Currently, the manufacturing industry is experiencing remarkable growth thanks to advancements in technology and techniques. Among these, laser cutting processing technology not only enhances production efficiency but also ensures precision and aesthetics. At 3Dmanufacturer, we pride ourselves on being a reputable CNC laser cutting service provider, fully capable of meeting our customers’ needs.
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What is metal laser cutting?
Metal laser cutting is the process of using laser technology to cut and engrave metal materials such as stainless steel, iron, copper, aluminum, etc. This machining process is carried out automatically through pre-programmed software on a computer, controlled by a CNC system.
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Advantages of Metal Laser Cutting Technology
Laser cutting technology has created new growth opportunities for the manufacturing industry due to its outstanding benefits. Specifically, the advantages of using laser cutting technology in metal fabrication include:
- High precision: Laser cutting produces extremely fine cuts, and the automated process makes it easy to create metal products with precise dimensions and shapes as required, even for the smallest and most complex details.
- Optimal machining efficiency: Laser metal cutting is faster than many traditional machining methods. The cutting and machining process is automated and continuous with high-tech machinery, saving time and labor.
- Ability to cut various materials: In addition to metals, laser cutting can also be applied to materials like wood, glass, and more.
- Cleanliness and safety: The laser cutting process produces fewer metal shards and debris compared to many other cutting methods, making cleanup easier and ensuring a cleaner, safer work environment.
- No material deformation: The laser generates highly localized heat-affected zone, preventing the surrounding material from warping or being impacted by high temperatures, ensuring the precision and consistency of the final product.
Types of Lasers Used in CNC Machining
Currently, there are two popular laser cutting technologies on the market: gas lasers (CO₂ Laser) and fiber lasers (Laser Fiber). Each technology has its own advantages and applications.
CO₂ Laser (Gas Laser)
A CO₂ laser is a type of gas laser created in a CO₂ gas environment. During operation, the electrodes are charged to generate an electric discharge within the tube. The gases in the tube emit laser beams when the energy reaches a sufficient level. This laser typically has wavelengths of 9.3 μm, 10.2 μm, or 10.6 μm. This technology allows for cutting, engraving, melting, or burning materials, including metals and non-metals.
Advantages:
- The CO₂ laser can cut a wide variety of materials, from metals to non-metals such as plastics, wood, glass, paper, etc.
- It can cut materials up to 5mm thick with high precision and clean edges.
- Suitable for industries such as textiles, advertising, entertainment, and other applications.
Fiber Laser (Laser Fiber)
Fiber laser combines laser beams with rare earth elements like Neodymium, Erbium, Thulium, etc. When stimulated by light diodes, these elements emit light through optical fibers and direct it to the laser cutter’s head.
Advantages:
- Fiber laser cutting efficiency is twice that of CO₂ lasers.
- Ideal for cutting ferrous and non-ferrous metals like aluminum, copper, with thicknesses up to 30mm.
- The fiber laser beam has a small diameter, allowing for complex cuts with high precision, resulting in finely detailed products.
Crystal Laser
This is another metal cutting technology that uses lasers generated from crystals such as Nd: YAG (Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) and Me: YVO (Neodymium-doped Yttrium Orthovanadate). These devices have extremely high power, which makes the equipment investment cost quite high. However, their lifespan is between 8,000 to 15,000 hours, which is about half of the fiber laser’s lifespan. As a result, crystal laser cutting technology is not as widely used as CO₂ and fiber lasers.
The principle of metal laser cutting machining
The principle of metal laser cutting machining involves using a high-energy laser beam to create a localized molten material zone, which is then removed from the cutting area by a high-pressure gas stream. Specifically, the metal laser cutting process for metals works as follows:
- The laser generator creates a high-energy laser beam. This beam is focused and directed onto the surface of the workpiece through a lens system.
- The laser beam is used to heat the material and create a localized molten zone. This zone typically has a diameter of less than 0.5mm, ensuring that it doesn’t affect the surrounding cut surface.
- A high-pressure gas stream is directed along the cut path to push the molten material away from the cutting area.
- The CNC laser cutting machine automatically moves the laser beam or metal sheet along a specified path (based on machine settings) to continue creating the cuts according to the design.
Through this process, metal laser cutting machining produces highly accurate products with sharp cuts, high efficiency, and excellent quality.
Tips to Avoid Waste in Laser Cutting Process
Avoiding waste during the metal laser cutting process is essential to optimize production efficiency and reduce costs. Here are some tips to help minimize material waste and save on processing costs for customers:
- Keep the metal blanks to be processed close together so that the laser beam cuts continuously, preventing wasted cutting area.
- Design drawings with a more optimized structure to maximize the use of the metal sheet’s area, avoiding unnecessary gaps between parts.
- Extra cut edges can be reused to create smaller parts or for testing purposes. Ensure these edges are carefully stored for use in other designs (if applicable).
- Use professional design software with CAD/CAM technology to optimize the arrangement of drawings and cutting paths, minimizing waste and optimizing cutting efficiency. Additionally, when customers use 3Dmanufacturer’s industrial design services, the drawings created will also be optimized to avoid unnecessary waste!
Applications of Laser Cutting on Metal
Laser cutting technology on metal offers many important and diverse applications across various industries, such as:
- Automotive parts production
- Aircraft metal parts manufacturing
- Manufacturing of compact and complex electronic components
- Production of medical parts and devices, including medical machine parts, surgical instruments, etc.
- Manufacturing parts and components for machinery and industrial equipment
In addition, there are many other applications across all fields. However, the primary application of laser cutting on metal is still in manufacturing, especially in producing metal components and parts for various industries.
In summary, Laser cutting processing technology not only offers flexibility and high precision but also helps create products with outstanding quality. With professionalism and advanced technology, 3Dmanufacturer proudly serves as a trusted provider for Laser cutting processing services. We are committed to delivering high-quality products at the most competitive prices in the market. Contact us today for more information about our Laser cutting processing technology.
