Laser assisted milling of a nickel based alloy using different insert geometries

Laser assisted milling (LAM) is a hybrid machining technology which aims on the benefits of hot cutting technology using the laser beam as local heating source. In this study nickel based Alloy 59 is cut with conventional flooding and laser assisted milling under dry conditions. Therefore, a statistical approach based on design of experiment (DoE) is carried out in order to investigate and compare the effects of LAM process parameters and their interactions. Hence, full factorial design and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are applied. The influence of the process parameters insert setup, tool feed and laser spot scanning frequency are analysed. The aim of this paper is to investigate the benefits of LAM compared with conventional milling in terms of tool wear, cutting forces, surface roughness and machinability improvements.