Analysis of Stainless Steel Waste Products Generated during Laser Cutting in Nitrogen Atmosphere

Abstract

Laser cutting technology is one of the basic approaches used for thermal processing of parts fabricated from almost all engineering materials. Various types of lasers are utilized in the industry with different attendant gases such as nitrogen or argon. When the laser beam interacts with a metal surface, the area underneath is heated to the melting point. This liquid or vaporized metal is ejected from the kerf area to the surrounding atmosphere by attendant gas and becomes undesirable waste in the form of powder. In the presented work, the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy methods were used to analyze AISI 304 stainless steel, which was cut by a semiconductor fiber laser, and the waste powder generated during the laser cutting process. The results suggest that this waste material may be reused for industrial applications such as additive manufacturing.