4 Standards for Checking Quality of Laser Cutting

With the advancement of technology and the development of manufacturing, laser cutting machines have been widely used in the processing of various industries. But also because of the growth of market demand, more and more laser cutting machine manufacturers are emerging. The quality of laser cutting machines on the market is uneven. Many users do not know how to judge the quality of laser cutting when buying a laser cutting machine, and do not know how to choose.

The application of laser in cutting metal materials has been widely known, but many people do not know how to judge the quality of processing when using laser cutting machines. In fact, the cutting quality is usually judged from the angles of end surface roughness, bottom burr, verticality, kerf width, etc.

1. End Surface Roughness

When the laser cuts materials, affected by the airflow and feed speed, vertical (or inclined) lines will be formed on the end surface. The deeper the lines, the rougher the end surface, and the shallower the lines, the smoother the end surface. Roughness not only affects edge appearance, but also friction characteristics, so lower roughness means higher quality cuts. By adjusting parameters such as laser power, feed speed, focal length, auxiliary gas type and air pressure, the end surface roughness can be continuously optimized.

2. The Bottom Burr

The principle of laser cutting metal is to instantly vaporize the metal through the high energy of the laser, and blow away the slag on the surface of the workpiece through the auxiliary gas. However, in the actual processing process, factors such as thicker plates, insufficient air pressure, and mismatched feed speeds will cause some slag to form burrs after cooling and hang on the bottom of the workpiece. At this time, additional deburring work is required, which consumes extra man-hours. The burrs and dross on the bottom of the workpiece are very important criteria for judging the cutting quality.

3. Verticality

For sheet metal, the verticality of laser cutting is negligible, but when the thickness of the material exceeds 10mm, the verticality of the cutting edge is very important. As you move away from the focal point, the laser beam becomes divergent and the cut widens towards the top or bottom depending on the position of the focal point. The cutting edge deviates from the vertical line by a few hundredths of a millimeter, the more vertical the edge, the higher the cutting quality.

4. Slit Width

Slit width is the embodiment of processing accuracy, and usually does not affect the cutting quality. Only when a particularly precise outline or pattern needs to be formed inside the workpiece, the slit width will become an important indicator. The kerf width determines the minimum inner diameter of the profile. The smaller the kerf width, the more precise the profile and the smaller the hole diameter can be processed. This is also one of the important advantages of laser cutting instead of plasma cutting. However, as the thickness of the plate increases, the width of the kerf will inevitably increase. To ensure stable and high-precision cutting, it is necessary to ensure that the workpiece is stable in the processing area of the laser cutting machine.