What is sheet metal laser cutting?

Laser cutting is a precision process in sheet metal manufacturing, which uses lasers to cut metal plates into the desired shape. Compared with other methods, laser cutting has high cutting quality (cutting width 0.1-0.5mm), good cutting surface roughness (Ra 12.5-25mm), high accuracy (general hole center distance tolerance is 0.1-0.4mm, external dimension tolerance is 0.1-0.5mm), and joint cutting can be directly welded without further processing. The speed of laser cutting is very fast. For example, if the power of the laser cutting machine is 2000w and the cutting speed of 8mm thick carbon steel is 160cm/min. On 2mm thick stainless steel, the speed is 350 centimeters per minute. The heat affected area is small and the deformation is extremely light.

Laser Cutting Process

How does laser cutting work?

Laser cutting is the process of irradiating a focused high-energy high-density laser beam onto a workpiece, causing the irradiated material to melt, vaporize, ablate, or reach the ignition point. At the same time, the high-speed airflow coaxial with the laser beam blows away the melted material, achieving cutting of the workpiece.

Laser Cutting 

What are the advantages of laser cutting?

Compared with other thermal cutting methods, laser cutting has high cutting speed and high quality. The specific advantages are as follows.

1. Good cutting quality.

Laser cutting has the advantages of small laser spot, high energy density, and fast cutting speed, which can achieve better cutting quality.

A. The incision of laser cutting is very thin and narrow, with both sides of the incision parallel and perpendicular to the surface, achieving an accuracy of ± 0.05mm for cutting parts.

B、 The roughness of the cutting surface is only a few tens of millimeters, which is very clean and beautiful. These parts can even be used directly after laser cutting, as laser cutting can be the final process without further mechanical processing.

C. When laser cutting materials, the width of the heat affected zone is small, and the material properties near the cutting seam are almost unaffected. At the same time, the workpiece deformation is small, the cutting accuracy is high, and the geometric cutting shape is good. The cross-section of the incision will present a regular rectangle.

2. High cutting efficiency

Due to the special transmission characteristics of lasers, the entire cutting process can be controlled by a CNC system, and laser cutting machines can be equipped with multiple CNC work platforms. During operation, the laser cutting machine can adapt to different shapes of parts by changing the numerical system program, and can achieve two-dimensional and three-dimensional cutting.

3. Cutting speed is fast.

A 1200W power laser cutting machine can cut 2mm thick ordinary carbon plates with a cutting speed of up to 600cm/min. When cutting 5mm thick polypropylene (PP) sheets, the cutting speed can reach 1200cm/min. Laser cutting saves both fixture costs and workpiece loading and unloading time, without the need to clamp and fix materials during laser cutting.

4. Non contact cutting

During laser cutting, the cutting nozzle does not come into contact with the workpiece and there is no tool wear. When processing parts of different shapes, there is no need to replace the cutting tools, only the output parameters of the laser need to be changed. The process of laser cutting is very quiet, with light vibration and no pollution.

5. Multiple available cutting materials

Compared with other cutting methods such as oxyacetylene cutting and plasma cutting, laser cutting has more available materials. Such as metal, non-metal, metal matrix and non-metal matrix composites, foam, wood and fiber, etc.

Sheet Metal Laser Cutting 

What are the limitations of laser cutting?

Due to limitations in laser power and equipment size, laser cutting machines can only cut medium thin plates and pipes. And as the width of the workpiece increases, the cutting speed will significantly decrease. The cost of laser cutting equipment is enormous, which means that a large amount of capital needs to be invested at once.

What are the applications of laser cutting?

Laser cutting is widely used in the sheet metal manufacturing industry. Most laser cutting machines are controlled and operated by CNC systems or cutting robots. Laser cutting, as a precision machining method, can cut almost all kinds of materials, including two-dimensional or three-dimensional metal cutting.

In the field of automobile manufacturing, the spatial curve cutting technology for car windows and roof covers has been widely applied.

In the aerospace field, laser cutting technology is mainly used to cut special aerospace materials such as titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, nickel alloys, chromium alloys, stainless steel, beryllium oxide, composite materials, plastics, ceramics, and quartz. The parts processed by laser cutting include engine flame tubes, titanium alloy thin-walled shells, aircraft frames, titanium alloy skins, wing trusses, tailboards, helicopter main rotors, and ceramic insulation tiles for space shuttles.

sheet metal laser cutting