Reducing Burr in Aluminum Plate Fiber Laser Processing

With the growing market competition and demand, aluminum products have become widely utilized in various industries, such as the automotive, electronics, precision hardware, and mechanical equipment sectors.

The optical fiber laser processing machine is crucial for efficient aluminum plate cutting production.

As a result, improving the section cutting quality of aluminum plates has become a widely discussed topic of concern.

Main influencing factors of burr in aluminum plate cutting

1. Main influencing factors of burr in aluminum plate cutting

Compared to CO₂ lasers, optical fiber lasers have higher concentration and a narrower cutting gap. As a result, during processing, the air flow rate is high and burrs tend to occur at the bottom of the material. For high-quality cutting, a carbon dioxide cutting machine is recommended.

Table 1. laser beam characteristics

Classfication		Fiber laser	CO2 laser
		Solid state laser	Gas laser
Excitation media		Active optical fiber	Mixed gas (carbon dioxide, etc.)
Excitation origin		Semiconductor laser	Discharge
Wavelength		1.07μm (near infrared)	About 106μm (far infrared)
Concentrating property	Spot diameter	About 10μm	About 100μm
Vibration efficiency	Electrical efficiency	More than 30%	About 10%
	Electricity fees	High	Low
Generator structure		High fiber internal resonance (without reflector)	Refract with reflector
Laser transmission		Transmission fiber (without reflector)	Refract with reflector
Characteristic

2. Effect of generator output power on burr

According to the thickness of the aluminum plate, the burr can be minimized by selecting the power of the optical fiber laser appropriately.

Fig. 2 laser power and burr height

Table 2. Recommended thickness of aluminum plate for different optical fiber output power

3. Influence of processing gas type on burr of aluminum plate

The burrs resulting from aluminum plate processing with nitrogen are small, soft, and easy to remove, but the operation cost is high.

On the other hand, air cutting results in larger burrs that are difficult to remove, but the operation cost is low. The burrs produced from oxygen cutting are the largest and the least practical to use.

To ensure the desired quality of the aluminum plate sections, the processing gas should be chosen judiciously based on the quality requirements.

Fig. 3 Comparison of processing gas types

4. Effect of machining gas flow on burr (nozzle height)

To reduce burrs, the height of the nozzle can be reduced and the gas flow increased during the cutting of holes and corners. When cutting the periphery, the nozzle height should be returned to normal.

When cutting small holes and corners, lowering the nozzle height can also help reduce burrs.

Aluminum plate: t 2.0mm

Fig. 4 quality comparison of changing nozzle height

5. The help of the latest processing head for aluminum plate processing

The zoom speed of traditional processing heads is slow, making it impossible to adjust the nozzle height during processing.

However, the latest cutting heads have fast zoom speed and can maintain the set focus position even as the nozzle height changes. This ability to adjust the nozzle height can help improve the burr of aluminum plates.

Figure 5 new cutting head

Improvement of burr of the aluminum plate by mixed gas

As we have seen, the type of processing gas can affect the height of the burr. How will using an appropriate mixture of gases affect the burr height?

Fig. 6 Effect of mixed gas purity on burr

By using an appropriate mix of nitrogen and oxygen, the burr issue of aluminum plates processed by fiber laser cutting machines can be significantly improved.

Fig. 7 cross section comparison of mixed gas cutting aluminum plate

Wrap it up

This post has outlined the major factors that impact burr in the daily production of aluminum plates processed by fiber laser cutting machines, as well as methods for adjusting them.

We hope this information will be helpful in your future aluminum processing endeavors.