Application of laser cutting in sheet metal processing

With the rapid development of sheet metal processing technology, the domestic processing technology is also constantly updated and iterated. In the application of sheet metal cutting, the cutting equipment mainly includes (CNC and non CNC) shearing machine, punch, flame cutting, plasma cutting, high-pressure water cutting, laser cutting and so on. Sheet metal cutting has a wide range of applications, such as heavy machinery, ships, clothing, glass and other industries. Improving the utilization rate of sheet metal can reduce the production cost of enterprises and bring considerable economic benefits to enterprises.

Cutting, punching and bending are the traditional methods of sheet metal processing. In the machining process, these methods can not be separated from the mold, and hundreds of molds are often assembled in the machining process. The extensive use of molds not only increases the time cost and capital cost of products, but also reduces the accuracy of product processing, affects the repeatability of products, and is not conducive to the change of production process. This is not conducive to improving production efficiency. Using laser processing technology can save a large number of molds in the production process, shorten the production time, reduce the production cost and improve the product accuracy. Laser cutting of stamping parts can also ensure the accuracy of die design. Blanking is a previous painting process, and its size is usually modified. Through the trial production of laser cutting blanking parts, the size of blanking die can be determined more accurately, which has become the basis of mass production of sheet metal processing.

Shortcomings of traditional sheet metal processing technology:

The conventional sheet metal processing technology is: shear punching bending welding process or flame plasma cutting bending welding process. In the face of orders with multiple varieties, small batch, customization, high quality and short delivery time, it has obvious shortcomings:

1. (NC) shearing machine can only be used for sheet metal processing that only needs linear cutting because it is mainly linear cutting;

2. (CNC / brick tower) punch has restrictions on the cutting of steel plates with a thickness of more than 1.5mm, and has poor surface quality, high cost and high noise, which is not conducive to environmental protection;

3. As the original traditional cutting method, flame cutting has large thermal deformation, wide slit, waste of materials and slow processing speed, which is only suitable for rough processing;

4. The processing speed of high-pressure water cutting is slow, resulting in serious pollution and high consumption cost.

Practical application and advantages of laser cutting machine in sheet metal processing:

(1) Using programming software to improve the efficiency of laser cutting. Laser cutting can effectively use the advantages of programming software, greatly improve the utilization rate of sheet materials, reduce the use and waste of materials, reduce the labor intensity and strength of workers, and achieve the ideal effect. On the other hand, optimizing the function of discharging can omit the cutting link of thin plate cutting, effectively reduce the clamping of materials and reduce the time of processing assistance. Therefore, make the cutting scheme more reasonable, effectively improve the processing efficiency and save materials;

(2) Save the product development cycle and realize the mass production of sheet metal parts. In the increasingly developing market environment, the speed of product development means the market. The application of laser cutting machine can effectively reduce the number of molds, save the development cycle of new products, and promote the speed and pace of its development. The quality of parts after laser cutting is good, and the production efficiency is significantly improved, which is conducive to small batch production and strongly ensures the market atmosphere with the shortening of product development cycle. The application of laser cutting can accurately locate the size of blanking die and lay a solid foundation for mass production in the future;

(3) Reduce sheet metal processing procedures and production costs. In sheet metal processing, almost all plates need to be formed on the laser cutting machine at one time and welded directly. Therefore, the application of laser cutting machine reduces the process and construction period, effectively improves the work efficiency, realizes the double optimization and reduction of workers' labor intensity and processing cost, and promotes the optimization of working environment, Greatly improve the speed and progress of R & D, reduce mold investment and effectively reduce the cost;

Laser cutting technology has a long effective life. At present, most plates with a thickness of more than 2mm at home and abroad adopt laser cutting. Laser cutting is widely used in the cutting of carbon steel plate within 20mm, stainless steel plate within 10mm, acrylic, wood and other non-metallic materials in the market.

Characteristics of sheet metal laser cutting

Laser cutting has the advantages of high flexibility, fast cutting speed, high consumption efficiency and short product consumption cycle. It has quickly been favored by the consumer market. Compared with traditional cutting methods, laser cutting has the following characteristics:

★ laser cutting has high flexibility, fast cutting speed, high production efficiency and short production cycle.

★ laser cutting has no cutting force and processing has no deformation;

★ no tool wear, good material adaptability and long effective life,

★ whether simple or complex sheet metal parts, they can be cut by laser precision rapid prototyping at one time;

★ it has narrow cutting seam, good cutting quality, high degree of automation, simple operation, low labor intensity and no pollution;

★ it can realize automatic cutting layout and nesting, improve material utilization, low production cost and good economic benefits.