Investigations on laser percussion drilling of some thermoplastic polymers

Experimental investigations have been carried out to find the optimum ranges of parameters for drilling of polymers using a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser-cutting machine. A few important factors that might affect the drilling process have been selected for the study on three different polymers. An attempt is made to plan the experiment using Taguchi's method. Matrix experiment-L9 orthogonal array was used to conduct the experiments with four factors and three levels of each factor. Through experiments the effects of number of pulses, standoff distance, assist gas pressure and nozzle diameter on the circularity of hole, spatter thickness, hole taper and material removal rate was assessed. The optimum conditions obtained from the analysis show the combination of parameters that improves hole quality.