Developing an algorithm for predicting depth as well as number of passes during CO2 laser machining on thermoplastic material

Polymethylmethacrylate has an advantage of absorbing the maximum intensity of the radiation incident on it. This makes it suitable to be machined by a laser machining process for creating spherical and rectangular cavities. The most important parameter for achieving the required depth of the cavity is the number of passes of the laser probe along with laser power and scanning speed. This paper deals with the development of an algorithm for predicting the depth of cut for a given number of passes. Further, an attempt is made to develop an algorithm to predict a number of the laser beam passes for a required depth of cut. Both the proposed algorithms show good convergence with the experimental results. The major concern in both the proposed algorithms is the focused distance and depth of cut, which go on changing nonlinearly with an increase in the number of passes.