How to Address Burning Edges on Laser Cutting Machines
When laser cutting machines process sheet metal, they may exhibit edge burning and slag adhesion, severely impacting product precision and appearance. Many novice operators are unsure how to address these issues. Let's first understand why edge burning occurs in laser cutting machines.
Metal laser cutting machines generate significant heat during sheet metal processing. Under normal conditions, the heat produced by cutting disperses along the cut seam into the processed sheet metal for adequate cooling. However, during small-hole cutting, while the outer perimeter cools adequately, the inner hole area suffers from limited heat dispersion. Concentrated thermal energy causes overburning and slag adhesion. Additionally, in thick-plate cutting, molten metal accumulation on the surface during piercing, combined with heat buildup, disrupts the auxiliary gas flow and leads to excessive heat input, triggering overburning.
Solutions for Burning Edges in Metal Laser Cutting Machines:
1. Addressing Overburning in Small Carbon Steel Hole Cutting:
When cutting carbon steel with oxygen as the auxiliary gas, the key lies in suppressing the heat generated by oxidation reactions. A method involves using auxiliary oxygen during piercing, then switching to auxiliary air or nitrogen for the cut. This approach can process small holes in plates up to 1/6 inch thick. Pulse cutting conditions featuring low frequency and high peak power output reduce heat input, aiding process optimization. Setting parameters to a single-pulse laser beam with high peak energy intensity and low frequency effectively minimizes molten metal accumulation on the material surface during piercing, thereby suppressing heat input.
2. Solutions for Metal Laser Cutting Machines in Aluminum Alloy and Stainless Steel Cutting: When processing these materials, nitrogen is used as the auxiliary gas. While edge burning does not occur during cutting, high temperatures inside the keyhole frequently cause slag buildup on the inner surface. An effective solution is to increase the auxiliary gas pressure and set conditions to high peak power output with low pulse frequency. When using air as the auxiliary gas, overburning does not occur, similar to nitrogen. However, slag buildup at the bottom becomes common. Conditions should be set to high auxiliary gas pressure, high peak power output, and low-frequency pulse settings.
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