With the continuous development of heavy industry, laser cutting technology has developed from thin plate cutting to thick plate size cutting, and laser cutting has gradually entered the era of high power. The new generation of industrial manufacturing has put forward new requirements for the precision, speed and thickness of metal plate cutting, and the power of laser cutting machine is getting higher and higher. From the perspective of industrial development, high-power laser cutting machine is the inevitable product of a certain stage, and is also the general trend of industrial development.

01

preface

In the field of sheet metal processing, the advantages of laser cutting machine are high precision, fast speed and good quality. It replaces the existing processing technology and becomes the core equipment for sheet metal cutting [1]. From the rise of laser cutting machine to the continuous introduction of fiber laser cutting machine and high-power laser cutting machine replacing YAG, CO2 and other machines, high-power equipment has become the trend in terms of thick plate and cutting efficiency.

In recent years, high-power laser cutting machine has become a hot spot in the field of laser cutting. Many enterprises have continuously introduced more than 10000 watt optical fiber laser cutting equipment. In the sheet metal processing industry, the birth of high-power cutting equipment has greatly improved the thickness and efficiency of sheet metal cutting. The appearance of this high-power cutting machine constantly breaks the limit of material cutting thickness. The resulting decrease in the price of the processing plate has formed a good cycle to promote the further expansion of the laser cutting application field.

02

Brief introduction of high power laser cutting machine

(1) Introduction to high-power cutting machine

Laser cutting machine can be divided into low power consumption, medium power and high power according to power. For stainless steel and carbon steel with ordinary thickness, low-power laser cutting machine can cut well. For thick plate and cutting efficiency, high-power laser cutting machine can be well realized. Therefore, laser cutting machines with a laser power of more than 10000 watts are collectively referred to as high-power laser cutting machines (see Figure 1).

(2) Optical fiber laser power specification

Optical fiber stimulation selected from high-power cutting machine according to the thickness of laser cutting metal plate

Crazy power specifications are also different. Judging from the current development trend, in the metal processing market, large and small enterprises are gradually upgrading to a variety of specifications. Table 1.

(3) Gas usage specification

When working on the high-power laser cutting machine, the oxygen purity required to ensure the cutting accuracy, cutting speed, cutting profile effect, etc. is very high, generally 99.99%.

03

Characteristics of high power laser cutting machine

3.1 Technological innovation

(1) High speed cutting machine with high dynamic performance

The machine tool using Wanwa class fiber laser and the new triangular structure beam has the following characteristics: the weight is reduced by 30%, and the dynamic performance is significantly improved. The maximum moving speed is 200m/min, and the acceleration is 4g. The support will increase the weight by about 20%, change the fixing mode of the machine tool, and eliminate the impact of high-speed movement on the machine tool.

(2) New software system

Software and control systems are like machine brains and command centers. In addition to the accuracy and efficiency of machine tool operation, the differences in the performance of the entire equipment mainly come from the differences in software and control systems, which are often very different.

(3) Stable cutting at the speed of 100m/min

The response speed of capacitive sensor is 3 times faster than that of traditional shear head. The Z-axis speed is increased, the operation is not stopped, and the cutting efficiency of the thin plate is improved by more than 30%, which improves the performance of the frog jumping function and the acceleration adaptation function. The functions of fast piercing, precision piercing and remote diagnosis are supplemented, ensuring the intelligent interface for the "Industry 4.0" function [2].

3.2 Cutting head function

High power cutting head is a key component to ensure cutting stability in high power continuous work. It has the following characteristics: 1. High power cutting head has a cooling system with better sealing and cooling effect, a focus with wider application range, and a lens with high temperature. Due to the influence of high-power thermal lens effect, the focused beam will drift when the cutting head works for a long time. In order to overcome the focus drift problem, the high-power cutting head will be replaced with a new air design structure and a new nozzle structure to improve the cutting speed and stability.

3.3 High power laser cutting capability

(1) The thickness of cutting thick plates continues to increase

At present, high-power laser cutting machine cuts aluminum alloy plates with a thickness of 40mm and stainless steel plates with a thickness of 130mm. With the continuous upgrading of high-power laser cutting machine technology, the thickness of cutting materials has increased, and the processing price of thick plates has gradually decreased, promoting the application of high-power laser cutting machine in the field of thick plates [3].

(2) Efficiency times of the sheet when cutting

When cutting stainless steel plates with a thickness of 3~10MM, the cutting speed of 10000W laser cutting machine is more than twice that of 6000W. 10000W laser cutting machine can achieve 18~20MM/S fast gloss cutting in the cutting application of carbon steel, which is twice the normal standard cutting speed. Compressed air or nitrogen can be used to cut carbon steel plates within 12mm, and the cutting efficiency is 6-7 times that of oxygen cutting carbon steel.

3.4 Bed characteristics

(1) The equipment has a super load-bearing mechanical structure

The high-power cutting machine is equipped with a cast iron bed. The flaky graphite cast iron with a minimum tensile strength of 200MPa is used, and the carbon content, compressive strength, loss and wear resistance are significantly improved (see Figure 3).

(2) Characteristics of cast iron bed

The machine has good lubrication performance, corrosion resistance and dimensional stability, reducing machining errors caused by machine vibration. Reduce the loss of equipment in use, improve the stability coefficient by more than 30%, improve the quality accuracy by more than 30%, and extend the service life of the bed by more than 70 years.

3.5 Automatic replacement of shower head

(1) Manual replacement of shower head mode

During the cutting process, the nozzle needs to be replaced according to the thickness and material of the cutting material. For many years, manual nozzle replacement has been used. This is not only inefficient, but also requires the repeated work of technicians. It is difficult to ensure the accuracy and stability after replacement. How to replace the nozzle efficiently and quickly, to ensure that there is absolutely no error in each replacement, and to maintain the accuracy is a technical problem in the field of laser cutting.

(2) Automatic shower head replacement technology

High power laser cutting machine applies the automatic replacement function of shower head. Automatic nozzle replacement, laser head calibration, automatic shower head cleaning and other functions reduce manual repetitive workload. When the nozzle is automatically replaced, operate the corresponding command on the touch screen. The automatic shower head replacement technology has the following advantages:

1) Reduce labor intensity and ensure the position accuracy and working stability of nozzle replacement.

2) With a perfect control system, the nozzle model and specification can be automatically changed according to different materials and plate thicknesses of Xulu, reducing the time for manual replacement and improving productivity.

3) Automatic nozzle replacement is a fully enclosed protective device, which can well ensure the safety of shower head equipment and personnel.

3.6 Lightning perforation and limit hole shaping

(1) Lightning perforation

Short perforation time, less heat focus energy and stable starting point can maintain the stability of the follow-up system and ensure the best cutting effect. The advantages of lightning piercing are shown in Table 2.

(2) Limit hole

The laser cutting industry has always believed that the plate thickness is the minimum diameter of the cutting hole. The high-power laser cutting machine believes that the diameter of the minimum hole is 0.15 times or even smaller than the plate thickness, as shown in Figure 4.

04

Advantages of high power laser cutting machine

(1) High speed

The laser cutting speed has exceeded 20 m/min, the moving speed of the 2 axes of the processing and cutting machine can reach 250 m/min, and the acceleration has reached about 10 g in operation.

(2) High precision

About 500 small holes of about 10mm can be cut per minute in a 1mm thick plate. During the cutting process, the error between the tooth holes is very small.

(3) Developing towards thick plates

The power of high-power laser cutting machine is gradually increasing, and the size of thick plates cut accordingly is also increasing.

(4) Development towards size

The processing size range of laser cutting technology is also expanding, and the laser cutting technology has begun to develop in the direction of large size.

(5) Automatic unmanned driving

The automatic unmanned laser cutting technology has the necessity and urgency of development. The application of computer network technology makes laser cutting technology automatic and unmanned. The market demand for the application of tooth technology also continues to expand, urging laser cutting technology to achieve full automatic unmanned.

(6) Intelligence

Follow the pace of intelligent manufacturing according to the technical requirements of Industry 4.0. It combines accurate graphic recognition technology, simple operation process, convenient human-computer intelligent interaction, laser and computer control, numerical control technology, optical system, high-precision, automatic positioning device, etc. Integrate automatic pop up, cutting process database, remote fault diagnosis, remote control, etc. to meet the needs of batch and complex parts processing [3-4

05

Concluding remarks

(1) Develop high output devices

Laser cutting is a very ideal processing method in cutting processing, representing the development direction of modern metal processing technology. High power laser cutting machine is currently engaged in research and development of key technologies in the field of high-speed, high-precision, large, three-dimensional cutting and special material cutting, so as to promote the development of high power laser cutting technology to meet the growing market demand.

Salvation.

(2) Select High Output Device

Some enterprises should consider carefully when choosing high power laser cutting equipment. In addition to the cutting speed and accuracy, the stability and consistency of the whole electric continuous cutting, the speed matching ability of the machine tool, the progressiveness of the machine tool control and the precision life should also be checked. Like purchasing low-power laser cutting equipment, it is not easy to compare price factors. High power means high investment, and high investment implies high risk. Enterprises must be aware of the risks when entering the high-yield dental market.