Keys to Successful Thick Plate Cutting with fiber laser cutting machine

Whether cutting sheet metal or thick plate, the result from a fiber laser cutting is precise.

When a company has a need for both quantity and quality, the laser cutter is a strong solution for cutting thick metal.

Here are key factors to keep in mind to produce high quality results from thick plate cutting.

How Material Quality Affects Cutting

Quality of the metal plays a major role in the quality of the cut, even on a fiber laser cutting machine.

We need keep material consistent from its surface condition to its internal elements in order to produce quality parts.

Regardless of the type of metal  cut it should have a consistent quality throughout the thick plate.

The material needs to be smooth and free of rust, scale and debris.

Laser cutters can cut metal cleanly with a thickness up to about 1.00 inch.

Beyond this amount crucial factors come into play that involve the quality of the material, gas purity and beam quality.

Why Assisted Gas Quality Matters

Thick steel cutting involves using assisted gas in the vaporation and removal of molten material after a cut.

The purity of the oxygen or nitrogen is crucial to the speed .

Liquid oxygen usually provides high-purity, whereas oxygen from a compressed cylinder often yields low purities.

One of the key concerns when using oxygen is to avoid heat buildup on the thick plate.

The thickness of the plate determines how much heat we require to produce quality parts.

When programming of the part is ok, it is sometimes best to stagger the holes or lines.

This controls and dissipates the heat throughout the sheet.

Basing on the material and thickness of metal we cut, the laser cutter can automatically choose from a library of multiple cutting specifications.

The fiber laser cutting machine adjusts itself based on the material being cut, but the operator maintains control of the beam configuration.

The quality of the beam is affected by the number of optics and modules in the system.

Increasing the number of these components lowers the quality of the beam.