Here are graphics related to my focus post.
- The tests were performed with the head assembled and nozzle in place.
- The system used a 5″ focus lens, and the target was placed about 5″ from the nozzle tip.
- Burns were made manually (if I remember correctly) long enough to show a burn pattern in acrylic target.
Beam passes through the lens, and past the focus point it expands again. Put the target at 2x the focus length from the lens.
Beam goes through the lens, target at 2x focus length so the beam is about the raw size.
I really don’t recall what we were looking for. When I made a test with moderately high gas pressure, I couldn’t believe the sharp spike in the middle of the burn.
We made a series of tests, and verified that it happened proportionally with gas pressure at the cutting head. Incredible!
What the targets looked like with increasing gas pressure.
Heh – our very accomplished PhD boss first said “that’s impossible!”