How to deal with the slag when cutting

Many clients have this question:How to deal with the slag when cutting? Today we will talk about it.

The laser cutting process of the fiber laser cutting machine is widely used in our production. Compared with the traditional cutting method, it is more accurate and convenient. It mainly uses a high-power laser beam to heat the part to  cut, and the instant high-temperature gasification Material to achieve the effect of cutting. But in the process of cutting, there will have some molten metal spatter attach to the back of the workpiece, these molten metal spatter is  slag.

The fiber laser cutting machine generates a large amount of heat when processing sheet metal. Under normal circumstances, the heat generated by cutting will spread along the slit to the processed sheet metal to obtain sufficient cooling.  In the processing of the small hole of the fiber laser cutting machine, the outside of the hole can be fully cooled. But the small hole inside the single hole has a small space for heat diffusion. And the thermal energy is too concentrated to cause excessive slag. In addition, in the thick plate cutting, the molten metal accumulated on the material surface and heat accumulation generated during the perforation will disturb the auxiliary airflow and excessive heat input, which will cause slag hanging.

The occurrence of this situation will seriously affect the accuracy and appearance of the product and easily cause customer dissatisfaction. Many novice operators who are new to the laser industry do not know how to deal with material slag caused by metal laser cutting machine processing. In fact, the occurrence of slag during laser processing is affect by the processing conditions, the material of the workpiece, and the material thickness.

1. Carbon steel:

If the processing conditions are set appropriately, slag adhesion will rarely occur. Slag will appear when cutting thick plates, but it is easy to remove.

2. Galvanized steel:

The frequency of slag adhesion is high, and the range of conditions for good cutting is also narrow. In the process of coating the primer material, the process of cutting the coating layer is perform first.  And then the method of cutting the base material is perform.

3． Stainless steel plate:

When the auxiliary gas is oxygen, it is difficult to avoid the occurrence of slag. And the slag that occurs is also hard and difficult to remove. The use of nitrogen for non-oxidizing laser cutting can significantly reduce the amount of dross.

4． Aluminum:

In the cutting of aluminum, the thicker the plate, the more slag will get.

Therefore, when we usually operate the laser cutting machine. We must also work carefully according to the characteristics of these materials. And the right medicine can make the processing effect better!

Any other questions,pls feel free to contact me.

Ariel Liu
Email:xintian122@xtlaser.com
whatsapp:0086 17866940010