Published on November 17th, 2021 | by Ali Dino
0Methods Used in Industries to Cut Metals
A large variety of metals is being used in industries for manufacturing products ranging from bridges to small daily usage tools. It is because of the properties that do not let them wear and tear quickly in an environment where they come in contact with variable forces and temperatures.
But have you ever imagined how these metal products themselves are manufactured? What processes are there to deal with cutting the metals and finally shaping the components of the products? Because cutting the metal in the perfect shape is the most important step in the manufacturing of a product that will work efficiently.
There are a lot of methods that are used in industries to cut metal which use machines for this cutting process. The main methods used are:
- Turning
- Grinding
- Drilling
- Welding
- Flame
- Laser
- Plasma
- Water jet
What method one should use to cut metals depends on the size, shape, strength of the metal piece that one wants to cut. It also depends on the thickness of the metal that needs to be cut. In this article, we will talk about Laser cutting machines, which are way more accurate than others.
Laser Cutting Machines
Laser cutting machines work on a thermal process that uses a guided tube laser cutting beam that concentrates its power in a localized area to heat the metal so much that it starts melting from that point. If the intensity of this concentrated beam of light is increased, the beam will go deeper and finally will penetrate the material completely.
This complete penetration at a point makes a hole in the material and when this laser moves over the material surface with the same power, melting the material and penetrating through it, the metal gets cut.
The movement of the laser beam over the surface is made possible by a CNC control that moves the beam over the surface of the metal according to the required shape that is fed into the computer program.
The precise cut and a square edge can be obtained by using a laser beam of a very small diameter and a very high temperature. As the laser cutting is contactless, it reduces the mechanical stress that could cause damage to the object and wear to the tool itself.
Fiber Laser Cutting Machine
There are many laser machines used for cutting materials available in the market, all of them having their own advantages and disadvantages. The best of all these laser cutting machines, fiber laser cutters are the most advantageous.
Advantages of Fiber Laser Cutting Machine
Fiber laser cutting machines use light propagating in the fibers, which provides it with environmental protection along with a large gain bandwidth. The light beam from the laser can be fully controlled through a computer, with this control CNC fiber laser cutting machine can give very short pulses.
Also, it provides a wide range of wavelengths of the beam which, simply said, affects the sharpness of the beam so that you may choose to etch the surface or cut it. These high-speed laser beams at the same time can penetrate very thick materials and can also be used with thin and small materials working very precisely without damaging the surrounding areas. These can also be used with reflective materials without the fear of getting the beam reflected from those surfaces.