Laser cutting is the oldest and most commonly used technology in the field of laser processing, accounting for more than 70% of the entire field. It is widely used in industries such as machinery, automobile, aerospace, light textile, food and medical treatment.
Traditional laser cutting was mainly limited to flat cutting. With the development of laser cutting technology, the processing of three-dimensional free-form parts has gradually become possible.
Since the world's first five-axis CO 2 laser cutting machine was developed by Prima in 1979. 3D laser cutting machines have been favored for their strong flexibility, high precision, minimum tool equipment requirements and short operating time. production preparation.
Currently, they are widely used to process 3D parts in industries such as automobiles, mechanical manufacturing, and aerospace.
1. Types of 3D laser cutting machines
To ensure processing quality and efficiently utilize laser beam energy in 3D laser cutting, the cutting head must move along a predetermined spatial trajectory while the axis of the laser beam remains perpendicular to the surface of the part it is being cut.
Therefore, 3D laser cutting machines typically require at least 5 axes, including three linear motion axes (X, Y, Z) and two rotary axes (two of the A/B/C axes). Currently, there are two basic structures of 3D laser cutting machines, gantry style and robotic style, available on the commercial market.
The former usually has a base or worktable that provides linear motion along the X, Y, and Z axes, while the cutting head provides the remaining two axes of rotary (or oscillating) motion.
The latter uses fiber transmission (or articulated arm with internal reflecting mirrors) to integrate with robots and perform 3D laser cutting.
The performance comparison of the two is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Performance comparison of gantry and robotic cutting machines.
| Performance | Portico Style | Robotic Style |
| Work space | Big | Small |
| Processing speed | High | Small |
| Processing accuracy | Low | Low |
| Ability to approach the processing area | Poor | Good |
| Space | Big | Small |
High power laser is a critical component of laser cutting equipment. According to the type of laser used, 3D laser cutting machines are generally divided into three categories: fiber laser cutting machines, CO 2 laser cutting machines and YAG laser cutting machines.
The main performance comparison of the three types of laser cutting machines is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Performance comparison of fiber, CO 2 and YAG laser cutting machines.
| Performance | Fiber Laser Cutting Machine | CO2 Laser Cutting Machine | YAG laser cutting machine |
| Processing material types | Metal | Metal, non-metallic | Metal |
| Cutting speed | High | Relatively high | Low |
| Cutting precision | High | High | Relatively high |
| Photoelectric conversion efficiency | About 30% | About 10% | About 3% |
| Equipment cost | Average | High | Low |
| Harm to the human body | High | Low | Average |
| Market positioning | High-precision processing of thin sheets with a thickness of ≤12 mm | Processing of thin plates with a thickness of ≤8mm of high-reflection materials. | Processing of metals and multiple non-metallic sheets with thicknesses of 6-25mm. |
At present, in the commercial market, fiber laser cutting machines and CO2 laser cutting machines are the main types of 3D laser cutting machines.
2. Search status at home and abroad
2.1 Three-dimensional fiber laser cutting machine
Compared with CO2 laser cutting and YAG laser cutting, fiber laser cutting has certain advantages in cutting efficiency, photoelectric energy conversion efficiency, optical path structure, maintenance cost, cutting accuracy, etc.
In recent years, the development of fiber laser cutting machines has been rapid, gradually replacing traditional CO2 laser cutting machines and becoming the new market trend.
Currently, well-known foreign manufacturers producing three-dimensional fiber laser cutting machines include German Trumpf, Italian Prima Power, American PREISER, as well as Japanese Komatsu, NTC, Koike, Mitsubishi, AMADA and MAZAK.
Among them, Trumpf's TruLaser Cell 3000, TruLaser Cell 5030, TruLaser Cel 8030, Prima Power's Rapido, Laserdyne 75G, Komatsu's TLH-N series and AMADA's LCG3015AJ II and other three-dimensional fiber laser cutting machine products have high visibility.
The TruLaser Cell 3000 five-axis laser processing machine tool adopts a modular structure and can use a variety of lasers. It can implement processing such as laser welding, cutting and cladding by replacing the laser processing head. It is also easy to achieve machine tool automation and can meet the needs of mass production. The positioning accuracy is relatively high, with XNZ axis positioning accuracy of ±0.015mm and A, C axis positioning accuracy of 0.02°.
TruLaser Cell 8030 3D laser cutting machine is suitable for rapid cutting of large-scale thermoformed vehicle side panels. Its X/Y/Z axis movement range is 3000mm/1300mm/600mm and the axis acceleration is 4g. It also adopts an optimized rotary processing table, which greatly reduces non-production time and improves efficiency and productivity, as shown in Figure 1.
The Rapido 3D 5-axis laser cutting machine uses a 2.0-4.0 kW fiber laser, which provides flexible processing for various cutting and welding applications. The machine has a collision prevention system, as well as direct drive that eliminates recoil and wear.
The Laserdyne 795 multi-axis laser processing machine uses high-precision machining surfaces and large-diameter, high-rigidity drive screws, providing high mechanical precision and making it suitable for high-speed cutting applications. It is also compatible with different types of laser sources such as fiber, CO 2 and YAG, as shown in Image 2.
TLH-N series ultra-high speed 3D 5-axis control laser cutting machine features high rigidity, high speed (X/Y/Z axis fast travel speed of 100m/min, A/C axis of 540°/s), good operability and open design on a single side with high accessibility.
The LCG3015AJⅡ high-efficiency fiber laser processing machine has a fast travel speed of up to 170m/min and a machining feed rate of 120m/min. It has high production efficiency, good scalability and a new digital improvement solution for sheet metal processing, from process improvement to factory renovation, as shown in Image 3.
China's industrial laser industry started relatively late, and there is a significant gap in the research and development of commercial laser cutting technology compared with developed countries. With the Chinese government listing laser processing technology as a key scientific and technological research project, there has been a surge of interest in the industry and more and more companies and research institutions have initiated relevant technological research.
At present, several Chinese companies have launched 3D fiber laser cutting machine products, including Hans Laser, HG Laser, Chutian Laser, Bystronic Dne, Gweike and LeMing Laser.
Among them, Hans Laser's HyRobot C20 fiber laser cutting machine, HG Laser's AUTOBOT 5-axis car 3D laser cutting machine, SF series 5-axis 3D laser cutting machine, FC-CBD Large Enclosed Auto Changing Table Fiber Laser Cutting by Dne Laser, The 5 Axis Car 3D Laser Cutting Machine FK3015S by Focus Laser, The 5 Axis 3D Laser Cutting Machine STK-S- Stark's 3015 and LeiMing Laser's LMR 3D multi-axis intelligent laser cutting equipment are well-known products.
At present, the main technical indicators of domestic 3D fiber laser cutting machine products are not much different from those of foreign conventional products, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Main technical indicators of 3D fiber laser cutting machines.
| Name | Technical parameters | |
| Linear Axes (X/Y/Z axes) |
Positioning speed /mm/min |
50-120 |
| Positioning acceleration /IN 2 |
0.8-1.0 | |
| Positioning Accuracy /mm |
±0.05-0.03 | |
| Repeatable positioning accuracy /mm |
±0.05-0.01 | |
| Rotary Axes (Axes C/B/A) |
Positioning speed /°·s) |
540-720 |
| Positioning acceleration / (°·s -2 ) |
3600-6000 | |
| Positioning Accuracy /° |
0.02-0.015 | |
| Repeatable positioning accuracy /° |
0.01-0.005 |
2.2 Three-Dimensional CO 2 Laser Cutting Machine
CO 2 laser cutting machines are currently widely used to process stainless steel with a thickness of no more than 12mm and non-metallic materials with a thickness of no more than 25mm. They have been widely used in cutting and processing automotive interior and exterior parts and non-metallic parts in other industries.
Currently, major foreign manufacturers of CO2 laser cutting machines include German Trumpf, Italian Prima Power, and Japanese Komatsu and NTC, among others. Among them, the CO three-dimensional Tru Laser Cell 7040 2 laser cutting machine from Trumpf, the Optimo 3D 5-axis laser cutting machine from Prima Power, the TLM series 5-axis control 3D laser cutting machine from Komatsu and NTC's TLM610 3D 5-axis laser cutting machine with double change work table are well-known products.
The three-dimensional TruLaser Cell 7040 2 CO laser cutting machine has an XY/Z axis offset of 4000 mm × 2000 mm × 1000 mm, B/C axis offset of ± 135° and 4g shaft. It has multiple working areas that can be conveniently selected according to needs, and multiple lasers can be used. It can perform a variety of processing techniques such as laser welding, cutting and cladding by replacing the laser processing head as shown in Image 4.
The Optimo 3D 5-axis laser cutting machine is also suitable for cutting and welding large parts, with an XNZ axis travel of 4500mm × 2500mm × 1020mm and a B/A axis travel of ± 135° and 360 °. It uses a fast 2.5-4kW axial flow and flat CO 2 laser. As shown in Image 5.
TLM610 5-axis 3D laser cutting machine adopts gantry-type base, movable worktable, single-point cutting head and oscillating control box with patented technology, special cutting nozzle structure, CNC system high-performance TDLC-04R and provides offline programming.
At present, domestic CO 2 laser cutting is mainly used in 2D cutting machine products, such as the MS-1380 laser cutting machine developed by Mingsheng Laser Technology Co., Ltd., and the ZT laser cutting machine -CC1610 developed by Zongtong Laser Technology Co., Ltd. Currently there are no commercial 3D CO 2 laser cutting machine products available.
3. Development Trends
(1) High power
Increasing laser power can improve processing capacity and efficiency while reducing processing costs. As the cost of lasers decreases, the power of conventional products in 3D cutting machines increased from 2kW and 3kW several years ago to 4kW and 6kW.
Nowadays, even megawatt-level products have emerged, and it is believed that megawatt-level products will become the mainstream of the market in the coming years.
(2) High speed and high precision
Improving positioning speed and accuracy helps to improve machining efficiency and meet the performance requirements of engineering machines and other high-value-added products, thereby increasing product competitiveness.
At present, the positioning speed of conventional cutting machines is 100 m/min, while the highest positioning speed of high-speed cutting machines can reach 280 m/min.
(3) Intelligence
Automation and intelligence in operations are requirements of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. More and more companies pay attention to machine tool intelligence, such as open systems, automatic unloading, fault self-diagnosis, intelligent process data management, remote control, etc.
(4) Diversification of functions
Expanding the machining range of machine tools can increase the flexibility and adaptability of machine tools, thereby increasing product competitiveness. Many advanced 3D cutting machine products abroad have a wide range of processes.
For example, Trumpf's TruLaser Cel3000 and TruLaser CⅡ7040 3D laser cutting machines have 3D cutting and welding metal deposition functions. Prima Power's 5-axis Rapido 3D laser cutting machine can use multiple lasers to meet the needs of various welding and cutting processes.
4. Conclusion
In the context of the transformation from traditional processing to high-quality production in China's industrial sector, the laser cutting industry will continue to maintain a high-speed development trend.
In the future, 3D laser cutting equipment will evolve into high power, high speed and high precision, intelligence and function diversification.
At present, compared with developed countries such as Germany, Japan and Italy, there is still a large gap between China in terms of 3D laser cutting machine products as well as core components such as laser cutting heads and high-power lasers , and main technical areas such as research and development of laser cutting machines and research and development of high-performance CNC systems.
Therefore, scientific and technological personnel must continue to carry out in-depth research.
