12, 2019
by tianchen01
Application of nitrogen (N2) in fiber laser processing
The nitrogen cutting method has been widely promoted and accepted by manufacturers since 2011!
Nitrogen cutting improves the cutting quality of the workpiece and expands the scope of our laser cutting machine.
The main advantages of nitrogen cutting are high cutting quality and wide processing range, but there are also disadvantages of high cost. Below we can explain the above characteristics in detail by comparison with oxygen cutting.
(1) Cutting quality
According to the auxiliary gas used, laser cutting can be divided into two cutting methods: oxygen and nitrogen. In the oxygen cutting, oxygen participates in combustion, and the temperature of the melting position is close to the boiling point. The high temperature results in a violent reaction, which cannot guarantee a smooth section. In addition, the oxidation reaction and the increased heat affected zone make the cutting quality relatively poor, which is prone to quality defects such as the width of the cut, the cross section of the cross section, the poor surface roughness, and welding slag. In nitrogen cutting, the material is completely melted by laser energy, and nitrogen is blown out of the slit to avoid inappropriate chemical reactions. The temperature in the melting point region is relatively low, coupled with the cooling and protection effects of nitrogen, the reaction is stable and uniform, and the cutting quality is high. The cross section is fine and smooth, the surface roughness is low, and there is no oxide layer.
(2) Cutting costs
The price of high purity nitrogen is three times that of high purity oxygen. The oxygen cutting pressure requires (1 ~ 4) * 105Pa, and the nitrogen needs (10 ~ 140 * 105Pa.) The nitrogen cutting requires high power, which increases the energy consumption accordingly. The overall cost of nitrogen cutting is more than 15 times that of oxygen cutting.
Through multiple tests on various materials, our Tianchen laser finally got a series of parameters that are suitable for a variety of highly reflective materials. Please see the sample picture below:
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