To cut aluminum, you'll need a laser that uses high-pressure gas. This will give you the sharpest edge and let you cut the fastest. This kind of laser can cut through steel and aluminum with the same thickness. The gas mixtures used to cut aluminum are the same as those used to cut steel. The only difference is the amount of high-pressure air in the mixture.
Laser Power
There are many benefits to using laser power to cut aluminum. By using a laser, aluminum can be heated above its melting point, which is about 1,200 degrees F. As the temperature of aluminum rises, its viscosity will drop by a lot. The heat from the laser cutting will get so hot that the aluminum will melt, and its viscosity will drop by half. When aluminum is close to resolidifying, it is very hard to get rid of it before it does so.
Laser cutting is also faster than the way things have always been done. The heat made by cutting goes away quickly, which keeps heat from building up. High-speed pulsating lasers are the best for cutting aluminum because they melt the metal quickly and spread the heat to the area around them. But the laser cutting process doesn't work well if there are burrs and sharp edges on the aluminum. In some cases, you need to do extra work to get a clean, smooth edge.
When cutting aluminum with a laser, the power should be high enough to cut through the metal without cracking it. The laser beam should be aimed right in the middle of the thickness of the plate. If the focus point is not deep enough, the kerf line won't be as smooth as the aluminum plate. High-power lasers should also have a nitrogen or air assist system to keep hot spots from happening.
When you buy a laser to cut aluminum, make sure to get a brand that works well with aluminum. If it doesn't work with the material you're cutting, reflection could happen, which would hurt the machine. In fact, back reflection systems are made to stop the laser before it does a lot of damage.
Laser cutting aluminum is more accurate than other ways of cutting it. It is also faster and can process information at a faster rate. It also lessens the chance of getting burrs. You can also control how long it takes to process the material with laser technology. This method is also less expensive.
Oxygen can make the laser work better on the workpiece, which speeds up the process. The laser can fire a steady or pulsing beam of infrared light. The quality of the beam can be improved with extra tools like diodes and optical pumps. The Nd-YAG laser is stable in its position and works well even when the power is low.
How fast a laser can cut through aluminum
When cutting aluminum with a laser cutter, speed is an important thing to think about. To get a smooth cut and stop rough edges from building up, you need enough speed and a lot of pressure. It's also important to have a gas assist feature, which lets the cutting head push a kerf line faster.
For example, a 14-bar gas pressure should be used to cut a 26-gauge aluminum sheet at a speed of 5,900 ipm. The power of the laser should be strong enough to cut through the metal. Metal is a good absorber of light with a wavelength of 1.06um, which is what a high-power CO2 laser should have. Fiber lasers, which can work 3 times faster than CO2 lasers, are the best way to cut aluminum.
Cutting aluminum with a laser is hard and takes a lot of skill. Getting a clean edge is especially difficult. Repeatability should be at least +0.002′′ for high-speed lasers. This makes sure that every cut is perfect and stays within very tight limits. Up to 20% more work can be done if you are precise and repeatable.
Aluminum laser cutting is a non-contact process, which means that the workpiece and the cutting tool don't touch each other. This gets rid of the mechanical stresses that can cause the material to get fillets and blanks. A high-speed aluminum laser cutter, like the FiberCell from Kern, is fast, accurate, and can do the same thing over and over. It also comes with a safety enclosure to protect you even more.
When cutting aluminum with a laser, the speed goes down as the material gets thicker. For thin-gauge aluminum, you don't need ultra-high power. You can turn it down to 6kW. You can use a 10-kW machine for thicker things like aluminum sheets. Some of the best lasers made of aluminum can reach 20kW.
Modern laser cutting systems can cut through 1/2-inch steel in about 1.6 seconds, a half-inch in two seconds, and a 1-inch part in just 3.2 seconds. This is a very fast speed for laser cutting, and parts with a lot of holes benefit even more from it.
Auxiliary Gas
Oxygen has been used as a helper gas in laser cutting, and using it to cut aluminum has many advantages. It can get rid of the oxide film on aluminum plates and speed up and thicken the cutting process. Its high gas pressure also helps speed up the process of cutting. The type of gas used can make a big difference in how well it cuts, so it's important to pick the right one for the job.
When cutting aluminum, it's important to use the right kind of gas. If you use air, less oxidation will happen to the aluminum, but if you use nitrogen, the cut will be smoother and cleaner. High pressure and flow should be used with nitrogen gas for the best results. If you use air, the laser light may bounce back onto the material, making it harder to cut and even damaging the laser module.
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The laser's focal point is also an important part of the process. As you move away from the focal point, the laser beam will get wider. If you change the focal point, the width and depth of the kerf will also change. Another benefit of using an auxiliary gas laser to cut aluminum is that it is fast. CO2 lasers usually need more power, and fiber lasers can work on aluminum three times faster than CO2 lasers.
Detector of Reflections
Laser cutting aluminum is a complicated process, and you need to set the right parameters for it to work. Aluminum is very reflective, which makes it hard to make a smooth edge. But if the right laser parameters are used, aluminum can be cut to exact sizes at a high rate of speed. Here are some things to think about when using a laser to cut aluminum.
First, you have to figure out how much aluminum you have to cut. Results from cutting will be better if the laser has more power. And a laser with more watts will cut through the material faster and leave a smoother surface. A laser with a higher wattage will also cut aluminum better and move the kerf line faster.
Next, check to see if the laser can work with different kinds of things. If you want to use a laser to cut aluminum, you should make sure the machine can work with aluminum. Aluminum is very reflective, and if the parameters for cutting are not always the same, the laser could be damaged. Newer laser cutting machines will have better sensors that can find any reflection and turn off the laser right away. This gives the person running the machine time to change the settings and avoid major damage.
There are many things about the laser that help it cut through the material. Some of these parameters are the laser's power, wavelength, quality of the mode, and size of the spot. These parameters are directly related to how thick the material is and how fast it cuts. They also change how much the process costs. So, you need to find the right balance between how much the hardware costs and how well it works.
CO2 lasers are sometimes a good way to cut aluminum. CO2 lasers can work with as much power as 6kW. High power can improve the quality of the parts and keep the cut line clean. Also, CO2 lasers use less energy than gas lasers do. A gas that doesn't react with the melted material is also used.
The return laser power could cause a reflection that is too high. If the laser isn't safe, the light that comes back can hurt the source of the laser. This can also make the cutting process go wrong, visit website
