MAY 6, 2013

Teacher: Dr. NGO MANH DUNG

Student: Doan Nhut Tan
Student ID: 40902364
Class: VP09VT

A application of electrical energy:

Laser cutting
1 Defenition ....................................................................................................................... 1
2 Types ............................................................................................................................. 1
2.1 The CO2 laser ......................................................................................................... 1
2.2 The neodymium (Nd)............................................................................................... 1
3 Industrial application....................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Vaporization cutting ................................................................................................. 2
3.2 Melt and blow .......................................................................................................... 2
3.3 Thermal stress cracking .......................................................................................... 2
3.4 Stealth dicing of silicon wafers ................................................................................ 2
3.5 Reactive cutting....................................................................................................... 3
4 Tolerances and surface finish ......................................................................................... 3
5 Advantages and disadvantages...................................................................................... 3
6 Real Example: Laser Cutting Frame and Cab parts........................................................ 4
7 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 8
Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
Program PFIEV

1 DEFENITION
In 1965, the first production laser cutting machine was used to drill holes in diamond dies.
So, what is the laser cutting?
Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for
industrial manufacturing applications, but is also starting to be used by schools, small
businesses, and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser,
by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then either melts, burns, vaporizes away,
or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high-quality surface finish. Industrial
laser cutters are used to cut flat-sheet material as well as structural and piping materials.

2 TYPES
There are three main types of lasers used in laser cutting: CO2 laser, Nd laser, Nd-YAG
laser.

2.1 THE CO2 LASER

The CO2 laser is suited for cutting, boring, and engraving.
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 mild steel, aluminum,
stainless steel, titanium, paper, wax, plastics, wood, and fabrics.

2.2 THE NEODYMIUM (ND)

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 neodymium yttrium-aluminium-garnet laser (Nd-YAG)
The Nd-YAG laser is used where very high power is needed and for boring and engraving.
YAG lasers are primarily used for cutting and scribing metals and ceramics
Both CO2 and Nd/ Nd-YAG lasers can be used for welding.[4]
Common variants of CO2 lasers include fast axial flow, slow axial flow, transverse flow, and
slab.

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
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Lasing material Applications

Boring
CO2 Cutting/Scribing
Engraving

High-energy pulses
Nd Low repetition speed (1 kHz)
Boring

Very high energy pulses

Boring
Nd-YAG
Engraving
Trimming

3 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
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.

3.1 VAPORIZATION CUTTING

In vaporization cutting the focused beam heats the surface of the material to boiling 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 ejecta out and further enlarging the hole.
Non melting material such as wood, carbon and thermoset plastics are usually cut by this
method.

3.2 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.

3.3 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.

3.4 STEALTH DICING OF SILICON WAFERS

The separation of microelectronic chips as prepared in semiconductor device 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 adopted to the
electronic band gap of silicon (1.11 eV or 1117 nm).

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
Program PFIEV

3.5 REACTIVE 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.

4 TOLERANCES AND SURFACE FINISH

New 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.
For example, 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.

We have the formula:    

Rz  12.528 S 0.542 /  P0.528  V 0.322   ,

where: S: steel sheet thickness (mm);

P: laser power (kW) (some new laser cutters have laser power of 4 kW.);
V: cutting speed (m/min)
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).

5 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

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 and
using less energy when cutting sheet metal, however, most industrial lasers cannot cut
through the greater metal thickness that plasma can. Newer lasers 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.
The main disadvantage of laser cutting is the high power consumption. Industrial laser
efficiency may range from 5% to 15%. 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

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
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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.

6 REAL EXAMPLE: LASER CUTTING FRAME AND CAB

PARTS
This is LASERLE OY, a
company in Helsinki
specializing in laser cutting.
This machine can handle
huge sheets of material, of up
to 1.5 x 3 meters (5 x 10 ft).

The frame and cab parts will

be cut from 3 mm thick steel.
Here the raw material is
placed on the machine bed.

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
Program PFIEV

The 2.5 kilowatt CO2 laser is inside the huge orange

casing, the actual cutting head almost touches the
plate to be cut. The head can travel in 5 axes - so
this machine can also do 3-dimensional cutting and
welding. The large, computer controlled chuck you
see to the right of the laser head can hold tubular
material, which thus can be cut to intricate shapes.

The head's position is zeroed in one corner of the

plate.

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
Program PFIEV

The operator has loaded the CAD file into the

controlling computer.

There is a shower of sparks every time the laser beam pierces the steel plate. (It lasts for
only a fraction of a second, so I had to shoot quite a few pics to get this one successful shot
of the sparking!)

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
Program PFIEV

The actual cutting proceeds rapidly, around 3 meters (10 ft) per minute. A blast of oxygen
gas from the nozzle speeds up the cutting and blows away the molten material. The width of
the cut is only 0.2 mm (8 thou).

This is what was left of the

plate after one hour or so of
the laser head zigzagging
over it... (Only about one
fourth of the entire plate is
shown here.)

... and here is a jumble of

locomotive parts, sorted out
on a table in my workshop.
About 40 kilograms in all.

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Ho Chi Minh University of Technologies
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7 REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cutting

http://www.sparetimelabs.com/animato/animato/3003/3003by.html

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