Advantages of laser cutting technology and considerations when cutting different materials

Advantages of laser cutting technology:
1. High quality and fine cutting quality

The laser beam used in the laser cutting equipment can be focused into a very small point of light, which can make the laser cutting machine reach a very high power, therefore, its cutting speed is fast, high precision, can also ensure that the workpiece does not appear deformation.

2. Strong adaptability and sensitivity

This is a kind of thermal cutting technology as the cutting process, during the cutting of the affected area is small, there is no large-scale impact.It also has the advantage of being able to process some nonmetals, which, of course, other laser cutting equipment can't.

3. With high energy, it can freely control its density change and carry out local operation

This laser beam has a very good control performance, we can freely control the operation path of this laser cutting machine, for any hard material can be cut accordingly.For those small parts, we can also make local perfect cutting.

Laser cutting technology has the following aspects:

A. Melting cutting is to make the laser light speed of incident shine on the plate, and when the laser power reaches A certain critical value, the local area will melt to achieve the cutting effect.

B. Vaporization cutting USES laser beam with high power density to heat and process the material, avoiding the slag burr formed by melting caused by heat conduction, and part of the material vaporizes into steam and disappears, with beautiful edges.

C. Oxidizing cutting is the hot machining that occurs when oxygen is blown out of the nozzle and ignited by the laser nozzle.For brittle materials that are easy to be damaged by heat, high-speed and controllable cutting is carried out by laser beam heating, resulting in large thermal gradient and severe mechanical deformation in the region, leading to the formation of cracks in the material, which is also known as controlled fracture cutting.

Precautions for laser cutting different materials：

Structural steel

The material is usually cut with oxygen to get better results.When oxygen is used as a processing gas, the cutting edge will be slightly oxidized and the section will have a good effect.When the thickness of the plate is less than 3mm and the laser power is large, nitrogen can be considered as the processing gas for high-pressure cutting. In this case, the cutting edge will not be oxidized and the cutting speed will be very fast, which greatly improves the production efficiency.In addition, sometimes the thickness of the plate more than 10mm, laser cutting machine laser use special plate and in the processing can be considered to the workpiece surface oil, can make the cutting product to achieve a better effect.

Stainless steel

The material is generally cut with nitrogen gas, which can be used to obtain the edge without oxidation and burr. The cutting product also needs any treatment.In addition, coating the oil film on the plate surface will get better perforation effect without reducing the processing quality.

In the current trend of optical fiber laser, customers can choose air cutting, cutting effect and speed can also achieve a good effect, that is, the cutting section has a certain degree of oxidation, a bit black section.To use air cutting, the customer needs to be equipped with an air compressor (medium and high pressure, 1.3-1.8mpa), a cold dryer, and an air storage tank (0.6-1 cubic).

aluminum

Despite its high reflectivity and thermal conductivity, ordinary aluminum can be cut, depending on the type of aluminum and the laser capability.When cutting aluminum alloy with oxygen, the cutting surface is rough and hard, while when cutting with nitrogen, the cutting surface is smooth.Pure aluminum is very difficult to cut because of its high purity. You can only cut aluminum if you have a "reflection absorption" device installed in the fiber optic laser cutting machine system, otherwise the reflection will destroy the optical components.

Copper and brass

Both materials have high reflectivity and very good thermal conductivity.Generally speaking, brass is cut with nitrogen, red copper is cut with oxygen, the red copper with thickness below 1mm can be considered to be cut with nitrogen.Cut the copper and brass only if there is a "reflection absorber" on the system, otherwise the reflection will destroy the optical components.

Synthetic materials

Keep in mind the hazards of cutting and the possible release of hazardous substances when cutting synthetic materials.Synthetic materials that can be machined include thermoplastics, thermosetting materials, and elastomers. They are generally made of material fitted by A CO2 laser cutting machine. Optical fiber does not cut (optical fiber lasers do not absorb synthetic materials at specific wavelengths).

Organic matter

There is a risk of fire in all organic cuttings (nitrogen as a process gas or compressed air as a process gas).Wood, leather, cardboard and paper can be laser-cut and the edges will burn (brown).Generally CO2 laser cutting machine fit into the material, fiber laser specific wavelength does not absorb synthetic materials.