What is a fiber laser cutting machine, what are its applications and advantage

 What is a fiber laser cutting machine, what are its applications and advantage

The word “laser” is an acronym that stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” and a laser beam is a highly focused wavelength radiation that will not dissipate. Laser cutting allows for tighter accuracies on a smaller scale than any other metal cutting method.

Products Produced

Aerospace and automotive manufacturing industries use laser cutting to fabricate pieces like precision parts, gaskets, solar cells, nozzles, and circuit boards. Cell phone parts, transducers, microchips, and military and communication devices rely on laser cutting as well. Even water piping and refrigeration systems have some laser cut elements. In the medical industry, laser cutting is used to drill hypo-tubes, catheter holes, filtering devices, gas flow orifices and other highly intricate devices.

History

Laser cutting technology is an innovation of the mid-20th century. While Albert Einstein theorized laser technology in the early 1900s, engineers did not build the first laser until 1960. The first laser was built by an American engineer and physicist named Theodore H. Mainman. It was a solid-state pink ruby laser. Four years later, Kumal Patel, an engineer in New Jersey, developed the first gas laser cutter, which used CO2.

Just one year later, engineers at Western Electric Engineering Research Center produced the first ever metal cutting laser. These engineers used it to drill holes into diamond dies. In a New York Times article he titled New Work Found for Lasers at Western Electric, William Freeman described the laser as, “A beam of light so intense it can penetrate far into space carrying a voice, that can cut metal as a power saw cuts lumber and that can burn a hole in diamonds is fast becoming an industrial workhorse.”

In 1967, British engineers came out with the first laser-assisted oxygen jet cutting system. They used their invention to cut sheet metal. By the ‘70s, manufacturers around the world were using laser cutting systems for all sorts of applications, from titanium cutting for aerospace to textile cutting.

Today, laser cutting services have come a long way. For example, CO2 lasers are now strong enough to cut metal materials when they could not do this back in the 1970s. In general, laser cutting services have become less expensive, more efficient, able to make more precise cuts and more versatile (new wavelength bands, etc.). As time goes on, this trend will continue.

Variations and Similar Processes

Variations on laser cutting include laser drilling, waterjet cutting, laser engraving, fusion cutting, thermal stress cracking and laser welding.

Laser drilling is a process service providers use when they want to create holes, whether for decoration or function. They do so using laser beams, which create holes with tight exact tolerances.

Waterjet cutting subs out lasers from highly pressurized water. By using waterjet cutting, manufacturers can save money, resources and energy. However, waterjet cutting is not universally applicable. Rather, manufacturers can only use it on certain materials. It will not work on hard materials and it will likely break materials like glass.

Laser engraving, or laser etching, lets manufacturers precisely etch surfaces. Instead of melting surfaces, laser engraving vaporizes or fractures surfaces. Manufacturers perform laser engraving with laser engraver machines, which are controlled by a combination of CNC technology, CAD programming, and human operators.

Fusion cutting, also known as melt and blow cutting, involves blowing molten material from the cutting area using pressurized gas. In doing so, manufacturers circumvent the task of raising the material temperature. This process is popular for its low power requirements.

Thermal stress cracking is an alternative to cutting that involves causing thermal expansion via localized surface heating. When applied to especially brittle materials, which are sensitive to thermal expansion, thermal expansion will cause cracking. Manufacturers can use their laser beam to guide this cracking in the pattern they want. Thermal stress cracking works best with glass.

Laser welding, also known as laser beam welding, is a technique laser cutters use to join high volumes of thermoplastics or metals. The laser welding machines emit focused high heat beams that create deep, precise and narrow welds. This process is most useful in automotive manufacturing.

Benefits

There are many reasons to love laser cutting. First, laser cutting produces parts with nearly zero edge deformation, roll-off, or edge factor. This means that very little burring is left on their cut edges. Second, with consistently quicker turnaround times, laser cutting is faster than other tool-fabrication methods. Part of the reason laser cutting services have such fast turnaround times is the fact that the service allows manufacturers to implement design changes with ease. Another great thing about laser cutting is its use of CNC machinery means, which translates to the requirement of fewer technicians and the assurance of greater safety. Finally, laser cutting services are versatile, varied, and very efficient. While creating many options, they create little waste.