COMSOL Assisted Simulation of Laser Engraving

H. Karbasi
Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON, Canada
Published in 2010

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a proof of concept software that can simulate the geometry of engraved surfaces and can estimate the depth and width of engraved groove and associated laser parameters.

For this purpose, COMSOL has been used to simulate the moving laser beam as a source of heat over physical domain made of different materials. Through interaction modeling of selected materials with laser beam in TEM01 mode, the temperature distribution has been determined. An effective technique is used to model the geometry of an engraved groove mainly based on the temperature changes. As the laser heats up the material and the temperature passes the vaporization point at high power intensity, the moving mesh mode of COMSOL is used to simulate material removal. The simulation results are validated by experiments.