What is Laser Profiling?
Jump to: How does laser Profiling work? - what are the Limitations of laser Profiling
Laser Profiling is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, it is typically used in industrial manufacturing applications.
Our laser cutting machines can accurately produce complex exterior contours. A laser beam is typically 0.15 mm (0.006 in) diameter at the Profiling surface and has power of 1000 to 2000 watts.
Laser Profiling can also be complementary to CNC/Turret punching processes. CNC/Turret punching is used to create internal features such as holes, whereas the laser Profiling process can produce external complex features easily.
CAD/CAM software provides electronic data which operates a variety of CNC machines. Laser Profiling takes direct input from a CAD drawing to produce flat form parts of great complexity.
Lasers work best on materials such as carbon steel or stainless steels. Metals such as aluminum and copper alloys are more difficult to cut due to their ability to reflect the light as well as absorb and
conduct heat.
- The minimum radius for slot corners is 0.75 mm (0.030 in). Unlike blanking, piercing, and forming, the normal design rules regarding minimum wall thicknesses, minimum hole size (as a percent of stock thickness) do not apply. The minimum hole sizes are related to stock thickness and can be as low as 20% of the stock thickness, with a minimum of 0.25 mm (0.010 in) for upto 1.9 mm (0.075 in). Contrast this with normal piercing operations with the recommended hole size 1.2 times the stock thickness.
- Burrs are quite small compared to blanking and shearing. They can be virtually eliminated when lasers are used and further, eliminate the need for secondary deburring operations.
- As in blanking and piercing, considerable economies can be obtained by nesting parts, and Profiling along common lines using state of the art CAD software.
A little about how Laser Profiling works?
Laser Profiling works by melting, burning or vapourising the material, while an assist gas is employed to "clear" the cut zone of the molten / burnt material or the gas vapour.
The Profiling process is very complex. A high power laser is directed at the material to be cut, a focusing lens helps to aim all of the lasers energy onto a pin-point. This energy from the laser causes extremely fast localised melting and partial vaporisation of the material being cut. A computer is used to accurately position and set the power of the laser beam. An assist gas removes the heated material and produces the cut. The type of assist gas employed is critical, and is dependant on the material to be laser cut: most commonly used are Oxygen (used predominantly for carbon steels), Nitrogen (used for non-ferrous steels & non-metals) and Argon (used for more exotic materials such as titanium), but we also have the capability to cut in Compressed Air on most materials 2mm thick or under.
Industrial laser Profiling machines are predominantly used to cut parts from flat-sheet material. However, there are machines specially adapted to cut tubular components, and multi-axis lasers used to cut pre-formed components.
Limitations when using Laser Profiling for sheet metal
The cut-edge quality achievable with laser Profiling depends on the type of material and the thickness. As the thickness increases the striations on the cut-edge become more prominent. Striations are lines on the cut-edge where the molten zone meets the cool zone
These striations affect the tolerance achievable. For example, in 2mm mild steel we would offer +/-0.1mm accuracy. In 10mm steel the repeatable tolerance would increase to +/-0.2mm, and at 20mm we would be maintaining +/-0.4mm.
A laser is made up of photons, parts of its energy can be reflected away by materials such as aluminum and copper alloys. These materials are also thermal conductors, meaning they distribute incoming heat more evenly throughout their volume. For this reason, carbon alloy and stainless steel are popular workpiece materials for laser Profiling. They are poor at absorbing heat, so heat is concentrated into the laser's path more readily.
Because the beams used in Profiling are "class 4" lasers, the machines are designed to ensure that human operators are never exposed to them directly. All the Profiling is done inside the machine.
There are limits to: the maximum thickness we're able to cut (see the chart above), the amount of detail achievable (it depends on the thickness and material type - please ask us), and the types of materials (particularly some plastics) we are unable to cut due to health & safety issues. Contact to discuss your laser profiling requirements.