STUDIES ON LASER-WOOD INTERACTIONS OF SOME MALAYSIAN HARD WOODS USING SEM AND X-RAY METHODS

Presenter	:	NUR FADHLIN JAAFAR
E-mail	:	-
Date	:	14 / 6 / 2007
Time	:	10.00 AM
Venue	:	( CEMACS ) CONFERENCE ROOM, SCHOOL OF PHYSICS
Sypnosis	:	The CO2 laser produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength bands entering around 9.4 μm and 10.6 μm. In this study, 10.6 μm is used to correlate the CO2 laser with some Malaysian hardwoods such as Shorea Collina Spp. (balau), Parashorea Sp. (gerutu), Koompassia malaccensis (kempas), Cynometra malaccensis (kekatong), Artocarpus lanceifolius (keledang), Tectona grandis Linn f. (jati), E. chlorantha (kelat) and Palaquium xanthochymum (nyatoh). By lasing at different settings of pulse width modulation (PWM), duration of laser exposures and distances from laser source to these hardwood samples, the surface diameters and depth penetrations of the burned portions of the wood is evaluated using x-ray and ultrasonic methods. Besides, elements in valuable hardwoods like Shorea Collina Spp., Parashorea Sp., Artocarpus lanceifolius and Tectona grandis Linn f. also been obtained by scanning microscope electron (SEM). It shows that the power of laser varied linearly with PWM and independent of distances from laser source to wood samples and duration of laser exposure. For fine cutting purpose, the settings are also different for each hardwood samples, depending on the wood density and its structure. Carbon is the main element in wood because it has the highest atomic percentage among other elements.