Fiber Laser Cutting with Compressed Air Technology

With the development of technology, the laser cutting industry is also constantly improving and optimizing cutting processes and functional components. For example, the auxiliary gas during laser cutting is replaced with fiber laser cutting with compressed air. The compressed air is provided by an air compressor and passes through post-processing equipment such as filters, cold dryers, and dehumidifiers to remove a large amount of "water", "oil", and "dust" impurities contained in the compressed air, thereby realizing resource utilization recycling and clean production.

What is Fiber Laser Cutting with Compressed Air?

The most commonly used gases for laser cutting are oxygen, nitrogen and air. Among them, air cutting is widely loved by laser processing customers because of its low cost and only consumes electricity.
The cutting principle of air is similar to that of nitrogen. It relies on the energy of the laser to melt the metal and uses high pressure to blow away the molten material. During this period, some metal substances will oxidize or burn, forming metal oxides on the cut surface.

Compressed Air Quality Requirements

Because the fiber laser cutting with compressed air directly contacts the protective lens, the compressed air contains water mist and oil. When the high pressure is sprayed onto the protective mirror, it will seriously affect the transmission of the laser beam, disperse the focus, and cause the product to not be cut through, resulting in waste. The quality of compressed air is one of the important factors affecting the quality of the final formed parts of laser cutting.

Requirements for compressed air quality

Therefore, it is very important to configure efficient and precise fiber laser cutting with compressed air drying and purification equipment for laser cutting.

Application of Air Cutting

Air itself exists in the atmosphere. It is compressed into a gas tank by an air compressor, and then filtered, cooled and dried to remove water and oil in the air before it can be used.
Since the air contains about 21% oxygen, it can make up for the lack of oxygen and nitrogen to a certain extent. Air can be used for stainless steel cutting, carbon steel cutting, aluminum plate cutting, etc.

The Impact of Air Cutting on Different Plates

Carbon Steel Plate

For carbon steel plate, when using air as auxiliary gas for cutting, smaller burrs will be generated on the cross section of the part, but the burrs are not sharp, and can be used on parts that do not require high burrs.

Stainless Steel Plate

When cutting stainless steel plate with air, the cut surface of the material will be oxidized after processing. When welding the cut section, the oxide will produce defects such as slag inclusions and pores in the weld, affecting the quality of the weld and causing the strength of the weld to decrease.

Therefore, when welding parts after cutting with air, it is necessary to grind the oxide layer of the cross section of the welding part to improve the welding quality.
In addition, the cross section will oxidize after cutting, producing a yellow oxide layer, which will have an impact if the part is an appearance part. The oxide layer will also affect welding, and the oxide layer must be polished before welding.

Aluminum Plate and Aluminum Alloy Plate

For aluminum plate and aluminum alloy plate, using air as an auxiliary gas can reduce cutting burrs. If nitrogen is used, the cutting burrs will be larger.

Summary

In the current increasingly competitive industry environment, increasing product added value by properly utilizing fiber laser cutting with compressed air and reducing production costs is one of the means to gain competitive advantages. Selecting the appropriate power and material and using air as an auxiliary gas for material cutting can reduce cutting costs and bring more profits to the company.

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