How Does A Laser Cutting Machine Work?
Why lasers are used for cutting
Lasers are used for many purposes. On low-carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum plates, the laser cutting process has high precision and excellent cutting quality. The cut width is very small and the heat-affected zone is small. It can cut very complex shapes and small holes.
Most people already know that the word "LASER" is actually an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission. But how does light penetrate the steel plate?
How a laser cutter works
The laser beam is a series of very high intensity light with a single wavelength or color. The laser beam can be focused by a special lens or curved mirror, which occurs in the laser cutting head. The beam must be precisely focused so that the shape of the focus point and the energy density in that point are perfectly circular and consistent, and centered in the nozzle. By focusing the large beam to a single precise point, the thermal density of that point is very high.
The high power density causes the material to rapidly heat, melt, and partially or completely evaporate. When cutting mild steel, the heat of the laser beam is enough to start a typical "oxy-fuel" combustion process, and the laser cutting gas will be pure oxygen, just like an oxy-fuel cutting torch. When cutting stainless steel or aluminum, the laser beam simply melts the material, and then uses high-pressure nitrogen to blow the molten metal out of the cut.
On the CNC laser cutting machine, the laser cutting head moves on the metal plate in the shape of the required part to cut the part from the plate. The capacitive height control system maintains a very precise distance between the end of the nozzle and the plate being cut. This distance is important because it determines the position of the focal point relative to the surface of the board. By raising or lowering the focus from just above, at, or just below the surface of the board, the cut quality can be affected.
There are many other parameters that affect the cutting quality, but when all parameters are properly controlled, laser cutting is a stable, reliable and very precise cutting process.
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