Quality Assessment Criteria for Laser Cutting Machines

Laser cutting equipment excels at meeting complex processing demands across a wide range of materials and flexible shapes. It delivers high speed, precision, and quality to meet the application needs of industries such as automotive, aerospace, healthcare, plastics, electrical and electronics, and textiles. The effectiveness of its cutting results can be primarily evaluated based on the following aspects:

(1) Surface Roughness

Cut edges invariably exhibit texture patterns left by the cutting process. The depth of these patterns determines the surface roughness. Shallower patterns indicate lower roughness and smoother surfaces. Generally, thinner materials yield lower surface roughness, and cutting with nitrogen or argon produces smoother surfaces than oxygen cutting.

(2) Perpendicularity

Due to the focusing of the cutting beam and its inherent divergence, the spot size varies at different depths within the material thickness during cutting (especially when cutting thick plates). This results in the cut surface not achieving a true 90° angle relative to the plate surface, with either the upper surface or the lower surface being wider. Generally, thinner materials yield better perpendicularity, and higher beam quality improves perpendicularity. This also depends on the relative position of the spot focus to the material thickness during processing.

(3) Burrs

Excellent cuts produce burr-free edges, whereas burrs require post-processing. This relates to process parameter matching, material type, and beam quality.

(4) Distortion

As laser cutting is inherently thermal cutting, sheet metal distortion is unavoidable. High-quality cutting should minimize the adverse effects of distortion. Special attention is required for thin sheet cutting. Generally, faster cutting speeds, narrower kerfs, and higher gas flow rates result in less distortion.

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