Nine Factors of "Auditing" Laser Cutting Machine

Category: Academics

It is the best way for determining the performance of laser cutting machine to judge its cutting quality. Here nine judgement criteria are given.

　　 1. Roughness

laser cutting machine section will present a number of vertical lines, the depth of which determines the roughness of the cutting section. The shallower the lines are, the smoother the cutting section will be. Roughness not only affects the appearance of the edges, but also affects their friction characteristics. In most cases, it is necessary to minimize the roughness, so the shallower the lines are, the higher the cutting quality will be.

2. Verticality

If the sheet metal thickness exceeds 10mm, the verticality of the cutting edge is of importance. The laser beam will become divergent if gets away from the focus, and the cutting edge becomes wider approaching the top or bottom according to the location of the focus. The cutting edge only deviates from the vertical line several percentages of millimeters; the more vertical the edge is, the higher the cutting quality will be.

3. Kerf width

Kerf width generally does not affect the cutting quality, and it is of great importance only when a particularly precise contour forms in the interior of components. This is because the kerf width determines the minimum ID of the contour, and the kerf width increases with the increase of the sheet thickness. Therefore, no matter how large the kerf width is, the workpiece in the processing area of the laser cutting machine should be constant if you want to guarantee the same high precision.

4. Lines

The molten metal will not appear in the incision below the vertical laser beam, but will be sprayed out behind the laser beam when cutting thick sheet with high speed. As a result, curved lines will form on the cutting edge, and the lines closely follow the moving laser beam. In order to correct the problem, the feed rate can be reduced at the end of the cutting process, thereby minimizing the formation of lines.

5. Burr

It is a very important factor for burr formation to determine the quality of laser cutting. Extra work is needed to remove burr, so the seriousness and amount of burr are able to directly determine the cutting quality.

6. Material Deposition

Laser cutting machine will coat a layer of special liquid containing oil on the surface of a workpiece before fusion piercing. Gasification is achieved and it is not necessary for customers to blow the kerf of all kinds of materials with the wind, but deposition will form on the surface for both upward and downward discharge.

7. Sag and corrosion

Sag and corrosion have adverse effects on the surface of the cutting edge, which affect the appearance. They appear in the cutting error which is generally supposed to be avoided.

8. Heat Affected Zone

In the process of laser cutting, the area near the kerf is heated. Meanwhile, the metal structure presents changes. For example, some metals can be hardened. The heat affected zone refers to the depth of the area subject to changes in internal structure.

9. Deformation

If cutting makes the component heat dramatically, it will deform. This is particularly important in fine processing, because the contour and connection strap are usually only a few tenths of millimeters wide. Control of laser power and use of short laser pulses can reduce the heating of components, thereby avoiding deformation.

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