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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
0143-8166/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optlaseng.2008.07.020
ARTICLE IN PRESS
contrary, turbulent underexpanded jets and their impingement on studied by carrying out numerical simulations. Simultaneously,
a plate have been extensively studied because of their wide range the optimal standoff distances is presented and analyzed as exit
of applications [1316]. Mach number is variable. The effects of the exit Mach number and
The normal impingement of an underexpanded jet onto a at the standoff distance on cutting capability and quality are also
plate located within the rst few shock cells leads to the stated nally.
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 2. Numerical simulations
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 2.1. Geometric structure and domains
consists of compression/expansion waves that originate from the
upper part of the sonic line (Fig. 1). This conclusion is applicable In order to make the problem amenable to analysis while
for the subsonic and the supersonic nozzles. The difference is that addressing the main goals of the paper, the following assumptions
the oblique shock waves are weakened along the underexpansion are made: the nozzle is assumed to deliver a gas jet that normally
ratio gradually near to 1. impinges onto a workpiece plate with a through hole concentric
The present work aims at examining the gas jet effects by with the nozzle as in Fig. 2. The entry diameter d1 of the through
carrying out numerical simulations for a geometry that closely hole is much smaller than the exit diameter of nozzle D. So this
mimics the real cutting case. The main effort focuses on system is axisymmetric based on assumptions. Axisymmetric
examining the effect of the exit parameters on the dynamic
characteristic of gas jet in the hole for certain pressure. For the
Nozzle exit
different exit Mach number, the change of the thrust and mass
Pe Pj Me
ow rate in the hole with the standoff distances is pivotally
D
Off-distance
H
Entrance
dh Impingement plate
Expansion waves
Thickness
Expansion waves
Sonic line
M<1 Pa Pa
Pa
Buttle
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of underexpanded impinging jet. Fig. 2. Schematic representation of computational domain for simulations.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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;
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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3. Code validation studies 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
To validate the CFD solver, two complex test cases for which parameters are selected to be the same as those in Lamont
reliable experimental data exists were used. These test cases were and Hunt [20], Fig. 4(a) shows the sketch of the impingement, and
related to ascertain the ability of the solver to capture impinging Fig. 4(b) is the comparison of wall pressure of the experiment and
jet behavior of the ow of interest. the present simulation.
In Test Case 1, a supersonic moderately underexpanded jet The agreement of numerical results and experimental results
exhausting into otherwise stagnant air was examined. The exit in the two test cases indicates that CFD solver is able to capture
static pressure was 987 kPa, and the exit Mach number was the structure of the incident and the normal shock in the case of
1.4962. For the case of underexpansion, as the gas leaves the jet impingement, and apply to analyze the problems about the
nozzle exit, it goes through a PrandtlMeyer expansion to the supersonic jet impingement.
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 4. Numerical result analysis
incident shock wave meets at the symmetry centerline, where it
reects to form a reected wave. The oblique reected wave is 4.1. Dening analysis parameter
again reected from the free jet boundary as expansion waves. The
repetition of this process produces a well-known diamond wave Flow behavior of impinging jet is essentially determined by the
pattern [19]. Results of the simulations on the static pressure are total gas pressure, standoff distance. There is much work to study
shown in Fig. 3, where numerical images of the computed outer the effect of the total gas pressure and standoff distance on
ows are compared with experiments. The agreement is quite the gasworkpiece interaction [35,21,22]. However, there is little
good for indicating the shock structure. work to analyze the interaction of the standoff distance on the
In Test Case 2, a supersonic jet is impinging normally on dynamic characteristic in the hole. The present work focuses on
a at plate for supersonic nozzle. The jet is assumed to have the effect of the standoff distance on the structure of ow eld in
following parameters: Pa 101 325 Pa, Ta 288.16k, Mexit 2.2, the hole for the different state of outow, which mainly includes
Pexit/PN 1.2, and XR 3Dexit. Here Mexit is the Mach number of 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
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
The average axial thrust in the hole is written as static pressure rise large enough so that additional compression
Z is not signicant. In this case, the normal shock is weak. On the
Exit
T average T dx contrary, if the oblique shock directly interacts with the
Z
Entrance normal shock, signicant compression is needed in order to
Exit
Paxis P b Paxis kM2axis dx=xiExit xiEntrance (17) establish the pressure necessary for the subsonic region. In that
Entrance case, the normal shock is much stronger. The corresponding total
The removal of the molten layer is mainly determined by the pressure loss as ow crosses the normal shock is large if the shock
mass ow rate and the thrust. So, if gas jets have nice dynamic strength is high, and small if low. Chen and Yao [3] proved that
characteristics, there must be maximal mass ow rate and the two certain favorable operating conditions for high-pressure gas
maximal thrust in cut kerf. laser cutting resulted from the direct interaction of the oblique
shock with the normal shock by numerical and experimental
methods.
4.2. Simulation results Now, to further understand the phenomena, the simulations
are carried out over the computational domain shown in Fig. 2 for
As Abbett [23] points out, a normal shock is formed due to a the exit static pressure Pe 573 kPa. The incident shock interacts
strong compression process when the ow traverses from with the normal standoff shock directly for H 4.0 mm as shown
subsonic to supersonic region. The strength of the normal in Fig. 5(a). The incident shock waves meet at the centerline and
shock is related to the extent of the compression. Regular are reected prior to interacting with the normal standoff shock
reection of the oblique shock from the axis may result in a 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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To compare the effect of standoff distance on the gas and 7(b), at this case the direct interaction between the incident
workpiece interaction in the different exit Mach number, the shock and the normal standoff shock becomes stronger, and the
range from 2 to 3.25 mm is selected as the values of the standoff location of the normal shock move forward. Fortunately, the
distance for numerical calculation. The three simulations differences seem inapparent, but the lager workpiece thickness
results for Pe 363 kPa and d 1.5 mm were shown in Figs. 6(a) can deteriorate the dynamic characteristic of gas ow inside the
and (b), 7(a) and (b), 8(a) and (b). hole in troth.
In addition, the exit Mach number is equal to 1.483 in Fig. 7, so Figs. 10 and 11 show the mass ow rate and the average axial
Pe is equal to Pa according to the relationship (13), obviously, in thrust obtained from numerical calculation with standoff distance
other words, the underexpansion ratio is equal to 1. At this time, as the exit Mach number Me is variable. The mass ow rate
the oblique shocks disappear, so the inuence of standoff distance increases rst and then reduces with increasing standoff distance.
on the intensity of the normal shock and the total pressure loss is The maximum point is near H 2.5 mm when the underexpan-
not signicant sion ratio is larger than 1. The suitable cutting range is slightly
Fig. 9 shows the contours of static pressure when the different for different exit Mach number, but the optimal cutting
workpiece thickness is 3 mm. In comparison with Figs. 6(a) parameter for certain exit total pressure is changeless obviously,
3 8
7.5
2.9
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
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
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