An Experimental Study on Water-jet Guided Laser Processing of 304 Stainless Steel Based on a Thermal–Cooling Balance Mechanism

With the increasing demand in high-end manufacturing for precision, efficiency, and minimal thermal impact in processing difficult-to-machine materials such as stainless steel, achieving synergistic optimization of processing efficiency and thermal damage control has become a critical challenge requiring urgent breakthroughs. This study investigates the synergistic mechanism of laser heat input and water jet cooling in water-jet guided laser processing of 304 stainless steel, focusing on balancing processing thermal damage and efficiency. Through orthogonal experiments, the effects of process parameters—laser power, pulse width, scanning speed, and water pressure—on the heat-affected zone and processing efficiency were systematically analyzed for single-pass grooving of 1 mm stainless steel. The results indicate that laser power and scanning speed are the primary controlling factors. Through parameter optimization, a favorable balance was achieved with a minimal heat-affected zone (6.740 μm) and high processing efficiency (15.870 mm²•s-1). Furthermore, high-speed, low-damage single-pass cutting at 150 mm•s-1 was realized on 0.1 mm stainless steel sheets. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of multi-parameter synergistic regulation of thermal-cooling effects in water-jet guided laser processing, providing robust experimental evidence for the optimization of microfabrication processes for complex materials in the future.