Five advantages of laser processing compared with other thermal cutting methods

Laser cutting is to use 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. And at the same time blows out the molten material by means of a high-speed airflow coaxial with the beam, so as to cut the workpiece open. Laser cutting is one of the thermal cutting methods. Compare with other thermal cutting methods, the specific advantages of laser cutting can summarize as follows:

Good cutting quality:

Due to the small laser spot, high energy density, and fast cutting speed, laser cutting can achieve better cutting quality.

① The laser cutting incision is narrow, the two sides of the slit are parallel and perpendicular to the surface. And the dimensional accuracy of the cutting part can reach ± ​​0.05mm.

② The cutting surface is smooth and beautiful, and the surface roughness is only tens of micrometers. Even laser cutting can use as the last process without mechanical processing, and the parts can use directly.

③ After laser cutting, the width of the heat-affected zone is small. The performance of the material near the slit is almost unaffecte. And the workpiece deformation is small, the cutting accuracy is high, the geometry of the slit is good. And the cross-sectional shape of the slit is more regular. Rectangle.

High cutting efficiency:

Due to the transmission characteristics of lasers, laser cutting machines generally equippe with multiple numerically controlle worktables. And the entire cutting process can fully numerically controlle. During operation, just changing the NC program can be used to cut different shapes of parts, both 2D and 3D.

Fast cutting speed:

2mm thick low carbon steel plate can be cut with a power of 1200W laser, the cutting speed can reach 15000px / min; 5mm thick polypropylene resin plate, the cutting speed can reach 30,000px / min The material does not need to be clamped and fixed during laser cutting, which can save tooling and fixtures, and save the auxiliary time of loading and unloading.

Non-contact cutting:

The cutting torch has no contact with the workpiece during laser cutting, and there is no tool wear. When processing different shapes of parts, there is no need to change the “tool”, only the output parameters of the laser need to change. The laser cutting process has low noise, low vibration and no pollution.

There are many types of cutting materials:

Compared with oxyacetylene cutting and plasma cutting, there are many types of laser cutting materials, including metal, non-metal, metal-based and non-metal-based composite materials, leather, wood and fibers. But for different materials, due to their own thermophysical properties and different laser absorption rates, they show different laser cutting adaptability.

In summary, from the perspective of market conditions, the laser processing market has grown steadily. Against the background of weak macroeconomic and industrial demand, laser processing equipment has maintained a steady growth in the scale of the industry with its business needs in the high-end processing market.

Compare with traditional machine tool cutting and other thermal processing, so laser processing has multiple technical advantages, which are in line with the requirements of high precision, low wear and high efficiency require by the high-end processing market.