High speed laser blanking of aluminum

摘要

Alabama Laser has pioneered the concept of production laser blanking for the past 5 years, and demonstrated the reality of total flexibility in JIT blank production. The laser blanking system integrates the improved technologies of linear motors, high power lasers, and RISC CNC processors, into a state-of-the-art laser machine. These results with the laser blanker rival the traditional die press machine tools. In concert with Alcan, a laser cutting study was performed on aluminum alloy automotive sheets using an ALS EXPRESS 6 kW CO{sub}2 laser blanker. The aluminum sheets were cut on a grid backing with no fixturing or clamping. In total, the study covered three automotive alloys: AA6111, AA5754, and AA5182; at four different gauges: 0.9, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 mm. Each material variant was laser cut with a series of cutting speeds, reaching exceptionally high speeds of 1500 in/min for the thinner gauges. In general, the edge quality improved with increasing cuffing speed, with no adverse effects on metallurgical quality.