Plasma and Fiber Laser Cutting Machine
With the development of contemporary machinery processing industry, the requirements of cutting quality and precision are constantly improved, and the requirements for improving production efficiency, reducing production cost and having high intelligent automatic cutting function are also improving. The development of CNC cutting machine must meet the requirements of the development of contemporary machinery processing industry.
Cutting machine is divided into flame cutting machine, plasma cutting machine, Fiber laser cutting machine, water cutting, etc. Laser cutting machine has the fastest, highest cutting accuracy, and the cutting thickness is generally small.Cutting speed of plasma cutting machine is also very fast, the cutting surface has a certain slope. The flame cutting machine is mainly used for the carbon steel with a larger thickness.
1. Classification of Cutting Machine
- According to cutting materials,cutting machine is divided into metal material cutting machine and non-metal material cutting machine .
- Non metallic material cutting machine is divided into flame cutting machine, plasma cutting machine, laser cutting machine, water knife cutting machine, etc;
- Metal material cutting machine is mainly tool cutting machine.
- According to the control mode, cutting machine is divided into CNC cutting machine and manual cutting machine.
CNC cutting machine is driven by digital program, with the movement of the machine tool, the cutting tool with random to cut the object. This Mechatronics cutting machine is called CNC cutting machine.
Laser cutting machine has the fastest efficiency, the highest cutting accuracy, and the cutting thickness is generally small. Plasma cutting machine cutting speed is also very fast, cutting surface has a certain slope. The needle of flame cutting machine is made of thick carbon steel.
2. Application scope
Cutting machines are used in metal and non-metal industries. Generally speaking, the classification of non-metal industry is more detailed, such as stone cutting machine for cutting stone, water cutting machine, sawtooth cutting machine, laser cutting machine for cutting cloth and plastic, blade cutting machine and laser cutting machine for chemical fiber products.
Flame cutting machine and plasma cutting machine are used for cutting metal materials.Flame cutting machine is divided into two categories: CNC cutting machine and manual cutting machine. Manual cutting machine includes small sports car, semi-automatic, pure manual, CNC, gantry CNC cutting machine, cantilever CNC cutting machine, desktop CNC cutting machine, intersecting line CNC cutting machine, etc.
3. Application cost
Laser cutting machine is the most expensive high-tech cutting equipment with the highest accuracy and efficiency, followed by water knife cutting machine, flame cutting machine and plasma cutting machine.
4. Comparison between plasma cutting machine and Fiber laser cutting machine
4.1 Plasma cutting machine:
- Cutting quality: Excellent inclination angle, small heat affected area, basically no slag, good to excellent fine cutting effect;
- Production capacity: The cutting speed of metal materials of various thicknesses is extremely fast, and the perforation speed is extremely fast;
- Operation cost: The wearing parts have long service life, good production efficiency and excellent cutting quality, resulting in lower cost of single operation than other technologies;
- Maintenance ways: Many components can be properly maintained by the maintenance team in the factory.
4.2 Fiber Laser Cutting Machine
- Cutting quality: The dip angle is excellent, few area affected by heating , and basically there is no slag. The fine cutting effect can be achieved even under the narrowest bending condition.
- Production capacity: The cutting torch can be quickly detached, which improves the production efficiency. The cutting speed is extremely fast when cutting metal materials with thickness less than 6 mm. The thicker the metal is, the slower the speed is. The thicker the metal is, the longer the perforation time is. Generally, laser cutting is used in non-metal cutting, and only high-precision ones can use Fiber laser cutting;
- The cost of single operation is high because of the high cost of power and gas, high maintenance cost and relatively low cutting speed.
- Maintenance mode: It needs professional and technical personnel to complete complex maintenance work!
5. Classification of plasma cutting machine:
- CNC flame cutting machine
- CNC plasma cutting machine
- CNC laser cutting machine
- CNC high pressure water jet cutting machine
- Other special cutting equipment (such as CNC pipe cutting machine, CNC profile cutting machine, other non-metal special cutting equipment, etc.)
6. Characteristics and application of various types of CNC cutting machines
- CNC plasma cutting machine, plasma cutting has a wide cutting field, can cut all metal plates, cutting speed, high efficiency, cutting speed can reach more than 10m / min. Plasma underwater cutting can eliminate the noise, dust, harmful gas and arc pollution, and effectively improve the working environment. With the development of high-power plasma cutting technology, the cutting thickness has exceeded 100 mm, which widens the cutting range of CNC plasma cutting machine.
- CNC laser cutting machine has the characteristics of fast cutting speed and high precision. Laser cutting machine is expensive and high cutting cost. It is only suitable for thin plate cutting with high precision requirements.
- CNC high-pressure water jet cutting machine is suitable for cutting any material (metal, non-metal, composite), with high cutting precision, no thermal deformation, and environmental protection cutting mode. Its disadvantages are low cutting speed, low efficiency and high cutting cost.
- Other CNC cutting machines: Including CNC pipe cutting machine, CNC steel cutting machine, CNC groove cutting machine, CNC woodworking cutting machine. These special cutting equipment are mainly used for CNC cutting of various special profiles, and there are few manufacturers on the market.
7. Classification of Fiber laser cutting machine
- Laser cutting machine
- Carbon dioxide cutting machine
8. Working principle of laser cutting machine and carbon dioxide cutting machine
- Since the introduction of laser technology to cut metal sheet, CO2 laser has dominated the market. CO2 laser light source needs a lot of energy to excite nitrogen molecules to collide with CO2 molecules (laser gas) to make them emit photons, and finally form a laser beam that can cut through metal. The molecular activities in the cavity release light and heat at the same time, which requires a cooling system to cool the laser gas. This means that more energy is consumed in the cooling process, further reducing energy efficiency.
- The machine with fiber laser occupies a small area, and the volume of laser light source and cooling system is also smaller; There is no laser gas line and no need to adjust the lens. However, only 50% of the energy consumption of 4kw or 6kW CO2 laser source is needed for 2kW or 3KW fiber laser source to achieve the same performance, with faster speed, lower energy consumption and less impact on the environment.
- The machine with fiber laser occupies a small area, and the volume of laser light source and cooling system is also smaller; There is no laser gas line and no need to adjust the lens. However, only 50% of the energy consumption of 4kw or 6kW CO2 laser source is needed for 2kW or 3KW fiber laser source to achieve the same performance, with faster speed, lower energy consumption and less impact on the environment.
- Micro vector device uses vector to describe the laser path, which is more smooth. The contour edge of the covering film cut by the laser system is neat, smooth, without burr and glue overflow. It is inevitable that there will be burr and glue overflow near the window when the window is opened by means of die and other machining methods. The burr and glue overflow are difficult to remove after the bonding and pressing on the pad, which will directly affect the quality of the subsequent coating.
However, this problem can be easily solved by using the microvector system, because you only need to import the modified CAD data into the software system of microvector, you can easily and quickly process the covering film of the graphics you want to window, and win the market competition opportunity for you in time and cost. The microvector equipment is a combination of numerical control technology, laser technology, software technology and other optical, mechanical and electrical high technologies. It has the characteristics of high flexibility, high precision, high speed and other advanced manufacturing technologies. It can enable circuit board manufacturers to change the traditional processing and delivery methods of flexible boards in terms of technical level, economy, time and autonomy.
9. Application comparison
10. Analysis of cutting materials
- Stainless steel: When cutting stainless steel, oxygen should be used, and the edge oxidation is not important; When nitrogen is used to obtain oxidation free and burr free edges, no further treatment is required. Coating oil film on the surface of plate can get better perforation effect without reducing the processing quality.
- Aluminum: Despite its high reflectivity and thermal conductivity, aluminum below 6 mm in thickness can be cut, depending on the alloy type and laser capability. When cutting with oxygen, the cutting surface is rough and hard. When nitrogen is used, the cutting surface is smooth. Pure aluminum is very difficult to cut because of its high purity. Only when the “reflection absorption” device is installed on the system, can aluminum be cut. Otherwise, the reflection will destroy the optical components.
- Copper and brass: Both materials have high reflectivity and very good thermal conductivity. Brass with thickness less than 1 mm can be cut with nitrogen; Copper with thickness less than 2mm can be cut, and oxygen must be used for processing gas. Copper and brass can only be cut when a “reflection absorption” device is installed on the system. Otherwise, the reflection will destroy the optical components.
11. Advantages of Fiber laser cutting machine
- High precision: Suitable for cutting precision accessories and fine cutting of various craft words and paintings.
- High speed: more than 100 times of WEDM.
- The heat affected zone is small and not easy to deform. The cutting seam is smooth and beautiful without post-processing.
- High cost performance: the price is only 1 / 3 of the CO2 laser cutting machine with similar performance, and 2 / 5 of the CNC punching machine with the same efficiency.
- The use cost is very low: only 1 / 8 ~ 1 / 10 of the same kind of CO2 laser cutting machine, the hourly cost is only about 18 yuan, and the hourly cost of CO2 laser cutting machine is about 150 ~ 180 yuan.
The follow-up maintenance cost is very low: only 1 / 10 ~ 1 / 15 of the same kind of CO2 laser cutting machine, and 1 / 3 ~ 1 / 4 of the same effect CNC punch.
Stable performance to ensure continuous production. Solid state YAG laser is one of the most stable and mature products in laser field.
12. Comparison between Fiber laser cutting and turret punch press
- It can complete all kinds of complex structure processing, as long as you can draw any image on the computer, the machine can complete processing.
- There is no need to open the mold, just make the drawing on the computer, and the product can come out immediately, which can quickly develop new products and save costs.
Yag cutting machine has automatic tracking system, so it can complete plane cutting and various uneven surface cutting.
Complex process requirements, CNC punch is difficult to complete, laser cutting can be done.
The surface is very smooth, the product grade is very high, and it is difficult for CNC punch to achieve.
The formed box (within 0.5m thick) needs to be processed by adding holes and grooves, which can not be processed by CNC punch, and can be solved by YAG CNC metal laser cutting machine
Summary
From the application of various CNC cutting machines, the overall level of domestic CNC cutting machines, such as the technical level and machine performance, has made gratifying progress, it gradually catching up with the international advanced level, meeting the needs of users, and further improving the market competitiveness. Some domestic CNC plasma cutting products have formed their own unique characteristics in many aspects, realizing “automation, multi-function and high reliability”. In some aspects, the technical performance of the product is even better than that of foreign products.
From the perspective of development trend, CNC flame cutting machine will maintain its basic market in the CNC cutting machine market, while CNC plasma cutting machine and CNC laser cutting machine will become the mainstream force in the plate cutting market. Special profile CNC cutting equipment, contact type and non-contact type non-metal special CNC cutting equipment will also have greater development space, The whole CNC cutting machine market will continue to expand. To improve the production efficiency and cutting quality of CNC cutting machine, reduce the production cost, improve the automation level and system stability, and improve the system function become the direction of its technical development.
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