Laser Cutting Technology and Its Advantages

Blog | May 11th, 2020

One popular fabrication process that is used by numerous industries today is laser cutting. This process utilises a high-powered precise laser beam in cutting and slicing materials into custom shapes and designs. Products out of this technology are often intricate and complex. They also do not need any custom-designed tooling. Laser cutting technology can be used in a wide range of materials like metal, plastic, wood, stones, glass, and paper.

The laser cutting technology works by directing the output of a high-power laser through the laser optics. Aside from the optics, the computer numerical control (CNC) is also used to direct the material or the laser beam. The laser beam that is directed at a certain material will ultimately melt, burn, or vaporise it away, leaving an edge with a great-looking surface finish. Some types of laser cutting include carbon dioxide laser, neodymium laser, and Nd:YAG laser.

With high-power laser beams, laser cutting technology brings a lot of advantages to numerous industries. Some of its advantages are the following:

Flexibility and Precision

What is great about laser cutting is that it does not need any change of tools on each fabrication. The setup on your previous fabrication job can still be used on cutting materials with different shapes. Any intricate cuts will not be a problem for laser cutting since it is highly accurate and precise. With an accuracy of around 0.1 mm, this technology can achieve high precision without needing after-treatment and added tolerances. Additionally, only the beam gets to touch the surface of the material, preventing both the laser cutter and the material from generating friction and obtaining damages.

Speed and Automation

When compared to other cutting and fabrication methods, laser cutting is deemed to be a lot quicker, especially in cutting more complex shapes and materials. Laser cutting can easily fabricate materials up to a certain thickness of 10mm as long as the laser cutter is powerful enough to handle such fabricating action. And since laser cutting is done through a machine, the need for manpower is cut down to a minimum. After all, laser cutting technology is highly automated, which significantly improves the cutting speed and cut down operational costs.

Quality and Versatility

Laser cutting technology has a small heat-affected zone, so expect your products and parts to be more predictable and reliable. Moreover, with the right setup, products out of laser cutting technology will only have a small burr that does not even need to be removed. In connection with high-quality products, there are a lot of materials that can be fabricated by laser technology. Laser cutting can process metals, acrylic, wood, paper, and many more. This technology can even be used for laser marking, which is useful for producing everyday products.

The concept behind the laser cutting technology helps it provide advantages to industries that fabricate important materials. To know how laser cutting technology works, just contact us at McKean’s Sheetmetal Fabricators.

Optimized by NetwizardSEO.com.au