Laser cutting is a process that uses high-power and high-density laser beam to irradiate the surface of the cut material, so that the material can rise rapidly until vaporization. A stationary laser beam can form holes on the surface of the material being cut, while a moving laser beam can form a slit with a very narrow width. This is a cutting method with extremely high precision.
Laser cutting of metal materials
The biggest problem of laser cutting of metal materials is the low absorption rate of energy. Because solid metals have high reflectivity to infrared at room temperature, the commonly used carbon dioxide lasers emit far-infrared laser beams with a wavelength of 10.6 microns, and their energy absorption is only between 0.5% and 10%. However, if the laser energy density can be increased and the metal can be melted quickly in a short time, the absorption rate of laser energy by molten metal will be greatly improved. If you want to melt the metal in a delicate amount of time, the energy density of the laser must reach at least 106 watts per square centimeter.
When cutting carbon steel materials, the maximum thickness that the laser cutting system can cut can reach 20mm. When using the oxidation melting cutting mechanism, the width of the cutting seam can be controlled within an ideal range. For carbon steel sheet, the cutting seam can be narrowed to about 0.1mm.
For stainless steel and alloy steel, laser cutting is a very effective tool, especially for the manufacturing industry using stainless steel sheet as the main component. Most alloy structural steels and alloy tool steels can also be cut by laser to obtain good edge cutting quality. Only for tungsten containing high-speed tool steel and hot die steel, when laser cutting is used, melting corrosion and slag sticking will occur, resulting in poor cutting quality.
Aluminum and alloy: aluminum cutting belongs to the melting cutting mechanism, and the auxiliary gas used is mainly used to blow away the molten products from the cutting area, which can usually obtain better cutting quality. For some aluminum alloys, attention should be paid to prevent the occurrence of intergranular microcracks on the slit surface.
Brass plates with small thickness can be cut by high-power laser, and air or oxygen is used as auxiliary gas in the cutting process. But pure copper can hardly be cut with carbon dioxide laser, because this material has too high laser reflectivity.
Pure titanium can well couple the heat energy converted by the focused laser beam. If oxygen is used as the auxiliary gas, a very intense reaction will occur. Although the cutting speed is fast, it is easy to form an oxide layer at the cutting edge, and it will cause overburning if you are not careful. Therefore, in order to be safe, it is best to use air as auxiliary gas, so that a good balance can be found between cutting speed and cutting quality.
Nickel based alloys, also known as superalloys, have many varieties, most of which can be oxidized and melted by laser.
Laser cutting of non-metallic materials
The nonmetallic materials mentioned here are mainly divided into organic materials, inorganic materials and composite materials. No matter what kind of non-metallic material, its absorption rate of laser ability is still very good, and the poor thermal conductivity and low evaporation temperature make almost all the absorbed light beams input into the material, and vaporize instantly at the spot irradiation, forming initial holes, thus entering the virtuous cycle of the cutting process.
Organic materials that can be cut by laser include plastics and their polymers, rubber, wood, paper products, leather, etc; Inorganic materials suitable for laser cutting include quartz, glass, ceramics and stone; The composite suitable for laser cutting is a new type of lightweight reinforced fiber polymer composite. It is worth mentioning that in the end, this kind of material is difficult to be processed by conventional methods, but the characteristics of non-contact processing with laser cutting can cut, trim and scale the laminated sheet before curing at high speed. Under the heating of laser beam, the edges of the sheet are fused, avoiding the generation of fiber chips.
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