Laser cutting

Corso di Processi Innovativi di Produzione

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Laser cutting

• Principle, benefits and comparison

• Base scheme for laser cutting set-up
• Methods of laser cutting
• Basic theoretical models for laser cutting
• Main variables

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Laser industrial applications

Laser cutting is one of the most common industrial
application of lasers in material processing.
OTHER; 6%

DRILLING; 8%

MICRO-PROCESSING; 10% MARKING/ENGRAVING; 42%

WELDING; 12%

CUTTING; 22%

adlinktech.com, “Challenges in Motion Control for Precision Laser Processing” (2009)

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Principles

The use of lasers for cutting can be thought as

focusing sunlight with a magnifying glass to
produce a concentrated source of heating energy.

Unfocused beams of even high power (in the order

of kilowatts) have inadequate energy to perform
the process and only result in unuseful heating of
the surface: a focused beam must be used.

As intense heat is capable of vaporising materials,

heat control is essential to the purpose of quality.

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Machining: categories
Laser cutting is a special method in the area of non-traditional machining
to remove material from a work-piece. Usual categories are:

Abrasive (including grinding and polishing causing

material removal by action of rubbing, thus releasing
abrasive particles)

Cutting (including milling, turning and drilling) causing

material removal by action of a rotating tool against a
stationary work-piece (or viceversa)

Non-traditional, causing material removal by means of

electricity, chemicals, electron beam, lasers or water
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Comparison among cutting processes

LASER PLASMA WATER JET WIRE EDM MILLING SAWING ULTRASONIC OXI FUEL

Rate O O X X X X X
Edge quality O X O O O X O X
Cut kerf O X O O X
Scrap O O X O
Distortion O X X O O X
Noise O X X
Complex shapes O O
Equipment cost X X O O
High volume O X
Flexibility O O O
Tool wear O O O X X O
Automation O O O X O X
Heat affected zone O X O O O X
Blind cuts O O X X
Weldability of edges O X O O O

Ref. W. M. Steen, J. Mazumder, Laser Material Processing, Springer-Verlag, London (2010) O specific merit
X specific disadvantage
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A comparison regarding the cut kerf

Kerf width is different from tool width. The term was originally
used for wood in sawing, since the teeth are bent to their side, so
to remove more material than the actual width of the saw blade,
thus preventing the blade from getting stuck in the wood.

Even in laser cutting, kerf width is different from tool width.

Kerf is the width of cut opening

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To sum up: benefits

PROCESS
CUT QUALITY FEATURES
Narrow kerf width resulting in material saving
Cutting rate is one of the highest
Square cut edges. Edges are rounded in other
thermal cutting methods No tool wear, the process being non-contact

Smooth and clean edges, allowing direct Cuts can be made in any direction
rewelding. No further processing is usually
required Low noise level

Narrow heat affected zones, negligible Automation, flexibility and adaptive control are
distortion feasible

Blind cuts are possibile Nearly all materials are capable of being cut by
lasers: friable, brittle, electronic conductors,
non-conductors, hard and soft

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To sum up: drawbacks

Although a number of advantages are benefited,

some drawbacks must be considered.

Equipment costs for laser sources, required

control and operating systems

Material limitations on crystalline and highly

reflective materials

Reflected laser light on metals is safety hazard

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The process in general: base scheme

LASER
SOURCE

Depending on the cutting method, a gas

jet is required to different purposes

CUTTING HEAD
MOTION DEVICE + OPTICS + NOZZLE
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Components of a laser cutting head

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Nozzle assembly
Jet direction is highly sensitive to manufacturing imperfection or tip damage.
Usual cutting pressure are in the range 5÷20 bar. Higher pressures or flow rates
result in higher cutting speeds and quality, although they do not necessarily
ensure repeatability of the process due to turbulence in the gas flow.

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The processing gas

Depending on the cutting method, a gas jet flowing coaxially to the
nozzle is required to the purpose of:

• Dragging the material out of the cut, thus aiding the process
• Protect the edges from oxidation in case of metal processing
• Alternatively, produce oxidation
• Save the optics in addition/replace of air knife

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Methods
The general arrangement for laser
cutting is capable of being used in:

• Vaporisation cutting
Complete vaporisation of the material within the kerf is in place

• Fusion cutting
Only partial vaporisation is in place, process is mainly driven by fusion

• Reactive fusion cutting

Fusion in place with the addition of a reactive gas

• Controlled fracture
Process is only driven by heating, with no fusion neither vaporization

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Vaporisation cutting: in steps

1. The laser beam heats up the surface to
boiling
2. A key-hole, where fused and vaporised
materials mix, is produced
3. Absorption is suddenly increased as a
consequence of heating and multiple
beam reflections within the key-hole
4. The material is ejected out of the cut in
form of vapour; action is aided by
pressured gas flow

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Vaporisation cutting: the key-hole

A key-hole is an unstable environment resulting from vaporisation of the
material being cut. In principle multiple phenomena are in place:
convection, Fresnel absorption and bremsstrahlung emission.

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Vaporisation cutting: required energy

ASSUMPTIONS
Energy is used to the
Heat flow is Heat conduction
purpose of complete
one-dimensional is negligible vaporisation

Eabs [J]
absorbed energy

m [kg]
total material mass to be vaporised

E abs  m  c p  ΔTv  m  Λ f  Λv cp [J kg-1 K-1]

 specific heat capacity at constant pressure

ΔTv [K]
temperature delta ambient-vaporisation

Λ [J kg-1]
latent heat; of fusion or vaporisation
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Vaporisation cutting: penetration rate

To the purpose of discussing the method, the equation must be properly rearranged to evaluate the
penetration rate u (transverse speed) as a function of delivered laser power P:

ti [s]
laser-material interaction time
E abs  Pabs t i  η  P t i
η
coupling efficiency (absorption, plasma)

Ds
v
ti

S h kerf height
u 
t i laser-material interaction time

V  S  h  vaporised volume in the interaction time

h V
u  vaporised volume per second per unit area
S t i
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References
E. ANNATEY-ASIBU, Principles of Laser Materials Processing, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., New York (2008).

W. M. STEEN, J. MAZUMDER, Laser Material Processing, Springer-Verlag,

London (2010).

C.L. CARISTAN, Laser Cutting Guide for Manufacturing, Society for

Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn (2004).

E. CAPELLO, Le lavorazioni industriali mediante laser di potenza,

Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna, Rimini (2008).

G. COSTA RODRIGUES et al., “Theoretical and experimental aspects of

laser cutting with a direct diode laser”, Optics and Lasers in
Engineering 61, pp. 31–38 (2014)
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