Development status of laser cutting processing technology

Laser cutting processing is used for the research and development of key common technologies such as traditional equipment cutting and special materials laser cutting processing. At the same time, it also has the advantages of thin cutting seam, small heat-affected area, no cutting noise, good verticality of cutting edge, and easy automatic control of cutting process. Laser cutting processing technology has been applied to various countries and industries, especially developed countries.

Laser cutting processing uses a focused high power density laser beam to illuminate the surface of the material. The cutting process occurs on the vertical surface at the end of the incision, called the ablation front. Because the laser is highly concentrated in a very small area, it generates a lot of heat, which makes the material melt quickly, and the heat is difficult to distribute to the rest of the material, thus forming a very small deformation gap. The high-speed airflow coaxial with the beam blows away the molten material, so that the radiation material quickly melts, evaporates, corrodes or reaches the ignition point, and realizes the thermal cutting method of material cutting.

Oxygen assisted melting cutting uses a laser to heat the workpiece to its ignition point and uses oxygen or other auxiliary gases to burn the material. Light cutting can be roughly divided into vaporization cutting, melting cutting, oxygen assisted melting cutting and controlled fracture cutting, of which oxygen assisted melting cutting is widely used. Due to the ignition of the hot substrate, in addition to the laser energy generated another heat source, it is also used as a cutting heat source.

Laser cutting is one of the widely used technologies in laser processing technology. Since the invention of the laser, it has provided a new method for the processing of metal and non-metallic materials. With the successful development of new lasers and the popularity of new processing technologies, laser processing technology has gradually shifted from laboratory research and development to industrial applications. This is because the metal surface has high reflectivity to the laser and good thermal conductivity. Therefore, the average power required to process metals with laser cutting is relatively large. CNC laser cutting is an ideal cutting method, which represents the development direction of modern metal processing technology. China's laser material processing industry started late, and the overall laser processing level is relatively backward. At the same time, as a non-contact tool, laser beam processing without wear and vibration. However, laser cutting of non-metallic materials is developing rapidly. Soon after the laser was developed, it was used to cut materials. Laser cutting of metal materials develops slowly. CNC laser cutting equipment has a wide range of market demand at home and abroad. In recent years, due to the continuous improvement of laser output power and laser service life, this is because non-metallic materials have low laser absorption rate, low heat conduction loss, low boiling point characteristics. Therefore, it has been widely used in laser processing.