Flatbed Laser Cutting

Laser cutting of flat materials, such as mild or stainless steel, is an established profiling technique that is used throughout almost all sectors of manufacturing from Aerospace to Architecture. The main advantages of flat laser machining over traditional cutting methods such as milling or machining are:

• Components are produced quickly and accurately.
• Raw material costs are minimised with sophisticated nesting software used pre-cutting.
• Almost any design that can be drawn can be flat laser cut giving greater design flexibility.
• Design changes can be made at any stage of the product lifecycle without incurring costly tooling charges.
• Minimal heat distortion to component and burr free cutting means less reworking post cutting.
• Modern flat laser cutting uses CNC controls to simulate cutting paths and nesting options. This allows customers to cut different parts from the same sheet of material. This is especially useful for cutting kits of parts.
• Cutting of holes, slots and profiles can be carried out in a single setup without the need for complicated jigs or fixtures.

How does laser cutting work?

The laser profiling process is relatively simple, a laser beam is generated from inside the laser machine and then travels to the cutting head reflected by a series of mirrors. The laser beam is then focused on to material and makes an initial pierce of around 0.3mm wide. The laser then carries out a lead in to the cutting path to carry out the necessary profiling.

In most cases the cutting process is then assisted by a high pressure cutting gas such as Nitrogen or Oxygen. This gas helps the cutting process by pushing the melted material out of the cut zone. The laser head then moves around the material to provide the profile that is required.

The diagram below shows how the process works:

Which material can be cut by laser?

Most laser trimming is carried out on metals, up to around 25mm thick, such as:

• Stainless Steel
• Mild Steel
• Aluminium
• Zintec
• Titanium ( Usually up to 5mm thick)

With the exception of mild steel most material is cut with Nitrogen using the cutting method mentioned above.

Some companies also offer a service to cut plastics, wood or ceramics. However, the more unpredictable nature of these materials means that the cut condition and accuracy cannot be guaranteed. In some cases cutting of non metals is better served by the water jet cutting method.

It is also possible to cut formed components using a 3d laser cutting process.