Laser cutting these 7 metals works well

Carbon steel

Because carbon steel contains carbon, it does not reflect light strongly and absorbs light beams well. Carbon steel is suitable for laser cutting in all metal materials. Therefore, carbon steel laser cutting machines have an unshakable position in carbon steel processing.

The application of carbon steel is becoming more and more extensive. Modern laser cutting machines can cut the maximum thickness of carbon steel plates up to 20MM. The slit for cutting carbon steel using the oxidative melting and cutting mechanism can be controlled to a satisfactory width. To about 0.1MM.

Stainless steel

Laser cutting stainless steel uses the energy released when the laser beam is irradiated on the surface of the steel plate to melt and evaporate the stainless steel. For the manufacturing industry that uses stainless steel sheet as the main component, laser cutting stainless steel is a fast and effective processing method. The important process parameters that affect the cutting quality of stainless steel are cutting speed, laser power, and air pressure.

Compared with low carbon steel, stainless steel cutting requires higher laser power and oxygen pressure. Although stainless steel cutting achieves a satisfactory cutting effect, it is difficult to obtain completely slag-free cutting seams. High pressure nitrogen and The laser beam is injected coaxially to blow away the molten metal so that no oxide is formed on the cutting surface. This is a good method, but it is more expensive than traditional oxygen cutting. One way to replace pure nitrogen is to use filtered plant compressed air, which consists of 78% nitrogen.

When laser cutting mirror stainless steel, in order to prevent the board from serious burns, a laser film is required!

Aluminum and alloy

Although the laser cutting machine can be widely used in the processing of various metal and non-metal materials. However, some materials, such as copper, aluminum, and their alloys, make laser cutting difficult to process due to their own characteristics (high reflectivity).

At present, aluminum plate laser cutting, fiber lasers and YAG lasers are widely used. Both of these equipments perform well in cutting aluminum and other materials, such as stainless steel and carbon steel, but neither can be processed thicker. Aluminum. Generally, the maximum thickness of 6000W can be cut to 16mm, and 4500W can be cut to 12mm, but the processing cost is high. The auxiliary gas used is mainly used to blow away the molten product from the cutting zone, and generally a better cut surface quality can be obtained. For some aluminum alloys, attention should be paid to preventing micro-cracks on the surface of the slit.

Copper and alloys

Pure copper (copper) cannot be cut with a CO2 laser beam due to its too high reflectivity. Brass (copper alloy) uses higher laser power, and the auxiliary gas uses air or oxygen, which can cut thinner plates.

Titanium and alloys

Laser cutting of titanium alloys commonly used in the aircraft industry has good quality. Although there will be a little sticky residue at the bottom of the slit, it is easy to remove. Pure titanium can be well coupled with the thermal energy converted by the focused laser beam. When the auxiliary gas uses oxygen, the chemical reaction is fierce and the cutting speed is fast. However, it is easy to form an oxide layer on the cutting edge, and accidental overburning can also occur. For the sake of stability, it is better to use air as the auxiliary gas to ensure the cutting quality.

Alloy steel

Most alloy structural steels and alloy tool steels can be laser cut to obtain good cutting edge quality. Even for some high-strength materials, as long as the process parameters are properly controlled, straight and slag-free cutting edges can be obtained. However, for tungsten-containing high-speed tool steels and hot-mold steels, ablation and slagging occur during laser cutting.

Nickel alloy

There are many varieties of nickel-based alloys. Most of them can be subjected to oxidative fusion cutting.

Next is video of fiber laser cutting machine:

https://youtu.be/ATQyZ23l0-A

https://youtu.be/NIEGlBK7ii0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-V8kOBCzXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JGDoeK0g_A

https://youtu.be/qE9gHraY0Pc