Laser cutting is a non-contact type machining process which does not involve any mechanical cutting forces hence no tool wear. In this process of machining, the workpiece material is locally melted by the focused laser light. In the present work, the effect of CO2 laser cutting process parameters has been optimized for minimum kerf widthusing Taguchi methodology based on L16 orthogonal array. An attempt has also been made to investigate the effect of laser cutting parameters on kerf width. The entire laser cutting experiments have been carried out on AISI304L stainless steel. The laser power, cutting speed, focal point position and gas pressure have been considered as a process parameters while upper kerf width as a response. The result revealed that minimum value of kerf width has been achieved at lowest level of laser power, lowest level of gas pressure, highest level of cutting speed and highest level of focal point position.  

Keywords:CO2 laser cutting, AISI304L, Laser power, Gas pressure, Focal point position and optimization.