Publish Time: 2022-02-07 Origin: Site
The emergence of fiber laser cutter in the market has solved the problems of traditional metal materials that are difficult to cut or have low cutting quality, especially carbon steel. Today, let's talk about the advantages of metal laser cutting machines in cutting carbon steel.
1. Less Expensive
Possibly the most valuable advantage of fiber laser cutting is the price. The cost overhead for this technology represents a massive savings, both in initial purchase and over the lifetime of the laser. For starters, it doesn't require expensive optical mirrors as is the case with other laser technology. Additionally, the focusing lens is not exposed, but instead sealed within the cutting head. Due to this, the focusing lens will, when properly maintained, last the lifetime of the fiber optics, instead of becoming damaged and requiring continual replacements, which is the case with other laser applications.
2. No Moving Parts
Moving parts lead to heightened maintenance and an increase in operating costs. As light pulses are sent through the fiber optic cabling, it does not require moving mirrors in order to generate the necessary laser. Other forms of lasers utilize a rapidly moving mirror in order to heighten the laser's power. To extend the life of the mirror regular maintenance is needed. This causes a slow down in productivity. However, if regular maintenance is not performed, the chance of material damage increases, which not only takes the laser offline but it increases the cost to operate.
3. Boost in Cutting Speed
Another advantage in using fiber laser cutter is the increase in cutting speed. When cutting a straight line of 1mm in thickness, a fiber based laser can cut three times faster than that of a traditional laser. This includes cutting through materials such as stainless steel. When cutting through 2mm thickness the time improvement does drop to twice as fast, but never the less, it still represents a sizable improvement.
4. Cutting Reflective Material
One of the major problems when using a traditional laser is in regards to reflective material. There is the chance a laser may bounce off the reflective material, which in turn will damage the equipment. Due to this, traditional lasers are not often used when cutting brass, aluminum and copper. With fiber optic lasers though, this reflective material problem is no longer an issue, which in turn allows for the cutting of these materials.
5. Higher Electrical Efficiency
Conventional CO2 lasers require a considerable amount more energy to product the laser beam. In fact, a 2 kW fiber laser cutting setup uses a third of the power as a 4 kW CO2 machine. This means the fiber optic configuration will not only save power each and every time it is used, but due to the lower energy requirements it helps increase the life expectancy of the hardware as well.
Because carbon steel contains carbon, it does not reflect light strongly and absorbs light beams very well. Carbon steel is processed by laser cutting machines in nearly all industries. Therefore, fiber laser cutter have an unshakable position in carbon steel processing.
1. Time cycle of inspection and repairing
1) The maintenance cycle of laser sources, chillers and air compressors shall be carried out according to the maintenance cycle specified in their instruction manuals.
2) The machine is inspected for the first time after 24 hours of running, and again after 100 hours. Then it should be inspected every 6 months or a year (depending on the customer's situation).
2. Daily maintenance
1) Everyday, before starting the machine, operator should carefully check the laser source, water-cooling unit, water volume and pipeline for leaks;
2) Check whether the laser ready state button is working (check the indicator light), and whether the machine emergency stop button is normal;
3) Check whether the limit switches of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis and the mounting screws of the striker are loose, and whether the limit switches of each axis are sensitive;
4) Check whether the limit switches of the exchange table are sensitive
5) After long-term use, check whether the focusing lens and protective lens are damaged;
6) After the work is completed, clean up the waste parts in time and clean the work site to keep the work site tidy and clean; at the same time, clean the equipment to ensure that all parts of the equipment are clean and free of stains, and no debris can be placed in all parts of the equipment.
7) Open the drain valve of the air storage cylinder at the bottom of the air compressor for drainage. After the waste water is drained, close the valve (if compressed air is used).
8) Shut down the machine according to the shutdown procedure, and then turn off the total power supply.
3. Maintenance during operation
When turning on the fiber laser cutter, please check the machine as per the daily maintenance. If abnormal noise occurs during the operation, please stop it for inspection immediately. Irrelevant items shall not be placed on the workbench or operating table.
1) Regularly check the oil level of the centralized lubrication pump (if insufficient, add lubricating oil in time), and appropriately adjust the lubrication pump refueling time to ensure that the X-axis guide rail, Y-axis guide rail, Z-axis guide rail and screw can be adequately lubricated. This can help to ensure the accuracy of the machine, maintain the lubrication of all moving parts, and extend the service life of the X, Y, and Z-axis guides; if the sound becomes louder when the machine is moving, check the gear rack lubrication and add lubricating oil in time.
2) The dust on the Z-axis linear guide and screw must be cleaned weekly.
3) Clean the tuyere, debris and dust on each filter of the machine every week.
4) Check the cooling water level inside the laser source every week. It must be added in time if insufficient.
5) Check the contamination on the surface of the protective lens and the focusing lens every 15 days, and clean the optical lens in time to ensure its service life.
6) Check the filter in the air path once a month, and remove the water and debris in the filter in time.
7) Regularly check whether the external cable is scratched, and check whether the line interface in the power distribution cabinet is loose.
8) Half a year after the machine is installed, the levelness of the machine should be readjusted to ensure the cutting accuracy of the machine.
How to Maximize the Advantages of fiber laser cutter:
One of the goals when designing for manufacturing is to achieve a simple solution rather than a complex one. After all, complex designs are more difficult to manage, increase the chances of errors and generate waste in the form of materials, energy, labor and time. Laser cutting technology is a suitable tool for creating all shapes and sizes of components and is one of the most efficient and cost effective fabrication methods.
Complex cuts with superior edge quality can be accomplished with accurately on laser cutting equipment. Precision laser beams are capable of creating close tolerance components in a quick, clean and efficient manner with minimal operator intervention. Sophisticated software and minimal kerf allow tight nesting of parts to maximize yield and minimize material waste.
The main features of fiber laser cutting machine are as follows:
First, the electric-optical conversion efficiency of the fiber laser is high, and the conversion efficiency is more than 30%. The low-power fiber laser does not need to be equipped with a water cooler and adopts air cooling, which can greatly save the power consumption at work, save the operation cost, and achieve the highest production efficiency.
Second, the operation of the laser only needs electric energy, does not need to produce extra gas of the laser, and has the lowest operation and maintenance cost.
Third, the fiber laser adopts semiconductor modularization and redundant design, there is no optical lens in the resonant cavity, no start-up time is needed, and it has the advantages of no regulation, no maintenance, and high stability, which reduces the cost of accessories and maintenance time. This is unmatched by traditional lasers.
Fourth, the output wavelength of the fiber laser is 1.064 microns, which is 1×10 of the CO2 wavelength. The output beam quality is good, the power density is high, which is very conducive to the absorption of metal materials, and has excellent cutting and welding ability so that the processing cost is the lowest.
Fifth, the whole machine optical route optical fiber transmission, does not need complex mirrors and another light guide system, the optical path is simple, the structure is stable, and the external optical path is maintenance-free.
Sixth, the cutting head contains protective lenses, so that the consumption of valuable consumables such as focusing mirrors is very small.
Seventh, light is derived through an optical fiber, which makes the design of mechanical systems very simple and easy to integrate with robots or multi-dimensional worktables.
The fiber laser is small in size, light in weight, movable in working position, and small in area.
how to optimize the process parameters of fiber laser cutter?
1. Cutting speed
Fast cutting speed is one of the advantages of laser cutting machines, but the cutting speed is not as fast as possible. In the case of a certain laser power, it is necessary to select the appropriate cutting speed according to the cutting plate, so as to make the cutting surface beautiful and obtain high quality. For cutting workpieces, the following methods can be used to judge whether the cutting speed is appropriate, and then adjust the cutting speed:
1) Observe the cutting sparks
When the cutting speed is appropriate, the cutting sparks spread evenly from top to bottom;
When the cutting speed is too fast, the cutting spark will be inclined;
When the cutting speed is too slow, the cutting sparks gather together, do not spread and are small.
2) Observe the cut sheet
When the cutting speed is appropriate, the cutting surface presents a relatively smooth line, and no slag is produced in the lower half. When the cutting speed is too fast, it may not be able to be cut through, and the sparks will spray randomly; some areas can be cut through, but some areas cannot be cut through; the cutting section is slanted, and the lower part produces slag.
When the cutting speed is too slow, it will cause over-melting, the cutting section will be rough, and the kerf will become wider.
2. Nozzle and Nozzle Height
When cutting, the height of the nozzle is generally set at 0.3mm-0.8mm. If it is too low, the nozzle will easily collide with the surface of the workpiece. If it is too high, the concentration and pressure of the auxiliary gas will be reduced, resulting in a decrease in the cutting quality.
When perforating, in order to prevent the generated slag from falling back on the lens, the height of the nozzle can be appropriately raised.
We have shared the impact of the nozzle on the cutting effect in detail before. Interested friends can check it directly. I will not go into details here.
3. Focus position
Whenfiber laser cutter, the change of the defocus amount has a direct effect on the slit width. When the defocus amount Z=0, the slit width is the smallest, and the slit width will become wider whether the focus position is moved up or down.
Under a certain plate thickness and cutting power, there is an optimal range of defocusing amount. When the defocusing amount is within this range, the slit width is small and stable, and the cutting quality is high.
Earlier, we shared in detail the 3 focal positions in the laser cutting process, you can search and view directly.
4. Air pressure of auxiliary gas
1) Insufficient air pressure
When the gas pressure is insufficient, the slag produced by cutting cannot be removed, and it is not easy to penetrate, resulting in slag on the cutting surface; the cutting speed cannot be increased, which affects the cutting efficiency.
In general, when cutting thin plates at high speed, high air pressure is required to prevent slag from attaching to the back of the slit; when the material is thicker or the cutting speed is slow, the air pressure can be appropriately reduced.
2) The air pressure is too high
Increasing the gas pressure can improve the cutting speed to a certain extent, but excessive air pressure will actually reduce the cutting speed. This is because under high pressure, the excessively fast gas flow will enhance the cooling effect, and even interfere with the focusing of the beam energy, resulting in a decrease in cutting quality and efficiency.
At the same time, when the air pressure is too high, the cutting surface will be thicker and the kerf will be wider.