Laser cutting

Laser cutting - This is a very advanced technology for cutting metal using a high-power laser. This method is successfully used on industrial production lines. The laser beam provides a high energy concentration, which makes it possible to cut almost all materials with different thermal and physical properties. The process is computer-controlled. laser cutting The material being cut melts, ignites, evaporates, or is blown away by a gas jet, resulting in very narrow cutting areas and minimal thermal exposure. Mechanical stress on the material is virtually nonexistent, meaning any deformation is minimal, both during the cutting process and after cooling. This allows for laser cutting Used for easily deformable, flexible parts while maintaining cutting quality. A high degree of automation allows for cutting complex contours.

Laser cutting of metal A laser beam burns through metal. Various systems based on fiber lasers, solid-state lasers, and CO2 gas lasers are used for this purpose, and they can operate in continuous or pulsed mode. This cutting method is quite expensive, so it is only used when other methods would be labor-intensive or impossible. Metals with low thermal conductivity are best processed because the laser energy is concentrated over a smaller area of the metal.

In progress laser cutting of metal The beam heats the metal until it melts. After further absorption of the radiation, the metal melts further, increasing the heating temperature until it reaches its destruction point—the boiling point—at which the metal vaporizes. However, vaporizing the metal requires high energy costs and is only suitable for very thin metals. Therefore, fusion cutting is primarily used, which uses an auxiliary gas introduced into the cutting zone to remove the byproducts of metal destruction. This auxiliary gas is often an inert gas or nitrogen, as well as oxygen and air.

Oxygen at laser cutting of metal performs several tasks, namely:

• initially causes preliminary oxidation of the metal, reducing its ability to reflect laser radiation;
• When ignited, the metal burns in a stream of oxygen and increases additional heat, producing stronger laser radiation;
• a jet of oxygen carries the molten metal away from the cutting zone.

During laser cutting of metal The total heat volume can include the heat of the metal's combustion reaction, and this mechanism is used when the metal is susceptible to ignition and combustion below its melting point—this applies to low-carbon steel and titanium. To cut alloy and high-carbon steels, as well as aluminum, copper, and other metals, a function is chosen so that the metal melts rather than burns, and a gas jet blows away the liquid metal.

At laser cutting A solid-state laser uses a pump lamp and an active medium, a ruby rod. The pump lamp produces intense flashes of light to activate the atoms of the active medium. Mirrors, one slightly transparent and one reflective, are located at the ends of this medium. Through multiple reflections within the active medium, the laser beam is amplified and exits through the transparent mirror. Gas lasers use a mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium, which serves as the active medium in the device.