Laser cutting

Diagram of a laser cutter

Laser cutting process on a sheet of steel

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a
cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now
used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutting works
by directing the output of a high-power laser most commonly through optics.
The laser optics and CNC (computer numerical control) are used to direct the
material or the laser beam generated. A commercial laser for cutting materials uses
a motion control system to follow a CNC or G-code of the pattern to be cut onto the
material. The focused laser beam is directed at the material, which then either melts,
burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, [1] leaving an edge with a
high-quality surface finish.[2]

History
In 1965, the first production laser cutting machine was used to drill holes
in diamond dies. This machine was made by the Western Electric Engineering
Research Center.[3] In 1967, the British pioneered laser-assisted oxygen jet cutting for
metals.[4] In the early 1970s, this technology was put into production to cut titanium
for aerospace applications. At the same time CO 2 lasers were adapted to cut non-
metals, such as textiles, because, at the time, CO2 lasers were not powerful enough
to overcome the thermal conductivity of metals.

Process

Generation of the laser beam involves stimulating a lasing material by electrical

discharges or lamps within a closed container. As the lasing material is stimulated,
the beam is reflected internally by means of a partial mirror, until it achieves
sufficient energy to escape as a stream of monochromatic coherent light. Mirrors or
fiber optics are typically used to direct the coherent light to a lens, which focuses the
light at the work zone. The narrowest part of the focused beam is generally less than
0.0125 inches (0.32 mm) in diameter. Depending upon material
thickness, kerf widths as small as 0.004 inches (0.10 mm) are possible.  In order to
[6]

be able to start cutting from somewhere other than the edge, a pierce is done before
every cut. Piercing usually involves a high-power pulsed laser beam which slowly
makes a hole in the material, taking around 5–15 seconds for 0.5-inch-thick
(13 mm) stainless steel, for example.
The parallel rays of coherent light from the laser source often fall in the range
between 0.06–0.08 inches (1.5–2.0 mm) in diameter. This beam is normally focused
and intensified by a lens or a mirror to a very small spot of about 0.001 inches
(0.025 mm) to create a very intense laser beam. In order to achieve the smoothest
possible finish during contour cutting, the direction of beam polarization must be
rotated as it goes around the periphery of a contoured workpiece. For sheet metal
cutting, the focal length is usually 1.5–3 inches (38–76 mm).[7]
Advantages of laser cutting over mechanical cutting include easier workholding and
reduced contamination of workpiece (since there is no cutting edge which can
become contaminated by the material or contaminate the material). Precision may
be better, since the laser beam does not wear during the process. There is also a
reduced chance of warping the material that is being cut, as laser systems have a
small heat-affected zone. Some materials are also very difficult or impossible to cut
by more traditional means.
Laser cutting for metals has the advantages over plasma cutting of being more
precise[9] and using less energy when cutting sheet metal; however, most industrial
lasers cannot cut through the greater metal thickness that plasma can. Newer laser
machines operating at higher power (6000 watts, as contrasted with early laser
cutting machines' 1500 watt ratings) are approaching plasma machines in their ability
to cut through thick materials, but the capital cost of such machines is much higher
than that of plasma cutting machines capable of cutting thick materials like steel
plate.

Types

There are three main types of lasers used in laser cutting. The CO2 laser is suited for
cutting, boring, and engraving. The neodymium (Nd) and neodymium yttrium-
aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers are identical in style and differ only in application.
Nd is used for boring and where high energy but low repetition are required. The
Nd:YAG laser is used where very high power is needed and for boring and
engraving. Both CO2 and Nd/Nd:YAG lasers can be used for welding.
CO2 lasers are commonly "pumped" by passing a current through the gas mix (DC-
excited) or using radio frequency energy (RF-excited). The RF method is newer and
has become more popular. Since DC designs require electrodes inside the cavity,
they can encounter electrode erosion and plating of electrode material
on glassware and optics. Since RF resonators have external electrodes they are not
prone to those problems. CO2 lasers are used for industrial cutting of many materials
including titanium, stainless steel, mild steel, aluminium, plastic, wood, engineered
wood, wax, fabrics, and paper. YAG lasers are primarily used for cutting and scribing
metals and ceramics.
In addition to the power source, the type of gas flow can affect performance as well.
Common variants of CO2 lasers include fast axial flow, slow axial flow, transverse
flow, and slab. In a fast axial flow resonator, the mixture of carbon dioxide, helium
and nitrogen is circulated at high velocity by a turbine or blower. Transverse flow
lasers circulate the gas mix at a lower velocity, requiring a simpler blower. Slab or
diffusion cooled resonators have a static gas field that requires no pressurization or
glassware, leading to savings on replacement turbines and glassware.
The laser generator and external optics (including the focus lens) require cooling.
Depending on system size and configuration, waste heat may be transferred by a
coolant or directly to air. Water is a commonly used coolant, usually circulated
through a chiller or heat transfer system.
A laser microjet is a water-jet guided laser in which a pulsed laser beam is coupled
into a low-pressure water jet. This is used to perform laser cutting functions while
using the water jet to guide the laser beam, much like an optical fiber, through total
internal reflection. The advantages of this are that the water also removes debris and
cools the material. Additional advantages over traditional "dry" laser cutting are high
dicing speeds, parallel kerf, and omnidirectional cutting.
Fiber lasers are a type of solid state laser that is rapidly growing within the metal
cutting industry. Unlike CO2, Fiber technology utilizes a solid gain medium, as
opposed to a gas or liquid. The “seed laser” produces the laser beam and is then
amplified within a glass fiber. With a wavelength of only 1064 nanometers fiber
lasers produce an extremely small spot size (up to 100 times smaller compared to
the CO2) making it ideal for cutting reflective metal material. This is one of the main
advantages of Fiber compared to CO2.
Fibre laser cutter benefits include:-

 Rapid processing times.

 Reduced energy consumption & bills – due to greater efficiency.
 Greater reliability and performance - no optics to adjust or align and no lamps to
replace.
 Minimal maintenance.
 The ability to process highly reflective materials such as copper and brass
 Higher productivity - lower operational costs offer a greater return on your
investment.
Methods
There are many different methods in cutting using lasers, with different types used to
cut different material. Some of the methods are vaporization, melt and blow, melt
blow and burn, thermal stress cracking, scribing, cold cutting and burning stabilized
laser cutting.

Vaporization cutting
In vaporization cutting the focused beam heats the surface of the material to
flashpoint point and generates a keyhole. The keyhole leads to a sudden increase
in absorptivity quickly deepening the hole. As the hole deepens and the material
boils, vapor generated erodes the molten walls blowing eject out and further
enlarging the hole. Non melting material such as wood, carbon and thermoset
plastics are usually cut by this method.

Melt and blow

Melt and blow or fusion cutting uses high-pressure gas to blow molten material from
the cutting area, greatly decreasing the power requirement. First the material is
heated to melting point then a gas jet blows the molten material out of the kerf
avoiding the need to raise the temperature of the material any further. Materials cut
with this process are usually metals.

Thermal stress cracking

Brittle materials are particularly sensitive to thermal fracture, a feature exploited in
thermal stress cracking. A beam is focused on the surface causing localized heating
and thermal expansion. This results in a crack that can then be guided by moving the
beam. The crack can be moved in order of m/s. It is usually used in cutting of glass.

Stealth dicing of silicon wafers

The separation of microelectronic chips as prepared in semiconductor device
fabrication from silicon wafers may be performed by the so-called stealth dicing
process, which operates with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser, the wavelength of which
(1064 nm) is well adapted to the electronic band gap of silicon (1.11 eV or 1117 nm).

Reactive cutting
Also called "burning stabilized laser gas cutting", "flame cutting". Reactive cutting is
like oxygen torch cutting but with a laser beam as the ignition source. Mostly used for
cutting carbon steel in thicknesses over 1 mm. This process can be used to cut very
thick steel plates with relatively little laser power.

Tolerances and surface finish

Laser cutters have positioning accuracy of 10 micrometers and repeatability of 5
micrometers.
Standard roughness Rz increases with the sheet thickness, but decreases with laser
power and cutting speed. When cutting low carbon steel with laser power of 800 W,
standard roughness Rz is 10 μm for sheet thickness of 1 mm, 20 μm for 3 mm, and
25 μm for 6 mm.

Where:   steel sheet thickness in mm;   laser power in kW (some new

laser cutters have laser power of 4 kW);   cutting speed in meters per minute.
This process is capable of holding quite close tolerances, often to within 0.001 inch
(0.025 mm). Part geometry and the mechanical soundness of the machine have
much to do with tolerance capabilities. The typical surface finish resulting from laser
beam cutting may range from 125 to 250 micro-inches (0.003 mm to 0.006 mm).

Machine configurations

Dual-pallet flying optics laser

Flying optics laser head

There are generally three different configurations of industrial laser cutting machines:
moving material, hybrid, and flying optics systems. These refer to the way that the
laser beam is moved over the material to be cut or processed. For all of these, the
axes of motion are typically designated X and Y axis. If the cutting head may be
controlled, it is designated as the Z-axis.
Moving material lasers have a stationary cutting head and move the material under
it. This method provides a constant distance from the laser generator to the
workpiece and a single point from which to remove cutting effluent. It requires fewer
optics, but requires moving the workpiece. This style machine tends to have the
fewest beam delivery optics, but also tends to be the slowest.
Hybrid lasers provide a table which moves in one axis (usually the X-axis) and move
the head along the shorter (Y) axis. This results in a more constant beam delivery
path length than a flying optic machine and may permit a simpler beam delivery
system. This can result in reduced power loss in the delivery system and more
capacity per watt than flying optics machines.
Flying optics lasers feature a stationary table and a cutting head (with laser beam)
that moves over the workpiece in both of the horizontal dimensions. Flying optics
cutters keep the workpiece stationary during processing and often do not require
material clamping. The moving mass is constant, so dynamics are not affected by
varying size of the workpiece. Flying optics machines are the fastest type, which is
advantageous when cutting thinner workpieces.[17]
Flying optic machines must use some method to take into account the changing
beam length from near field (close to resonator) cutting to far field (far away from
resonator) cutting. Common methods for controlling this include collimation, adaptive
optics or the use of a constant beam length axis.
Five and six-axis machines also permit cutting formed workpieces. In addition, there
are various methods of orienting the laser beam to a shaped workpiece, maintaining
a proper focus distance and nozzle standoff, etc.

Pulsing
Pulsed lasers which provide a high-power burst of energy for a short period are very
effective in some laser cutting processes, particularly for piercing, or when very small
holes or very low cutting speeds are required, since if a constant laser beam were
used, the heat could reach the point of melting the whole piece being cut.
Most industrial lasers have the ability to pulse or cut CW (continuous wave) under
NC (numerical control) program control.
Double pulse lasers use a series of pulse pairs to improve material removal rate and
hole quality. Essentially, the first pulse removes material from the surface and the
second prevents the ejecta from adhering to the side of the hole or cut.

Power consumption
The main disadvantage of laser cutting is the high power consumption. Industrial
laser efficiency may range from 5% to 45%.[19] The power consumption and efficiency
of any particular laser will vary depending on output power and operating
parameters. This will depend on type of laser and how well the laser is matched to
the work at hand. The amount of laser cutting power required, known as heat input,
for a particular job depends on the material type, thickness, process (reactive/inert)
used, and desired cutting rate.

Amount of heat input required for various material at various thicknesses using a CO 2 laser [watts]
[20]
 Material thickness
Material
0.51 mm 1.0 mm 2.0 mm 3.2 mm 6.4 mm

Stainless steel 1000 1000 1000 1500 2500

Aluminium 1000 1000 1000 3800 10000

Mild steel − 400 − 500 −

Titanium 250 210 210 − -

Plywood − - − - 650

Boron/epoxy − - − 3000 −

Production and cutting rates

The maximum cutting rate (production rate) is limited by a number of factors
including laser power, material thickness, process type (reactive or inert), and
material properties. Common industrial systems (≥1 kW) will cut carbon steel metal
from 0.51 – 13 mm in thickness. For many purposes, a laser can be up to thirty times
faster than standard sawing

Cutting rates using a CO2 laser [cm/second]

Material thickness

Workpiece material
0.51 m 1.0 m 3.2 m 6.4 m
2.0 mm 13 mm
m m m m

Stainless steel 42.3 23.28 13.76 7.83 3.4 0.76

Aluminium 33.87 14.82 6.35 4.23 1.69 1.27

 Mild steel − 8.89 7.83 6.35 4.23 2.1

Titanium 12.7 12.7 4.23 3.4 2.5 1.7

Plywood − - − - 7.62 1.9

Boron / epoxy − - − 2.5 2.5 1.1