 1.89 times the
ambient pressure for the subsonic nozzles. Downstream of the
nozzle exit, oblique shock are formed. The generation of shock
waves during laser cutting is mainly affected by the ratio of the
stagnation pressure at the nozzle outlet to the ambient pressure.
In fact, when the pressure ratio is greater than 34, there exist not
only strong oblique shocks but also normal shocks in the exit jet.
The jet may be underexpanded or overexpanded for the super-
sonic nozzles, but it is often underexpanded in actual laser
cutting. Their intensity and interaction with the standoff shock on
the workpiece surface depends on the nozzle pressure and the
nozzle standoff distance. This interaction to an extent determines
the effects of the gas jet inside the cut kerf.
In industrial practice, overexpansion state is no useful, because
the normal shock will occur very close to the exit or inside the
nozzle, so there is little work to analyze this process. On the

0143-8166/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optlaseng.2008.07.020
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104 S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110

Nomenclature ak inverse effective Prandtl number of k

r uid density
p
a sound speed a kRT ae inverse effective Prandtl number of e
P static pressure g specic heat ratio g cp/cv
C1e; C2e; C constants e dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy
M Mach number M v/a D nozzle exit diameter
Pe total gauge pressure in the nozzle outlet H standoff distance
R gas constant F vector of x-directed uxes
cp specic heat at constant pressure Fv viscous ux
v gas ow velocity G vector of r-directed uxes
cv specic heat at constant volume Gv viscous ux
k kinetic energy of turbulence M Mach number
Pa ambient pressure D thickness of workpiece
po absolute stagnation pressure dh hole diameter
ps absolute static pressure Me Mach number
S tensor modulus of strain rate pj absolute stagnation pressure

contrary, turbulent underexpanded jets and their impingement on
a plate have been extensively studied because of their wide range
of applications [1316].
The normal impingement of an underexpanded jet onto a at
plate located within the rst few shock cells leads to the
formation of a well-dened standoff shock upstream off the plate.
Across the standoff shock, the jet suddenly decelerates to subsonic
ow and is then deected by the plate [17]. A sonic line divides
the jet on the plate surface into two regions: one is a shock layer
above the stagnant point and the other is a wall-jet region which
consists of compression/expansion waves that originate from the
upper part of the sonic line (Fig. 1). This conclusion is applicable
for the subsonic and the supersonic nozzles. The difference is that
the oblique shock waves are weakened along the underexpansion
ratio gradually near to 1.
The present work aims at examining the gas jet effects by
carrying out numerical simulations for a geometry that closely
mimics the real cutting case. The main effort focuses on
examining the effect of the exit parameters on the dynamic
characteristic of gas jet in the hole for certain pressure. For the
different exit Mach number, the change of the thrust and mass
ow rate in the hole with the standoff distances is pivotally
studied by carrying out numerical simulations. Simultaneously,
the optimal standoff distances is presented and analyzed as exit
Mach number is variable. The effects of the exit Mach number and
the standoff distance on cutting capability and quality are also
stated nally.
2. Numerical simulations
2.1. Geometric structure and domains
In order to make the problem amenable to analysis while
addressing the main goals of the paper, the following assumptions
are made: the nozzle is assumed to deliver a gas jet that normally
impinges onto a workpiece plate with a through hole concentric
with the nozzle as in Fig. 2. The entry diameter d1 of the through
hole is much smaller than the exit diameter of nozzle D. So this
system is axisymmetric based on assumptions. Axisymmetric
Nozzle exit
Pe Pj Me

D
Off-distance

H
Entrance
dh Impingement plate
Expansion waves
Thickness

Free boundary Workpiece

d
Normal shock
dh
M>1
Incident shock
Hole
Exit

Expansion waves

Sonic line
M<1 Pa Pa

M>1 Computational domain

Pa
Buttle

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of underexpanded impinging jet. Fig. 2. Schematic representation of computational domain for simulations.
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S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110 105

studies have signicance not only because they correspond to the where Cm 0.0845, and k is the turbulent kinetic energy and e is
laser drilling case, but because they also reveal the generic the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy in the RNG ke
behavior of the gas ow upstream of the cutting front. Obviously, turbulence model. The value of k and e can be obtain from
the ow behavior on Axisymmetric condition is relatively  
q q qk 2
independent of the actual cut geometry, but it is feasible to qxi rui k qxi ak meff qxi mt S  r;
predict effect of gas pressure, exit Mach number and standoff   (8)
q q q  2 2
distance on the shock structure and removal capacity in the actual qxi rui  qxi a meff qxi C 1 mt k S  C 2 r k  R;

laser cutting [3].

where ak and ae are the inverse effective Prandtl numbers of k and
The thermal interactions of the laser and the gas with
e, respectively, and C1e 1.42, C2e 1.68.
workpiece including melting and vaporization are not considered.
Furthermore,
In other words, the hole diameter is prescribed unlike a real

cutting process where the size of the hole or cut kerf would a  1:3929 0:6321 a 2:3929 0:3679 mmol
, (9)
be determined by the operating conditions. In the simulation of a  1:3929 a 2:3929 meff
0 0
the supersonic ow impinging on a plate with a through hole, the
computational domain was selected as a region which included a where a0 1.0, if mmol/meff51 and ak ae 1.393. Since, S in
stand off distance H from the nozzle exit, the through hole and a Eq. (8) is the tensor modulus of the strain rate Sij, which is
distance of 6.25 mm extend downwards from the bottom of the dened in
workpiece. The nozzle exit diameter is set to 0.7 mm, the inuence q
S 2Sij Sij (10)
of the diameter on the dynamic characteristic in the hole is not
stated in the present work. R can be obtained from

C m rZ3 1  Z=Z0 2
2.2. Governing equations R , (11)
1 bZ3 k

The ow is assumed to be governed by the steady compres- where Z Sk/e, Z 4.38, and b 0.012. When applying the ideal
sible Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes(RANS) equations. A two- gas law for compressible ow, the modied equation is expressed
equation turbulence model based on the renormalization group as follows:
(RNG) ke theory is utilized [18]. No-slip wall and symmetry  
q q qk
boundary conditions are applied at the plate and the centerline, rui k ak meff mt S2  r1 2M 2t , (12)
qxi qxi qxi
respectively. In axisymmetric coordinates the RANS equations can p
be written as where Mt is the turbulent Mach number, M t k=a2 , a is sonic
velocity.
qE qF qEv qF v
(1) The equations and relationships in the section provide a set of
qxi qxj qxi qxj equations with the primary variables of r, P, u, k, e and so on.
where A commercial computational uid dynamic (CFD) code, FLUENT is
2 3 2 3 used to solve these equations.
rui ruj
6 ru2i P 7 6 rui uj 7
6 7 6 7
6 7 6 7 2.3. Boundary conditions
E6
6 rui uj 7; F6 ru2j P 7 (2)
6  7 6  7
4 P 7
5
6
4
7
P 5 The ow at the nozzle exit is assumed to be uniform and at
rui e ruj e
r r appointed supersonic conditions. Though the delivery nozzle is a
convergent type and the ow at the nozzle exit is always choked,
2 3 2 3
0 0 our computational domain boundary is located at the nozzle exit
6 tii 7 6 tij 7 plane. So this may cause some inaccuracies particularly close to
6 7 6 7
Ev 6
6
7;
7 Fv 6
6
7
7 (3) the nozzle lip, but it will not inuence the ow characteristic
4 tij 5 4 tjj 5
downstream. According to the ideal gas law, gas density is a
utii vtij utij vtjj
function of pressure and temperature. In the analysis of
where r is the density and p is the static pressure. The stress compressible ow problems in FLUENT, the boundary conditions
terms in axisymmetric coordinates are are generally treated as isentropic and the ow follows the ideal
   gas law. Sonic conditions are enforced at the nozzle lip by
qu 2 1 qu specifying the total pressure and total temperature according to
tii meff 2 i  xj uj i (4)
qxi 3 xj qxi one-dimensional isentropic ow relations
    
quj 2 1 qu p0 r  1 2 r=r1
tjj meff 2  x u i (5) 1 M (13)
qxj 3 xj j j qxi ps 2

  T0 r1 2
qui quj 1 M (14)
tij meff 2 (6) T 2
qxj qxi
where the Mach number M is set to unity. P0 and T0 are the static
where tii and tjj are the normal stresses, and tij is shear stress. meff
pressure and temperature, respectively. At inlet boundaries the
is the effective viscosity, mt is the turbulent viscosity and mmol is
total pressure, static pressure, total temperature and the ow
the molecular viscosity. Since, meff mmol+mt and meff can be
direction are imposed. At the subsonic outlet boundary, the static
obtained from the following equation, therefore
pressure is specied whereas the remaining ow properties are
" s #2 extrapolated. No-slip wall and symmetry boundary conditions are
Cm k
meff mmol 1 p , (7) applied at the plate and the centerline, respectively, nitrogen is
mmol  selected in this simulation.
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106 S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110

3. Code validation studies
To validate the CFD solver, two complex test cases for which
reliable experimental data exists were used. These test cases were
related to ascertain the ability of the solver to capture impinging
jet behavior of the ow of interest.
In Test Case 1, a supersonic moderately underexpanded jet
exhausting into otherwise stagnant air was examined. The exit
static pressure was 987 kPa, and the exit Mach number was
1.4962. For the case of underexpansion, as the gas leaves the
nozzle exit, it goes through a PrandtlMeyer expansion to the
ambient pressure at the jet boundary. The expansion waves
are reected as compression waves at the jet boundary. These
compression waves coalesce to form an incident shock wave. The
incident shock wave meets at the symmetry centerline, where it
reects to form a reected wave. The oblique reected wave is
again reected from the free jet boundary as expansion waves. The
repetition of this process produces a well-known diamond wave
pattern [19]. Results of the simulations on the static pressure are
shown in Fig. 3, where numerical images of the computed outer
ows are compared with experiments. The agreement is quite
good for indicating the shock structure.
In Test Case 2, a supersonic jet is impinging normally on
a at plate for supersonic nozzle. The jet is assumed to have
following parameters: Pa 101  325 Pa, Ta 288.16k, Mexit 2.2,
Pexit/PN 1.2, and XR 3Dexit. Here Mexit is the Mach number of
the jet at the nozzle exit, Dexit is the nozzle exit diameter, and XR is
the distance between the nozzle exit and the at plate. These
parameters are selected to be the same as those in Lamont
and Hunt [20], Fig. 4(a) shows the sketch of the impingement, and
Fig. 4(b) is the comparison of wall pressure of the experiment and
the present simulation.
The agreement of numerical results and experimental results
in the two test cases indicates that CFD solver is able to capture
the structure of the incident and the normal shock in the case of
jet impingement, and apply to analyze the problems about the
supersonic jet impingement.
4. Numerical result analysis
4.1. Dening analysis parameter
Flow behavior of impinging jet is essentially determined by the
total gas pressure, standoff distance. There is much work to study
the effect of the total gas pressure and standoff distance on
the gasworkpiece interaction [35,21,22]. However, there is little
work to analyze the interaction of the standoff distance on the
dynamic characteristic in the hole. The present work focuses on
the effect of the standoff distance on the structure of ow eld in
the hole for the different state of outow, which mainly includes
the different exit Mach number.
To some extent, the removal of the molten layer is determined
by the the mass ow rate and the thrust in the cut kerf. It is
desirable to minimize the total pressure loss through the normal
shock to maximize the mass ow rate and the thrust. This can be
achieved by changing the structure of the ow eld. The mass
ow rate is dened as
v
Z u"   2=r1 #
u 2 r 2
m~ eff cD P e t dAentry (15)
RT r1 r1

The thrust is mainly determined by the pressure and velocity. In

the process of laser cutting, the hole is very small, so the thrust of
the cross-section area is replaced by the axial thrust in the present
discussion. The axial thrust at one point in the gas jet is equal to
effective energy at this point [4], which is dened as

qF
eaxis P axis  Pb raxis V 2axis
qA axis
Fig. 3. Experimental (top) and numerical (bottom) images of the ow expansions
outside the nozzle (distribution of static pressure). P axis  Pb Paxis kM 2axis (16)

7
Lamont and Hont
6 Present simulation

y 5
Impinging jet exit
4
P/P

Dexit
x 3
Wall
2

xR = 3Dexit 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
y/Dexit

Fig. 4. Jet impingement: (a) sketch of the impingement and (b) comparison of wall pressure.
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S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110 107

Fig. 5. Static pressure contours for Pe 573 kPa: (a) H 4.0 mm and (b) H 5.25 mm.

Fig. 6. Contours of static pressure for Pe 363 kPa, Me 1.0: (a) H 2 mm and (b) H 3.25 mm.

Fig. 7. Contours of static pressure for Pe 363 kPa, Me 1.2: (a) H 2 mm and (b) H 3.25 mm.
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108 S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110

The average axial thrust in the hole is written as
Z is not signicant. In this case, the normal shock is weak. On the
Exit
T average T dx
Z
Entrance
Exit
Paxis  P b Paxis kM2axis dx=xiExit  xiEntrance
Entrance
The removal of the molten layer is mainly determined by the
mass ow rate and the thrust. So, if gas jets have nice dynamic
characteristics, there must be maximal mass ow rate and the
maximal thrust in cut kerf.
4.2. Simulation results
As Abbett [23] points out, a normal shock is formed due to a
strong compression process when the ow traverses from
subsonic to supersonic region. The strength of the normal
shock is related to the extent of the compression. Regular
reection of the oblique shock from the axis may result in a
static pressure rise large enough so that additional compression
contrary, if the oblique shock directly interacts with the
normal shock, signicant compression is needed in order to
(17) establish the pressure necessary for the subsonic region. In that
case, the normal shock is much stronger. The corresponding total
pressure loss as ow crosses the normal shock is large if the shock
strength is high, and small if low. Chen and Yao [3] proved that
two certain favorable operating conditions for high-pressure gas
laser cutting resulted from the direct interaction of the oblique
shock with the normal shock by numerical and experimental
methods.
Now, to further understand the phenomena, the simulations
are carried out over the computational domain shown in Fig. 2 for
the exit static pressure Pe 573 kPa. The incident shock interacts
with the normal standoff shock directly for H 4.0 mm as shown
in Fig. 5(a). The incident shock waves meet at the centerline and
are reected prior to interacting with the normal standoff shock
for H 5.25 mm as shown in Fig. 5(b).

Fig. 8. Contours of static pressure for Pe 363 kPa, Me 1.483: (a) H 2 mm and (b) H 3.25 mm.

Fig. 9. Contours of static pressure for H 2 mm: (a) Me 1.0 and (b) Me 1.2.
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S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110 109

To compare the effect of standoff distance on the gas
workpiece interaction in the different exit Mach number, the
range from 2 to 3.25 mm is selected as the values of the standoff
distance for numerical calculation. The three simulations
results for Pe 363 kPa and d 1.5 mm were shown in Figs. 6(a)
and (b), 7(a) and (b), 8(a) and (b).
In addition, the exit Mach number is equal to 1.483 in Fig. 7, so
Pe is equal to Pa according to the relationship (13), obviously, in
other words, the underexpansion ratio is equal to 1. At this time,
the oblique shocks disappear, so the inuence of standoff distance
on the intensity of the normal shock and the total pressure loss is
not signicant
Fig. 9 shows the contours of static pressure when the
workpiece thickness is 3 mm. In comparison with Figs. 6(a)
and 7(b), at this case the direct interaction between the incident
shock and the normal standoff shock becomes stronger, and the
location of the normal shock move forward. Fortunately, the
differences seem inapparent, but the lager workpiece thickness
can deteriorate the dynamic characteristic of gas ow inside the
hole in troth.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the mass ow rate and the average axial
thrust obtained from numerical calculation with standoff distance
as the exit Mach number Me is variable. The mass ow rate
increases rst and then reduces with increasing standoff distance.
The maximum point is near H 2.5 mm when the underexpan-
sion ratio is larger than 1. The suitable cutting range is slightly
different for different exit Mach number, but the optimal cutting
parameter for certain exit total pressure is changeless obviously,

3 8

7.5
2.9

Average axial thrust (:105Pa)

Mass flow rate (:10-4kg/s)

7
2.8

6.5
Me = 1.0 Me = 1
2.7
Me = 1.1 Me = 1.1
6
Me = 1.2 Me = 1.2

Me = 1.3 Me = 1.3
2.6
Me = 1.4 5.5 Me = 1.4

Me = 1.483 Me = 1.483

2.5 5
2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2
H (:mm) H (:mm)

Fig. 10. (a) Mass ow rate with standoff distance for 1.5-mm-thick workpiece and (b) average axial thrust. With the standoff distance for 1.5-mm-thick workpiece.

3 8

7.5
2.9
Average axial thrust (:105Pa)
Mass flow rate (:10-4kg/s)

7
2.8

6.5

2.7 Me = 1.0 Me = 1.0

Me = 1.1 6 Me = 1.1
Me = 1.2 Me = 1.2
2.6 Me = 1.3 Me = 1.3
5.5
Me = 1.4 Me = 1.4

Me = 1.483 Me = 1.483
2.5 5
2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2
H (:mm) H (:mm)

Fig. 11. (a) Mass ow rate with standoff distance for 3 mm-thick workpiece and (b) average axial thrust. With the standoff distance for 3-mm-thick workpiece.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
110 S. Guo et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 103110
for example, when the exit total pressure is 363 kPa the optimal
standoff distance and exit Mach number are about at H 2.5 and
Me 1.2. When the exit Mach number is 1.483, the under-
expansion ratio is equal to 1 according to Eq. (4), the inuence of
standoff distance on the mass ow rate and the average axial
thrust is not signicant. This argument is also true for both the
workpiece thicknesses (1.5 and 3 mm). But the larger thickness
will strengthen the direct interaction between the incident shock
and the normal standoff shock slightly, so the mass ow rate
for larger workpiece thickness is a little smaller as shown in
Figs. 10(a) and 11(a).
A very important conclusion which can be obtained from
Figs. 10 and 11 is that the optimal standoff distance is nearly xed
for certain exit static pressure. From Figs. 10 and 11, it is seen that
the maximal mass ow rate and average axial thrust is hardly
variational for different exit Mach numbers and different work-
piece thickness. The cutting capacity or dross-removal capability
is to an extent determined by the thrust and the mass ow rate,
and the cutting quality mainly depends on the cutting capacity or
dross-removal capability. So, for certain pressure, high cutting
quality can be obtained by setting suitable standoff distance, not
by selecting the subsonic or supersonic nozzles.
5. Conclusions
The interaction of a gas jet with the workpiece in laser cutting
is investigated by studying the inuence of the processing
parameters on the dynamic characteristic of the gas ow in the
hole, mainly including the mass ow rate and the thrust. The
numerical simulation of a supersonic turbulent jet impinging on a
plate with a hole concentric with the jet is presented. It is revealed
that the workpiece thickness has weak effects on shock structure
and the dynamic characteristic is slightly deteriorated with the
increase of the thickness. The standoff distance and exit Mach
number have great effect not only on the shock structure, but also
on the dynamic characteristic in the hole. The suitable cutting
range is slightly different for different exit Mach number, but the
optimal cutting parameter for certain exit static pressure is nearly
changeless for the second cutting range. The high cutting quality
can be obtained mainly by setting suitable standoff distance, not
by selecting the subsonic or supersonic nozzles.
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