Laser cutting machines are used to cut materials with precision. They are used in almost all industrial operations needing cutting, drilling and boring either metal, plastic or paper. These machines are flexible to operate and enable high quality and perfect precision cutting facility.
The laser cutting technique applies high frequency of energy generated by laser beams focused at the point of the object that is to be cut. It is operated with the guidance of a computed process. Through this application of the laser cutting machine, the material melts out, burns or vaporizes away as per requirement. It is also capable of blowing away the molten material from the place with the power of high speed gas.
Different types of laser techniques are used for different types of applications in laser cutting machine. Gaseous CO2 laser is used for cutting, boring or engraving applications of metals, plastic, paper, wood, wax or fabric. Nd (Neodymium) laser is used for boring and welding where high energy is required. Another popular high power laser Nd-YAG (Neodymium-Yttrium-Aluminium-Garnet) is used for boring, engraving, trimming and welding purposes of metals and ceramics where very high frequency of energy is required.
Different types of cutting techniques are applied by laser cutting machines for different purposes.
* Vaporization Cutting Technique: In this method, the material is heated to burning point to make a hole. As the heat gets more easily absorbed by the hole, it gets widened. When it reaches the boiling point, vapour gets generated which in turn thrusts out the ejected material from the hole. This application is employed for cutting non melting materials such as wood and non-melting plastic like thermoset plastic and carbon plastic.
* Melt and Blow Technique: This method involves heating the material up to melting point and then blowing out the molten material with high pressure gas. This application is mostly used for cutting metals.
* Thermal Stress Cracking Technique: This technique is applied for cutting of glasses. Glass is highly sensitive to thermal fracture. When heat is concentrated at a particular point on the glass, it gets expanded. Due to expansion, it cracks and gets separated from the other part.
Other applications of laser cutting machines include stealth dicing cutting for dicing of silicon wafers in electronics field and reactive cutting for cutting of thick steel plates using very nominal laser power.
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