As a piece of common equipment for sheet metal processing, laser cutting machine plays an important role. Efficient cutting and high-precision cutting are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
However, after long-term use, the performance of the equipment will also decline, and even the cutting plate will have large kerfs, which will affect the cutting quality. This needs to be solved in time. Let’s take a look at it together below.

How big is the laser cutting kerf?

The cutting methods of different plates are different; the requirements are different, and the equipment used is also different. In addition, the cutting kerfs cut by materials of different thicknesses are also different.

Taking a 10mm plate as an example:

• Cutting with metal laser cutting machine, cutting accuracy: ± 0.025mm; kerf width: 0.2 ~ 1mm
• Cutting with plasma cutting machine, with cutting accuracy of ± 0.3mm; kerf width: 0.5 ~ 1.2mm
• If acetylene is used for manual cutting, the cutting accuracy: ± 1mm; kerf width: 1.0 ~ 1.5mm

For materials with a thickness of less than 3.0mm, the kerfs are generally within 0.3 ~ 0.5mm
The thicker the material, the larger the cutting kerf. In addition, it is also related to the cutting nozzle and cutting method used.

Factors affecting laser cutting Kerf

1. Laser beam quality

The laser beam generated by the laser is not emitted vertically but has a scattering angle. Therefore, when we use the laser cutting machine to cut the workpiece, a certain taper will be formed, so the quality of the laser beam is also very important in cutting.
Generally, the focus shall not be adjusted at will after adjustment. It only needs to be adjusted when there are obvious problems in the cutting effect.

2. Cutting speed

The reason why the laser cutting machine is well accepted is because of its fast cutting speed.
When other conditions remain unchanged, the cutting speed of the laser cutting machine is too slow or too fast and will not achieve a good cutting effect.
If the speed is too slow, the roughness of the kerf may be very large. If the speed is too fast, the roughness of the kerf may be reduced.
However, if the speed is too fast, it may be impossible to penetrate, so it is very important to control the speed and not blindly pursue high-speed cutting.

3. Different cutting materials

According to different cutting materials, the actual effect of cutting is also different.
In laser cutting, the smaller the spot of the laser beam, the better the cutting effect. In addition to the quality of the laser beam affecting the spot, the material of the workpiece itself will also affect the size of the spot.
For example, copper is a material with high reflectivity, which is not conducive to the formation of the light spots, so the requirements of the copper laser cutting machine are relatively high compared with ordinary metals.

4. Material thickness

Under the cutting conditions of the same material and the same power, the larger the thickness of the material, the cross-section is relatively burr and uneven.
To be exactly the same as the sheet material section, the power of the laser needs to be increased.