What is a laser cutting machine?

What is a laser cutting machine?
Laser cutting machine is a device that uses laser technology to cut and process materials. It uses high-energy laser beams to melt, evaporate, or burn materials, achieving precise cutting of various materials.
So what is laser cutting? Laser cutting replaces mechanical cutting tools with invisible lasers, and has the characteristics of high precision, fast cutting, not limited to cutting patterns, automatic typesetting to save materials, smooth cutting, low processing costs, and green and pollution-free.
Let’s take a detailed look at the principle of laser cutting below. Laser cutting is achieved by using the high power density energy generated by laser focusing. Under the control of a computer, the laser is discharged through pulses to output controlled high-frequency pulsed laser, forming a beam of light with a certain frequency and pulse width. The pulsed laser beam is transmitted and reflected through an optical path and focused on the surface of the processed object through a focusing lens group, forming fine, high-energy density light spots. The focal spot is located near the surface to be processed, and the processed material is melted or vaporized at high temperature in an instant.
Each high-energy laser pulse instantly splashes a small hole on the surface of the object. Under computer control, the laser processing head and the material being processed move continuously relative to each other in a pre drawn pattern to create dots, thus processing the object into the desired shape. The laser cutting machine focuses the laser on the material, heats it locally until it exceeds the melting point, and then blows the molten metal away with coaxial high-pressure gas or generated metal vapor pressure. As the beam moves linearly relative to the material, the hole is continuously formed into a very narrow slit.
The energy released when the laser beam is irradiated onto the surface of the metal sheet will melt the metal sheet and blow away the slag by the gas. Laser sources usually use fiber laser beams, which are focused on a very small area through lenses and mirrors. The high concentration of energy causes rapid heating of the local area, resulting in the melting of the metal sheet. In addition, due to the highly concentrated energy emitted by the laser, only a small amount of heat is transferred to other parts of the metal sheet, resulting in minimal material deformation. Laser can also accurately cut complex shaped blanks, and the cut blanks do not require further processing.
Laser cutting machines can be used to cut various materials, including metals (such as steel, aluminum), plastics, wood, textiles, stone, etc. It has been widely used in industrial manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, electronic equipment manufacturing, jewelry processing and other fields. Compared with traditional mechanical cutting methods, laser cutting has many advantages, including high precision, high speed, contactless cutting, no need for tool replacement, and less material waste.
It should be noted that safety measures need to be taken when operating a laser cutting machine, as the laser beam has high energy and may cause harm to the human body and the surrounding environment. Therefore, relevant safety operating procedures must be followed when using laser cutting machines.