Metal materials suitable for fiber laser cutting machine
Stainless steel
The laser cutting machine facilitates the process of cutting stainless steel sheets. The high-power YAG laser cutting system allows the cutting of stainless steel up to a maximum thickness of 4 mm. Additionally, our in-house developed low-power YAG laser cutting system is capable of cutting stainless steel sheets up to 4mm thick.
steel alloy
Most alloy steels can be laser cut and the results are of good quality. However, high tungsten tool steels and hot die steels can erode and produce sticky slag during the laser cutting process.
Carbon steel
The modern laser cutting system can cut maximum thicknesses of up to 20 mm in carbon steel sheets and produce cuts with a minimum width of approximately 0.1 mm.
When cutting low carbon steel using a laser, the heat affected zone is minimal, resulting in a flat, smooth and vertically accurate cut.
In comparison, high carbon steel has a better quality edge when laser cut, but the heat affected zone is larger.
Aluminum and alloy
Aluminum cutting is considered a fusion cutting process. To obtain a better quality cut, an auxiliary gas is used to remove the melted material from the cutting area.
Currently, the maximum thickness that can be cut in aluminum plates is 1.5mm.
Other metallic materials
Rhenium copper is not suitable for laser cutting as it can be cut too thin.
Non-metallic materials
Lasers can cut a variety of organic materials, including plastic (polymer), rubber, wood, paper products, leather, and natural and synthetic fabrics. Furthermore, they can also cut inorganic materials such as quartz and ceramics, as well as composite materials such as new lightweight fiber reinforcement polymers.
Parts that can be processed by a metal laser cutting machine
1. Production of advertising signs (mainly logos and stainless steel identifiers).
2. Sheet metal manufacturing (covering all metallic materials, mainly involving bending, grinding and cutting as the main operation).
3. Manufacture of machine boxes and cabinets (typically using carbon steel or stainless steel, mainly involving bending and cutting processes).
4. Manufacture of spring clips (a precision machining process), subway parts, elevator casings, mechanical equipment housings and kitchen utensils (mainly stainless steel). Our laser cutting machines from Tongfa Laser also contributed to the production of the Shenzhou-7 and Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which cover diverse areas.
6. Foldable carbon steel: Modern laser cutting systems can cut carbon steel plates up to 20mm thick. By using a fusion and oxidation cutting mechanism, the cutting seam of carbon steel can be controlled within a satisfactory range of widths. For thin sheets, the cutting seam can be reduced to about 0.1 mm.
7. Bending stainless steel: Laser cutting is an effective tool for industries that use stainless steel sheets as main components. By strictly controlling the heat input measurements during the laser cutting process, the heat-affected zone at the cutting edge can be kept very small, thus effectively maintaining the good corrosion resistance of such materials.
What should you pay attention to when laser cutting metal materials?
For cutting structural steel materials, you should pay attention to:
The choice of cutting pattern for a sheet depends on its thickness. For structural steel plates of normal thickness, using oxygen as the processing gas produces good results. However, there may be slight signs of oxidation on the cutting edge, but this does not affect usability.
For sheets thicker than 4 mm, experience shows that using nitrogen as a processing gas can improve cutting results. Nitrogen is preferred over oxygen to prevent oxidation at the cutting edge.
Cutting extra thick steel thicker than 10mm is more challenging. In this case, using a specialized laser plate and applying oil to the surface of the part during processing may lead to better results.
For cutting stainless steel materials, you should pay attention to:
The choice of process gas can be made based on specific requirements. If oxygen is chosen, it can easily oxidize in high temperature cutting environments and result in a slightly dull cutting edge. On the other hand, nitrogen, which is not easily oxidized at high temperatures, can produce a smooth cutting edge when used as a processing gas.
To cut thicker sheets, applying an oil film to the surface of the sheet can improve cutting results without affecting the quality of the process.
For junior cutting engineers, extra care should be taken when cutting stainless steel as its strong reflected heat can damage optical devices due to high temperature heating.
For cutting aluminum materials, please note:
Cutting aluminum materials is a common task in daily cutting operations. With a good laser cutting machine, cutting aluminum with a thickness of less than 6mm is relatively easy. The choice of processing gas (oxygen or nitrogen) depends on the desired surface quality of the cutting edge.
However, aluminum is highly reflective and special measures must be taken to absorb its thermal reflection during cutting to avoid damage to optical components. This is especially important for precision optical lenses, as damage caused by heat reflection from aluminum can be significant.
For cutting copper and brass materials, observe the following:
Cutting copper and brass plates requires special attention due to their high reflectivity and thermal conductivity. When cutting brass plates with a thickness of less than 1 mm, nitrogen is the preferred cutting aid gas. However, if the thickness exceeds 2 mm, oxygen must be used as the cutting gas as nitrogen is no longer suitable.
It is important to note that these materials have strong emissivity, therefore special radiation absorption devices must be installed to protect the lens from the harmful effects of high thermal reflection.
