Improving the Efficiency of Laser Cutting of Steel Materials by Pre-Treatment with Waterjet Method

The high performance of modern methods for manufacturing machine and mechanism components largely depends on the effective removal of corrosion from metallic surfaces. The required surface quality is achieved through jet-based technological processes, particularly in laser cutting operations performed under industrial conditions at mechanical engineering enterprises in the Republic of Belarus. One of the key parameters used to assess the efficiency of laser treatment of metallic surfaces is the laser cutting speed. This study presents an innovative method of jet-based corrosion removal for metallic materials, followed by their utilization in the laser cutting operations. A distinctive feature of the proposed hydro-abrasive technique is the introduction of special components – bentonite clay, calcined soda, and carbon black – into a high-pressure water jet. This formulation not only ensures corrosion elimination but also conditions the surface for subsequent laser cutting. To investigate the influence of various hydro-abrasive processing parameters on laser cutting speed, industrial tests were conducted on three groups of samples made of steel grades St3, St20, and St45. The dimensions of each sample were 200×200 mm with a sheet thickness in the range S = 2–12 mm. Based on the results of experimental studies, an advanced hydro-abrasive cleaning technology was developed for corrosion removal from metallic materials intended for laser cuttingapplications. The proposed method uses a working fluid containing the following components: bentonite clay ( C b = 1.5–2.5 %), calcined soda ( C c.s . = 1.8–2.2 %), carbon black ( C cb = 11–13 %), and water. The use of this working fluid made it possible to increase the laser cutting speed by 8–12 % compared to the results obtained when using an alternative fluid containing polyacrylamide instead of carbon black – without the need to introduce additional processing operations.