Underwater Laser Cutting of Thick Stainless Steel in Various Cutting Directions for Application to Nuclear Decommissioning

• Published in: Journal of nuclear fuel cycle and waste technology (Online) Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 279 - 287
• Main Authors: Shin, Jae Sung, Oh, Seong Y., Park, Seung-Kyu, Kim, Taek-Soo, Park, Hyunmin, Lee, Jonghwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국방사성폐기물학회 01.09.2021
• Subjects: 원자력공학; Underwater cutting; Laser cutting; Laser processing; Nuclear decommissioning; Nuclear dismantling
• ISSN: 1738-1894; 2288-5471
• DOI: 10.7733/jnfcwt.2021.19.3.279

For application in nuclear decommissioning, underwater laser cutting studies were conducted on thick stainless-steel plates for various cutting directions using a 6 kW fiber laser. For cutting along the horizontal direction with horizontal laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 110 mm∙min−1 for a 48 mm thick stainless-steel plate. For cutting along the vertical direction with horizontal laser irradiation, a maximum speed of 120 mm∙min−1 was obtained for the same thickness, which confirmed that the cutting performance was similar but slightly better. Moreover, when cutting with vertically downward laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 120 mm∙min−1 for a plate of the same thickness. Thus, the cutting performance for vertical irradiation was nearly identical to that for horizontal irradiation. In conclusion, it was possible to cut thick stainless-steel plates regardless of the laser irradiation and cutting directions, although the assist gas rose up due to buoyancy. These observations are expected to benefit laser cutting procedures during the actual dismantling of nuclear facilities.