Judging the quality of laser cutting machine cutting is the most intuitive and best way to determine the performance of laser cutting equipment. Here are nine standards for judging the quality of laser cutting machine cutting, which can be used as a reference for customers when choosing equipment manufacturers.

1. Roughness

Laser cutting of cross-sections will form vertical grooves, and the depth of the grooves determines the roughness of the cutting surface. The shallower the grooves, the smoother the cutting section. Roughness not only affects the appearance of the edges, but also affects the friction characteristics. In most cases, it is necessary to minimize roughness as much as possible, so the shallower the texture, the higher the cutting quality.

2. Verticality

If the thickness of the sheet metal exceeds 10mm, the verticality of the cutting edge is very important. When away from the focus, the laser beam becomes divergent, and the cutting becomes wider towards the top or bottom based on the position of the focus. The deviation of the cutting edge from the vertical line is several millimeters. The more perpendicular the edge is, the higher the cutting quality.

3. Cutting width

The cutting width generally does not affect the cutting quality. It only has a significant impact when a particularly precise contour is formed inside the component. This is because the cutting width determines the minimum inner diameter of the contour. As the thickness of the sheet increases, the cutting width also increases. So to ensure equal high precision, regardless of the width of the incision, the workpiece in the processing area of the laser cutting machine should be constant.

4. Texture

When high-speed cutting thick plates, molten metal will not appear in the incision below the vertical laser beam, but will spray out at the back of the laser beam. As a result, curved patterns formed at the cutting edge, closely following the moving laser beam. To correct this issue, reducing the feed rate at the end of the cutting process can greatly eliminate the formation of patterns.

5. Burrs

The formation of burrs is a very important factor determining the quality of laser cutting, as the removal of burrs requires additional work, so the severity and amount of burrs can intuitively determine the quality of cutting.

6. Material deposition

Before starting to melt and pierce, the laser cutting machine first touches a special layer of oil containing liquid on the surface of the workpiece. Gasification and various materials do not require the customer to blow away the incision with wind, but discharge upwards or downwards can also form deposits on the surface.

7. Depression and corrosion

Depression and corrosion have adverse effects on the surface of the cut edge, affecting its appearance. They appear in the cutting errors that should generally be avoided.

8. Heat affected area

In laser cutting, the area near the incision is heated. At the same time, the structure of the metal undergoes changes. For example, some metals may harden. The heat affected zone refers to the depth of the area where the internal structure undergoes changes.

9. Deformation

If cutting causes the component to heat up sharply, it will deform. This is particularly important in precision machining, as the contours and connecting pieces here are usually only a few tenths of a millimeter wide. Controlling laser power and using short laser pulses can reduce component heating and avoid deformation.