The auxiliary gas of laser cutting machine

The auxiliary gas of laser cutting machine usually has three kinds of oxygen, air and nitrogen. Different auxiliary gas is used to cut different materials. Depending on the thickness of the cutting material, the pressure and flow of the auxiliary gas are also the same. The pressure of the auxiliary gas has a direct impact on the laser cutting effect. The auxiliary gas can blow away the molten slag in time when the laser cutting machine is running, cooling the workpiece and cleaning the lens. Different auxiliary gases are suitable for cutting metal plates of different materials and different thicknesses.

1. Oxygen

Oxygen has a strong combustion-supporting effect, so it can accelerate the speed of laser cutting and increase the thickness of the cutting. Oxygen is suitable for thick plate cutting, high speed cutting and extremely thin cutting. For example, some large carbon steel plates and some thick carbon steel plate structural parts can use oxygen.

2. Nitrogen

When cutting with oxygen, an oxide film will be formed to improve the absorption factor of the speed of light of the reflective material, and the end face of the cut is easy to blacken or appear dark yellow. The use of oxygen will prevent the formation of an oxide film. The non-oxidized cutting surface has the characteristics of direct welding, painting, strong corrosion resistance, etc., and the cut end face is white.

3. Air

The air contains about 20% oxygen, and the air compressor can use compressed air without any cost. But the efficiency and quality of using air-assisted cutting is far less than oxygen. At the same time, a small amount of oxide film will appear on the cutting surface. It can be used for cutting metal materials such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, brass, and electroplated steel plates.

Increasing the gas pressure of the laser cutting machine can increase the cutting speed, but after reaching a maximum value, continuing to increase the gas pressure will cause the cutting speed to decrease. Under the high auxiliary gas pressure, the reason for the reduction in cutting speed can be attributed to the enhancement of the cooling effect of the laser action area by the high air flow speed, but also the interference of the intermittent shock wave in the air flow to the cooling of the laser action area.