In recent years, the laser cutting machine has performed well in the processing and manufacturing industry. The processing results of the laser cutting machine, whether in appearance, efficiency and stability, are far beyond the traditional cutting and processing equipment. What is the cutting principle of seemingly simple laser cutting?

The principle of the fiber laser cutter is that the pump material is doped into the fiber, the pump light is coupled into the rare earth element doped fiber as the gain medium through a special pump structure, the photons at the pump wavelength are absorbed by the doped fiber medium, forming a particle number inversion, and the stimulated light wave is fed back and oscillated by the resonant cavity mirror to form the laser output light, which is focused on the surface of the work-piece. The laser beam is focused into a very small light spot (its minimum diameter can be less than 0.1mm), so that the light spot reaches a very high power density. The material under the light spot is quickly heated to the gasification temperature, and the evaporation forms holes. With the relative movement of the light speed and the material, the holes are continuous, forming a very narrow slit. It is a high-tech equipment integrating laser technology, numerical control technology and precision machinery technology. At present, laser cutting equipment usually adopts computerized digital control technology (CNC) device. After using this device, you can use computer aided design (CAD) to receive cutting data.

The fiber laser cutting machine can cut a variety of metal plates and pipes, and is mainly used for cutting stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, silicon steel, spring steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, galvanized plate, aluminum zinc plate, pickling plate, copper, silver, gold, titanium and other metal plates and pipes. In addition, the fiber laser cutting machine can be applied in a wide range, including advertising metal characters, mechanical parts, kitchenware, automobiles, machinery, electrical parts, medical microelectronics, hardware and other industries.

The advantages of fiber laser cutting machine are also obvious, mainly including:

a. Good cutting quality. Because the laser spot is small and the energy density is high, a laser cutting can obtain better cutting quality. The kerf of laser cutting is generally 0.1-0.2mm, the width of the heat affected zone is very small, the geometric shape of the kerf is good, and the cross section of the kerf presents a relatively regular rectangle. The cutting surface of laser cutting is free of burrs, and the surface roughness R can generally reach above 12.5um. Laser cutting is even the last processing procedure. The cutting surface can be directly welded without further processing, and parts can be directly used.

b. Fast cutting speed. Laser cutting is fast. For example, using 2KV laser power, the cutting speed of 8mm thick carbon steel is 1.6m/min, and that of 2mm thick stainless steel is 3.5m/min When hesitating to laser cutting, the work-piece has small heat affected zone, minimal deformation, and no need for clamping and fixing, which can save clamping fixtures, clamping and other auxiliary time.

c. There are many kinds of materials that can be cut. Compared with the cutting methods such as oxygen ethane cutting and plasma cutting, there are many kinds of materials cut in laser cutting class, including metal, non-metal, metal matrix and non-metal matrix composites. For different materials, due to their own thermos-physical properties and laser absorption, they show different laser cutting adaptability.

d. Suitable for processing large products. The mold manufacturing cost of large products is very high. Laser processing does not require any mold. Moreover, laser processing completely avoids the collapse edge formed during material punching and shearing, which can greatly reduce the production cost of enterprises and improve the product grade.

e. Clean, safe and pollution-free. In the process of laser cutting, the noise is low, the vibration is small, and there is no pollution, which greatly improves the working environment of operators.

f. Not susceptible to electromagnetic interference. Different from electron beam processing, laser processing is not sensitive to electromagnetic interference and does not require a vacuum environment.

Because of these obvious advantages, more and more manufacturers choose fiber laser cutting machines as processing equipment. But at present, there are many kinds of fiber laser cutting machines on the market, and the power is different. And with the continuous development of technology, many brands have launched 10, 000 W laser cutting machines. So, what are the differences in the application of different power laser cutting machines?

Low power laser cutting machines, such as 500W and 1, 000W fiber laser cutting machines, are mainly suitable for cutting materials below 8mm, mainly for self-use SMEs and most users in sheet metal manufacturing, home appliance manufacturing, kitchenware manufacturing, decoration, advertising and other industries with low processing requirements. The cutting speed of carbon steel below 2mm with 500W machine is about 6.6m per minute, and that with 1000W machine is about 8m per minute.

The fiber laser cutting machine between 2, 000W and 4, 000W is mainly used to cut full size stainless steel, carbon steel and other materials within 25mm, aluminum plates within 4mm, acrylic plates, wood material plates and PVC plates within 60mm, and the cutting speed is very fast. This kind of machine is mainly used for the cutting and processing of medium and thick plates of 6-25mm, and is suitable for large and medium-sized enterprises and some laser cutting and processing enterprises that are purely engaged in external processing.

However, high-power fiber laser cutters like 16, 000W can cut thick brass and aluminum plates and other high reflective materials. It is mainly applicable to the cutting of materials below 25mm, especially the high-quality cutting of medium and thick plates. It is mainly aimed at enterprises that process more non-ferrous metals.

The power of the laser cutting machine is an important part of the price of the fiber laser cutting machine. The higher the power, the higher the price and the greater the work efficiency of the product. Therefore, the buyer can select a fiber laser cutting machine with high cost performance after assessing the output demand according to personal needs.

In a word, compared with traditional processing methods, fiber laser cutting machine has obvious advantages. In the face of a wide variety of machines on the market with different power positioning, we should make a choice based on our own needs.

About HGTECH: HGTECH is the pioneer and leader of laser industrial application in China, and the authoritative provider of global laser processing solutions. We have comprehensively arranged laser intelligent equipment, measurement and automation production lines, and smart factory construction to provide overall solutions for intelligent manufacturing.