What are the applications of laser cutting machine?

Laser cutting technology first came out in 1967, and for many years’development it has been perfected and widely used in industrial manufacturing field. It is becoming very popular now and it yield great profit for the factories. So, how it works in the industrial world? This article will take you to a journey of the applications of laser cutting machine.

The following knowledge points are listed below:

• The basic principle of the laser cutting machine

• The advantages of the laser cutting machine

•  The four categories of laser cutting machine application

1.  The basic principle of the laser cutting machine

Fig1 shows the concept of a laser cutting machine.

The generation of the laser beam involves stimulating the laser material by a discharge or lamp in a closed container. When the laser material is stimulated, the light beam is reflected internally by a partial mirror until it gets enough energy to escape in the form of a monochromatic coherent optical flow. Mirrors or fibers are often used to direct coherent light onto a lens, which focuses the light on the work area. The narrowest part of the focused beam is generally less than 0.0125 inches (0.32 mm) diameter. Depending on the thickness of the material, the slit width can be as small as 0.004 inches (0.10 mm). In order to be able to cut from places other than the edges, a perforation is done before each cut. Perforation usually requires a high-energy pulsed laser beam to slowly perforate the material, for example, 0.5 inch thick (13 mm) stainless steel takes about 5-15 seconds.

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Fig1. Laser processing schematic diagram of laser cutting machine

2. The advantage of the laser cutting machine

Compared with traditional cutting technology, the advantages of the laser cutting machine technology are obvious:

1) Fast cutting speed

2) efficient

3) Wide processing range

4) During processing, the cut is smooth because it replaces traditional tools or flames and beams.

5) No further processing is required.

6) Cutting heat affected area is small.

7) Small plate deformation

8) Small slit (high utilization)

9) No mechanical stress in the cut

10) No shear glitches

11) High processing accuracy

12) Good repeatability

13) Does not damage the surface of the printing plate

14) NC programming

15) No need to open the mold

16) Time saving

Its advantages are most obvious when processing curves with the laser cutting machine. Compared with blank cutting, the machining surface is smooth, and there are no obvious blade marks on the blank processing curve.Since the plate is fixed during processing, scratches can also be avoided when the surface of the plate is moved.Laser cutting is the use of a focused high power density laser beam to irradiate the workpiece, so that the irradiated material quickly melts, vaporizes, ablates or reaches the ignition point.At the same time, the molten material is blown out with the same high-speed air current as the beam axis, and the workpiece is cut off.

3. The four categories of laser cutting machine application

Laser cutting machine applications can be divided into four categories, described as below:

The laser vaporization cutting

Laser vaporization uses a high-energy-density laser beam to heat a workpiece. The temperature rises rapidly and reaches the boiling point of the material in a short period of time. This substance starts to vaporize and forms steam. The steam sprayed quickly. When the steam blows out, a cut is made in the material.Laser evaporation is mainly used to cut extremely thin metallic and non-metallic materials.

The laser melting cutting

During laser melting and cutting, metal materials are melted by laser heating. A non-oxidizing gas (Ar, He, N2, etc.) is then sprayed from a nozzle coaxial with the beam. The liquid metal is ejected under the strong pressure of the gas, forming a cut.Laser melting does not require complete vaporization of the metal, and the energy required is only one-tenth that of vaporization.Laser melting cutting is mainly used for cutting non-oxidizing materials or active metals, such as stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, alloys, etc.

The laser oxygen cutting

The principle of laser oxygen cutting is similar to that of oxyacetylene.It uses laser as preheating source and active gas such as oxygen as cutting gas. On the one hand, the gas produced by the jet has an oxidation reaction and a large heat of oxidation. On the other hand, molten oxide and melt are blown out of the reaction zone, forming a cut in the metal. Due to the large amount of heat generated by the oxidation reaction in the cutting process, the energy required for laser cutting is only 1/2 of that of fusion cutting. But the cutting speed is much faster than laser vaporization cutting and melt cutting.Laser oxygen cutting is mainly used for carbon steel, titanium steel and heat-treated steel and other easily oxidizable metal materials.

The laser scribing and rupture control

Laser scribing uses a high-energy-density laser to scan the surface of a brittle material and heat the material into small grooves. Then apply a certain pressure, the brittle material will crack along the groove

As a conclusion, the laser cutting machine has its advantages over the traditional cutting technology, it is more used today in the industrial application, if you want to know more about Automatic Laser Cutting Machine, Automatic Laser Cutting Machine, please contact us!