The difference between waterjet cutting and laser cutting

Waterjet cutting and laser cutting are representatives of high-end technology in the cutting industry. Like Jin Yong's Yi Tianjian and Tu Long Dao, it is difficult to distinguish who is superior and who is inferior. It can only be said that the type is different and each has its own strengths.

Laser cutting melts the material by high-density laser energy in the focused area, and then removes the melted material with a high-speed gas coaxial to the laser to produce a excision effect. The laser is only limited by the area of ​​the focusing area. sheet metal, typically 20 mm.

Moreover, laser cutting is selective to materials and is not suitable for cutting highly reflective materials (such as copper). Generally, it cannot cut non-metallic materials such as stone, cloth, and leather. Inflammable materials cannot be cut.

The carbon steel sheet has a great advantage, cutting speed is very fast, because the tool is non-contact, clamping is very simple, small incision, cutting accuracy is relatively high, but there is a certain degree of thermal deformation, there will be mild burns on the surface of the incision In the case of cutting certain materials, harmful gases are produced.

The waterjet is divided into a pure waterjet and an abrasive waterjet. A pure waterjet uses a high-speed water jet with a speed of up to 600 meters per second as a cutting edge, while an abrasive waterjet incorporates an abrasive in a high-speed water jet. The abrasive waterjet is described as a "liquid grinding wheel." Waterjet cutting is based on the principle of high speed wear because any material can be worn out, so theoretically the waterjet can cut any material. Usually the pure water knife is used to cut soft materials such as food, cloth, leather, paper products, sponges, and rubber, and the abrasive waterjet cuts various hard materials such as metal, stone, glass, and composite materials.

During the water jet cutting process, the water jet is like the rapid flow that runs through the canyon to take the surrounding sediment away. The sharp abrasive edges cut off the material of the workpiece and the water flow takes away the heat generated by the cutting, so the water jet cutting does not generate heat. Deformation will not burn the workpiece.

Since waterjet cutting does not have a focus area, although there is energy loss, as long as the speed of the water jet is high enough, the flow rate is large enough, or the moving speed is fast enough, the waterjet cutting is basically not limited by the cutting thickness, and generally the cutting thickness can be Reach 200 mm or more.

According to the above description, it can be seen that laser cutting belongs to thermal cutting and is applicable to thin plates below 20 mm. In addition to high reflectivity and flammable materials, it can be widely applied, with high speed and high precision.

Waterjet cutting is cold cutting, any material thick and thin can be cut, fast, and accuracy is not weaker than laser cutting.

As the saying goes, "Hybrid and fire are incompatible," but in the field of cutting, water and fire can be combined to make use of their advantages to make the cutting of goods more efficient. There is no reason to try it out.