LASER CUTTING

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials. It is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high power laser, by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then either melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high quality surface finish. Industrial laser cutters are used to cut flat-sheet material as well as structural and piping materials.

Process

Generation of the laser beam involves stimulating a lasing material by electrical discharges or lamps within a closed container. As the lasing material is stimulated, the beam is reflected internally by means of a partial mirror, until it achieves sufficient energy to escape as a stream of monochromatic coherent light. The coherent light then passes through a lens that focuses the light into a highly intensified beam generally less than 0.3175 mm in diameter. Depending upon material thickness, kerf widths as small as 0.1016 mm are possible. In order to be able to start cutting from somewhere else than the edge, a pierce is done before every cut. Piercing usually involves a high power pulsed laser beam which slowly (taking around 5–15 seconds for half-inch thick stainless steel, for example) makes a hole in the material.

There are many different methods in cutting using lasers, with different types used to cut different material. Some of the methods are vaporization, melt and blow, melt blow and burn, thermal stress cracking, scribing, cold cutting and burning stabilized laser cutting.

Typical Workpiece Materials

Depends on laser type.CO2 lasers are used for industrial cutting of many materials including mild steel, aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, paper, wax, plastics, wood, and fabrics.YAG lasers are primarily used for cutting and scribing metals and ceramics.

Power requirements

Industrial laser efficiency may range from 5% to 15%. The power consumption and efficiency of any particular laser will vary depending on output power and operating parameters. This will depend on type of laser and how well the laser is matched to the work at hand.The amount of laser cutting power required, known as heat input, for a particular job depends on the material type, thickness, process (reactive/inert) used, and desired cutting rate.

Which products can be made by laser cutting

We can cut smooth curves and even engrave text or logos on to parts. We can cut a different sizes of holes ,a hole cut with a entry diameter larger than the exit diameter, creating a slightly tapered hole, structural and piping materials.Laser cutting and engraving is also useful in making 2-D or 3-D models of aircrafts and ships, metal replicas of guitars and cars. Laser engraving machines are also used to engrave and etch logos and serial numbers for identification on electronic components. It depends which laser cutting method we use.