Surface and Erosion Behavior Investigation on In625 Superalloy Using Yttrium-Doped Optical Fiber Laser Cutting

A nickel superalloy such as IN625 is widely employed in the oil, chemical processing, nuclear, and aviation industries due to its exceptional high-temperature strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance characteristics. These industries often require components with intricate and complex geometries that must adhere to close tolerances with adequate surface finish. Fiber laser beam machining (FLBM) has emerged as a significant advancement in fabrication technology, creating intricate forms and structures, especially in superalloys. This work aims to analyze the effect of laser frequency ([Formula: see text], number of passes ([Formula: see text]), laser power ([Formula: see text], and scanning speed ([Formula: see text]) in the machining of IN625 to achieve minimum surface undulation ([Formula: see text]) and maximum erosion quantity ([Formula: see text]). The responsive surface methodology (RSM) was employed to model and optimize the parameters. The optimal condition was identified as [Formula: see text]= 10.5[Formula: see text]W, [Formula: see text]= 18, [Formula: see text]= 283[Formula: see text]mm/min, and [Formula: see text]= 18[Formula: see text]kHz; confirmation trials showed an improvement of 8.0% in [Formula: see text] and 19.75% in [Formula: see text] The influence of scanning speed on surface undulation and erosion quantity is significant. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates that scanning speed contributes the most to surface undulation (70.48%) and erosion quantity (72.90%), followed by the number of passes with contributions of 13.94% to surface undulation and 14.41% to erosion quantity. Additionally, the surface topography and morphology of the machined surface are analyzed using 3D topography images and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)