DETERMINATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CUTTING GALVANISED SHEETS USING NITROGEN AS ASSIST

GAS ON LASER

DEPARTMENT : KANGO SOLUTION CENTER(KSC)

DATE : 21-10-16

TRIAL RUN CONDUCTED BY : N SITHOLE AND T KAVHAI

1.OBJECTIVE

i. To determine the rate of nitrogen consumption against the number of sheets processed
ii. To determine the time it takes to finish a 11 kg cylinder of nitrogen.
iii. To determine cost effectiveness of cutting galvanised sheets on the laser.

2.PRODUCTION TRIAL RUN DATA

Processing Time per Sheet 2mins 48 secs

Nested Components on Sheet
Nitrogen Quantity
Thickness of Sheet
Cutting Speed
Std Splashback Covers(3);Std Backcovers(3); 210mm Heat shield
strip(2)
11kg (one cylinder)
0.4mm
50m/min at 100% feed rate
3.PROCEDURE

i. Installed a full unused nitrogen cylinder to the laser.

ii. Set up material to laser and adjusted machine settings.
iii. Started running machine and noted beginning time as well as process time per sheet.
iv. Ran production until all the nitrogen in the cylinder was finished.
v. Noted end time.

4.RESULTS

The results of the trial run are as follows

Number of sheets cut 25 sheets

Time taken to cut 25 sheets 1hr 10mins
Amount of nitrogen used for 25 sheets 11kgs (one full cylinder)
Time per sheet 2mins 48 secs
Quality of cut Good
Set up time 20mins
5.CONCLUSION

The trial run used an average of one cylinder per hour to cut 25 galvanised sheets. This rate of usage can have a significant impact on the cost
of production as it is high. The impact will be determined by the price of nitrogen. Based on the data acquired from trial ,the table below
summarizes nitrogen requirements to cut Std Splashback covers and Std Backcovers for 250 cookers.

Quantity per Number of Sheets per Number of Sheets Total Number of Cylinders
Material Size Components per Sheet Sheet Nitrogen Cylinder Required for 250 Cookers required for 250 cookers
STD SPLASHBACK COVER 4
2450 X1219X0,4
STD BACK COVER 3 25 84 4
GALV
210mm X 609mm HEAT SHIELD STRIP 2