What Is Laser Cutting

Laser cutting is a kind of technology that uses a high power density laser beam to irradiate the cut material, so that it quickly melts, vaporizes or reaches the burning point, and at the
same time blows away the molten material with the help of high speed air coaxial with the beam, so as to realize the material is cut. This process combines the principles of melting and vaporization. The first mark area is formed by laser energy processing, while the second mark area is processed by the upper molten metal as the heat source and the secondary oxidation combustion reaction of oxygen. Laser cutting has the characteristics of good cutting quality, high cutting efficiency, fast cutting speed, small deformation of the workpiece, high cutting precision, and the whole cutting process can achieve numerical control, is a non-contact cutting method, to avoid the problem of tool wear.

Laser cutting has a wide range of applications, including but not limited to sheet metal, plastic, glass, ceramics, semiconductors, textiles, wood and paper and other materials processing. Since it was first used for cutting in the 1970s, laser cutting technology has developed into an integral part of modern industrial production.The gases used in the laser cutting process include oxygen, nitrogen, air, etc. The choice of these gases depends on the type of material being cut. For example, oxygen is mainly used to cut carbon steel plates, while nitrogen is suitable for the cutting of stainless steel plates, aluminum alloy plates, galvanized plates, brass plates and other materials. Air can also be used to cut these materials in some cases, but it needs to be treated with water and
oil.

Types of laser cutting include controlled fracture cutting and laser melting cutting, the former by heating small areas of brittle material to cause a thermal gradient and subsequent severe mechanical deformation, causing the material to form cracks; The latter uses laser heating to melt the metal material, and then through a nozzle coaxial with the beam to spray non-oxidizing gas, so that the liquid metal is eliminated, forming a slit. In addition, there are compressed air cutting and plasma assisted cutting, the latter in the case of appropriate parameters, there will be a plasma cloud, absorb the energy of the CO2 laser and transform into the workpiece, so that the material melts faster, thereby improving the cutting speed.