CUTTING LASER SYSTEM

Lasers are ideal for cutting materials that are difficult to process on conventional metal cutting machine tools. They also provide higher process speeds for cutting holes of different sizes. Intricate cuts on wavy surfaces can be accommodated by this process. These attributes also apply to laser welding and laser marketing.
For most metalworking applications, there are two types of lasers used. One is fiber lasers (Ytterbium doped fiber), and the other is CO2 (carbon dioxide). Fiber lasers react better on metals and CO2 laser react better on woods, fabrics and plastics.
In laser cutting the material is vaporized by the high power density of the laser beam and the debris carried away by a high pressure coaxial gas assist nozzle. Very narrow kerf widths are typical of laser cuts and are in the neighborhood of 0.010 of an inch.
For welding, the laser beam is projected through a low pressure inert gas nozzle and the vaporized metal from the intensity of the laser beam is allowed to re-solidify behind the keyhole produced by the laser beam, and thus forms the weld. The depth of the weld is controlled by the power setting of the laser, the travel speed, and the beam focus setting.
Laser marking on metals is best accomplished by a 20 watt pulsed fiber laser. Although the power level is fairly low the peak power of the laser pulses can be in the multi-kilowatt range. The fiber laser marking systems can engrave to depths of .005” (or deeper with multiple passes) or be adjusted to make a smooth anneal mark that just darkens the material being marked. Co2 lasers are used for marking, engraving, and cutting wood, plastic and other organic materials.
Laser cutting, welding and marking are the three big metalworking applications. There are alternate methods to do many of these applications with processes other than with lasers. So why consider lasers? Not even the most ardent supporter of laser processing would suggest that lasers can replace most other metalworking techniques. However, there are things that lasers can do better, faster and cheaper than other production methods. In the final analysis it comes down to product quality and cost effectiveness of the process.