Can aluminum plate be cut by laser?

Can aluminum plate be cut by laser?

Aluminum plate processing is often encountered in processing. One of the questions is whether aluminum plate can be cut by laser? The answer is yes.

A few years ago, the laser cutting machine was able to cut aluminum plates. At that time, the workers used ink to coat the aluminum plates (it is said that because the aluminum plate has a high reflective coefficient and is afraid of reflecting the laser), and the laser parameters are very difficult to adjust. At that time, only aluminum plates with a thickness of 1 mm could be cut. After accumulating experience, the incision of the aluminum plate is also very smooth and there is no dross.

Laser cutting of aluminum sheet

Laser cutting aluminum plate also depends on the power of the laser generator. The thickest 6000W can cut to 16mm, and the 4500W can cut to 12mm, but the processing cost is high, because this is a highly reflective material, and laser cutting uses focused The high-power-density laser beam irradiates the workpiece, making the irradiated material rapidly melt, vaporize, ablate or reach the ignition point, and at the same time blow off the molten material with the help of the high-speed airflow coaxial with the beam, so as to realize the cutting of the workpiece.

Is the cut surface of laser cut aluminum sheet as smooth as cutting other materials?

The incision of the aluminum plate is also smooth, and the aluminum plate is only a highly reflective material, which requires a large laser generator. The cutting gas is the same as other materials, and it is cut with nitrogen, which will not cause the surface to be rough.

Aluminum plate adopts laser cutting features:

• 1. Fine cutting seam: The cutting seam of laser cutting aluminum plate is generally 0.1mm-0.2mm.
• 2. The cutting surface is smooth: the cutting surface of the laser cutting aluminum plate has no burrs and dross.
• 3. Small thermal deformation: Laser processing has thin laser slits, fast speed, and concentrated energy, so the heat transferred to the cut material is small, and the deformation of the material is also very small.
• 4. Saving materials: Laser processing adopts computer programming, and laser equipment can cut aluminum plate processing parts of different shapes, improve the material utilization rate of aluminum plates, and save a lot of material costs.
• 5. The thickness of the aluminum plate that can be cut depends mainly on the power of the laser generator. Generally, the maximum thickness of 6000W can be cut to 16mm, and the thickness of 4500W can be cut to 12mm.

Summary: According to personal experience, the price of carbon dioxide laser machine is relatively low, and the power of laser generator is high. You can try to cut aluminum plate when you need it. Note that what I said above is to coat the aluminum plate with a black light-absorbing color to prevent the reflection from burning the lens or laser head. As for the fiber laser machine, it is better not to cut the aluminum plate, the gain outweighs the loss, choose other ways to process the aluminum plate.

Precautions for laser cutting aluminum plate: Aluminum plate is a high-reflection material, which will cause great damage to the laser, so use it as little as possible. It is recommended to process the aluminum plate below 6 mm by CNC punching machine, and above 6 mm by water cutting.