Application and Development Trends of 3D Laser Cutting Technology

The working mechanism of 3D laser cutting
The working mechanism of 3D laser cutting is relative to 2D laser cutting. 3D laser cutting requires continuous adjustment of the laser cutting head posture to ensure that the laser cutting head is always perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece, thereby achieving excellent cutting quality. In actual production, the programming of 3D laser cutting requires first modeling the parts in 3D, then importing the 3D programming system to generate the path, and manually adjusting according to the part features and fixture features to avoid collision of the cutting head, which is complex to operate and requires a large workload. Due to the capacitive sensor equipped on the cutting head of the 3D laser cutting machine, it can automatically adapt to the shape of the parts and always maintain a certain distance from the parts for cutting. Therefore, in situations where the surface changes of the parts are not severe, only the 2D programming system of the 3D laser cutting machine can meet the production needs.
The application scope of 3D laser cutting

3D laser cutting is widely used in industries such as sheet metal processing, metal processing, advertising production, kitchenware, automobiles, lighting fixtures, saw blades, elevators, metal handicrafts, textile machinery, grain machinery, glasses manufacturing, aerospace, medical equipment, instruments and meters, etc. Especially in the sheet metal processing industry, it has replaced traditional processing methods and is highly favored by industry users.

Machinable materials: stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, silicon steel, spring steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, galvanized sheet, aluminum zinc plate, pickling plate, copper, silver, gold, titanium and other metal sheets and pipes cutting.

Application in the manufacturing of aluminum alloy high-speed trains. 3D laser cutting is mainly used for cutting and nesting of aluminum alloy high-speed train driver's cab skin. The driver's cab skin is an aluminum alloy sheet with a spatial curved structure, which is particularly suitable for cutting with three-dimensional lasers. After forming, using 3D laser cutting for nesting significantly improves production efficiency and cutting accuracy compared to using a band saw for marking and sawing.

Application in stainless steel subway manufacturing. 3D laser cutting is mainly applied to the processing of eyelets and notches on stainless steel subway door crossbeams, end door columns, inner layer reinforcement plates, etc., as well as the nesting of blind window reinforcement plates.

Due to the high design and manufacturing cost, long manufacturing cycle, and poor material quality of some parts formed by extrusion of molds, 3D laser is required for nesting and eye hole processing.

The advantages and disadvantages of 3D laser cutting

Through production practice, it has been proven that 3D laser cutting has the following advantages:

① good flexibility and can adapt to the cutting and processing of workpieces of different shapes.

② High precision, able to meet the manufacturing accuracy of aluminum alloy high-speed trains, stainless steel subways and other products With high economic benefits, it can replace traditional manufacturing processes such as trimming and punching molds. Its process steps are simple, manufacturing cycle is short, cutting speed is fast, cutting seam width is small, and processing quality is high. It can significantly reduce costs, shorten the research and development cycle of new car models, and has good economic value and application prospects.

Development Trends of 3D Laser Cutting

1. With the development of lasers towards high power and the adoption of high-performance CNC and servo systems, using high-power laser cutting can achieve high processing speeds while reducing the heat affected zone and thermal distortion; The thickness of the material board that can be cut is further increased.

2. Improve the processing technology based on the influence of laser cutting process parameters

3. Laser cutting will develop towards high automation and intelligence. Applying CAD/CAPP/CAM [4] and artificial intelligence to laser cutting, a highly automated multifunctional laser processing system has been developed.

4. Develop towards multifunctional laser processing centers, integrating quality feedback from various processes such as laser cutting, laser welding, and heat treatment, fully leveraging the overall advantages of laser processing.

5.With the development of Internet and WEB technology, establishing a web-based network database, using fuzzy inference mechanism and artificial neural network to automatically determine laser cutting process parameters, and being able to remotely access and control the laser cutting process has become an inevitable trend.

6.In order to meet the needs of three-dimensional workpiece cutting in industries such as automobiles and aviation, three-dimensional high-precision large-scale CNC laser cutting machines and their cutting technology are developing towards high efficiency, high precision, multifunctionality, and high adaptability.