Laser Cutting Machine Fundamentals

To understand laser cutting machine fundamentals one must first realize that there

are three unique forms of laser cutting machine: Moving material, Hybrid, and Flying Optics machines. These are determined by the way in which the laser is moved over the material. The axes of motion are named X and Y axis. If the cutting head can be lowered or raised, it is often designated the Z-axis.

The main distinction of flying optic laser cutters is the stationary surface on which materials are placed. This provides several advantages. The laser can move over the work piece along both axes. This allows flying optic cutters to keep the piece in one position during the cutting process, and often don't need the material to be held in place. The moving mass is constant, so dynamics aren't affected by varying size and weight of the material, unlike with moving material lasers. These types of laser cutting machine are the fastest of the three and have higher accelerations and peak velocities than hybrid or moving material machines.

Moving material lasers have a fixed laser and moving table below it for moving the material beneath it. This leaves a constant distance from the laser and the work piece is maintained and a single point from which to remove cutting slag or ejecta. The benefit here is that it needs fewer optics. The disadvantage is that the size of the material that can be cut is limited by the what the table can safely handle. Because of the machine having to be constantly reloaded and because of their weight limitations types of laser cutter are generally the least efficient.

Hybrid laser cutters combine flying head and stationary head laser cutters. The table moves on one axis and the head on a second. The advantage of hybrid machines over flying optics machines is an uninterrupted beam delivery path and a simpler beam delivery method. This also makes hybrid laser cutting machines more energy efficient than flying optics lasers.

Pulsed lasers are good for piercing jobs, such as cutting holes. They offer an advantage when it comes to dealing with thinner or more delicate material also because they do not provide a constant beam which may heat and ultimately melt the material. Most industrial lasers have the ability to both pulse or cut using a sustained wave - ordinarily called CW cutting.

For increased quality when cutting a hole, double pulse lasers can be used. These are a series of pulse pairs that can be used to improve material removal rate. This strategy is pretty simple; the first laser removes material from the surface and the second keeps the ejecta or slag from sticking to the area of the hole or cut. Once again, the reward is a cleaner cut.

The excellent quality of laser cut materials far surpasses that which was cut by orthodox cutters. This has to do with the beam providing a clean cut surface. The use of any of these machines will result in more accurately cut material within less time than through traditional methods.

by: Marc Anderes

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