The cutting quality of metal laser cutting machine is very important because it will affect downstream processes, such as welding or painting; Cutting ready for welding will reduce the steps of preparing for welding, simplify the production process and reduce labor costs, or the cutting edge is visible to the purchaser of finished parts or products. However, many customers are not sure how to obtain the cutting quality of metal laser cutting machine when purchasing. This article will discuss cutting quality from 8 aspects, so as to provide some knowledge for you to select high-quality metal laser cutting machines.

The quality of cutting can be evaluated according to the following aspects:

Edge quality

Roughness not only affects the appearance of edges, but also affects the friction characteristics. In most cases, the lower the roughness, the higher the cutting quality.

Metal laser cutting machine is a kind of processing tool with high quality and high efficiency. When the laser beam acts on the metal plate, a vertical line is formed. The deeper the grain, the rougher the surface of the section. When the power of the cutting machine matches the thickness of the sheet, the cutting part will not have stripes or brittle fracture.

Verticality

For high-power metal laser cutting, the perpendicularity of the cutting edge is very important when the thickness of the processed material exceeds 10 mm. The laser beam will diverge when it is far away from the focus, and the incision will become wider toward the top or bottom according to the focus position. The more vertical the edge, the higher the cutting quality. Cutting with little or no angle is considered the best.

Kerf

Generally speaking, the cutting seam does not affect the cutting quality. However, in order to form a particularly precise profile inside the part, the slit determines the minimum inside diameter of the profile. With the increase of sheet thickness, the slit will also increase. Therefore, in order to ensure the same high accuracy, the processing area of the workpiece should be constant regardless of the slit width.

dross

The residue is the reconsolidated oxidized molten metal, which is not completely discharged from the cutting seam during the cutting process. It may form dense bubble like deposits along the bottom edge of the plate. In the process of metal laser cutting machine, the high energy generated by the laser beam makes the workpiece surface vaporize and evaporate rapidly, and the slag on the workpiece surface is blown away by the auxiliary gas. If auxiliary gas is not used, the slag will be cooled and will deposit on the cutting surface. As additional work is required to remove tin slag, the cutting quality can be visually judged by observing the severity and quantity of tin slag.

deformation

If the cutting causes sharp heating of the part, it will deform. This is particularly important in fine machining because the profile and lugs here are usually only a few tenths of a millimeter wide.

Cut texture

When the slab is cut at high speed, the molten metal will pop out along the path of the laser beam instead of appearing in the slit below the laser beam. As a result, a curved texture is formed at the cutting edge following the moving laser beam.

Depression and corrosion

Dents and corrosion can adversely affect the surface of the cutting edge, thereby affecting the appearance.

Size of heat affected zone

The heat affected zone refers to the depth of the area where the internal structure changes. In laser cutting, the area near the slit is heated, and at the same time, the metal structure changes. For example, some metals may harden. Smaller areas protect the integrity of the metal and affect the feasibility of other processes, such as welding and tapping.