University of Maribor

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Seminar paper
Laser cutting

Place and date: Name and Surname:

Maribor, 15.5.2010 Primož Brglez

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials. It is typically used for industrial
manufacturing applications. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high power laser, by
computer, at the material to be cut. The material then either melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is
blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high quality surface finish. Industrial laser
cutters are used to cut flat-sheet material as well as structural and piping materials.

Process

Generation of the laser beam involves stimulating a lasing material by electrical discharges or
lamps within a closed container. As the lasing material is stimulated, the beam is reflected
internally by means of a partial mirror, until it achieves sufficient energy to escape as a stream
of monochromatic coherent light. The coherent light then passes through a lens that focuses the
light into a highly intensified beam generally less than 0.3175 mm in diameter. Depending upon
material thickness, kerf widths as small as 0.1016 mm are possible. In order to be able to start
cutting from somewhere else than the edge, a pierce is done before every cut. Piercing usually
involves a high power pulsed laser beam which slowly (taking around 5–15 seconds for half-
inch thick stainless steel, for example) makes a hole in the material.

There are many different methods in cutting using lasers, with different types used to cut
different material. Some of the methods are vaporization, melt and blow, melt blow and burn,
thermal stress cracking, scribing, cold cutting and burning stabilized laser cutting.

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Beam Geometry

The parallel rays of coherent light from the laser source may be 1/16 in. to 1/2 in. (1.5875 mm to
12.7 mm) in diameter. This beam is normally focused and intensified by a lens or a mirror to a
very small spot of about 0.001 in. (0.0254 mm) to create a very intense laser beam. Recent
investigations reveal that the laser beam has a distinctive polarization. In order to achieve the
smoothest possible finish during contour cutting, the direction of polarization must be rotated as
it goes around the periphery of a contoured workpiece. For sheet metal cutting, the focal length
is usually between 1.5 in. and 3 in. (38.1 mm and 76.2 mm).

Vaporization cutting

In vaporization cutting the focused beam heats the surface of the material to boiling point and
generates a keyhole. The keyhole leads to a sudden increase in absorptivity quickly deepening
the hole. As the hole deepens and the material boils, vapor generated erodes the molten walls
blowing ejecta out and further enlarging the hole. Non melting material such as wood, carbon
and thermoset plastics are usually cut by this method.

Melt and blow

Melt and blow or fusion cutting uses high pressure gas to blow molten material from the cutting
area, greatly decreasing the power requirement. First the material is heated to melting point
then a gas jet blows the molten material out of the kerf avoiding the need to raise the
temperature of the material any further. Materials cut with this process are usually metals.

Thermal stress cracking

Brittle materials are particularly sensitive to thermal fracture, a feature exploited in thermal
stress cracking. A beam is focused on the surface causing localized heating and thermal
expansion. This results in a crack that can then be guided by moving the beam. The crack can
be moved in order of m/s. It is usually used in cutting of glass.

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Reactive cutting

Also called "Burning stabilized laser gas cutting", "flame cutting".

Reactive cutting is like oxygen torch cutting but with a laser beam as the ignition source. Mostly
used for cutting carbon steel in thicknesses over 1mm. This process can be used to cut very
thick steel plates with relatively little laser power.

Tolerances and Surface Finish

This process is capable of holding quite close tolerances, often to within 0.001 in. (0.0254 mm)
Part geometry and the mechanical soundness of the machine have much to do with tolerance
capabilities. The typical surface finish resulting from laser beam cutting may range from 125 to
250 micro-inches (0.003175 mm to 0.00635 mm).

Reactive cutting

Also called "Burning stabilized laser gas cutting", "flame cutting".

Reactive cutting is like oxygen torch cutting but with a laser beam as the ignition source. Mostly
used for cutting carbon steel in thicknesses over 1mm. This process can be used to cut very
thick steel plates with relatively little laser power.

Setup and Equipment

The laser machining system consists of a power supply for producing a laser beam (Power
requirements below), a workpiece positioning table, laser material, a method of stimulation,
mirrors, and a focusing lens.

The workpiece is held stationary by clamps, straps, hold down tabs, pressure blocks, positioning
tabs, magnets, or suction cups. The focusing unit moves around the workpiece to cut the
desired shape.

Flying Optics Laserhead

There are generally three different configurations of industrial laser cutting machines: Moving
material, Hybrid, and Flying Optics systems. These refer to the way that the laser beam is
moved over the material to be cut or processed. For all of these, the axes of motion are typically
designated X and Y. axis. If the cutting head may be controlled, it is designated as the Z-axis.

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Moving material lasers have a stationary cutting head and move the material under it. This
method provides a constant distance from the laser generator to the workpiece and a single
point from which to remove cutting effluent. It requires fewer optics, but requires moving the
workpiece.

Hybrid lasers provide a table which moves in one axis (usually the X-axis) and move the head
along the shorter (Y) axis. This results in a more constant beam delivery path length than a
flying optic machine and may permit a simpler beam delivery system. This can result in reduced
power loss in the delivery system and more capacity per watt than flying optics machines.

Flying optics lasers feature a stationary table and a cutting head (with laser beam) that moves
over the work piece in both of the horizontal dimensions. Flying-optics cutters keep the
workpiece stationary during processing, and often don't require material clamping. The moving
mass is constant, so dynamics aren't affected by varying size and thickness of workpiece. Flying
optics machines are the fastest class of machines, with higher accelerations and peak velocities
than hybrid or moving material systemsFlying optic machines must use some method to take
into account the changing beam length from near field (close to resonator) cutting to far field (far
away from resonator) cutting. Common methods for controlling this include collimation, adaptive
optics or the use of a constant beam length axis.

The above is written about X-Y systems for cutting flat materials. The same discussion applies
to five and six-axis machines, which permit cutting formed workpieces. In addition, there are
various methods of orienting the laser beam to a shaped workpiece, maintaining a proper focus
distance and nozzle standoff.

Pulsing

Pulsed lasers which provide a high power burst of energy for a short period are very effective in
some laser cutting processes, particularly for piercing, or when very small holes or very low
cutting speeds are required, since if a constant laser beam were used, the heat could reach the
point of melting the whole piece being [Link] industrial lasers have the ability to pulse or cut
Continuous Wave under numerical control program [Link] pulse lasers use a series of
pulse pairs to improve material removal rate and hole quality. Essentially, the first pulse
removes material from the surface and the second prevents the ejecta from adhering to the side
of the hole or cut.

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Effects on Work Material Properties

The effects on the workpiece materials is rather minimal to the small zone of metal affected by
the laser beam. However, the effects are due to the high temperature of the laser that change
the hardness and the creation of a narrow heat-affected zone.

Typical Workpiece Materials

Depends on laser type.CO2 lasers are used for industrial cutting of many materials including
mild steel, aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, paper, wax, plastics, wood, and [Link]
lasers are primarily used for cutting and scribing metals and ceramics.

Power requirements

Industrial laser efficiency may range from 5% to 15%. The power consumption and efficiency of
any particular laser will vary depending on output power and operating parameters. This will
depend on type of laser and how well the laser is matched to the work at [Link] amount of
laser cutting power required, known as heat input, for a particular job depends on the material
type, thickness, process (reactive/inert) used, and desired cutting rate.

Which products can be made by laser cutting

We can cut smooth curves and even engrave text or logos on to parts. We can cut a different
sizes of holes ,a hole cut with a entry diameter larger than the exit diameter, creating a slightly
tapered hole, structural and piping [Link] cutting and engraving is also useful in
making 2-D or 3-D models of aircrafts and ships, metal replicas of guitars and cars. Laser
engraving machines are also used to engrave and etch logos and serial numbers for
identification on electronic components. It depends which laser cutting method we use.

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Source

[Link]

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[Link]

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University of Maribor 2009/2010
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING