title = "Laser Cutting of Metals: Process and Parameters"

content = """
Laser cutting uses a focused high-power laser beam to melt, burn, or vaporize metal along a programmed path. At Ridgecrest Metalworks, fiber laser cutting systems provide highly accurate, narrow-kerf cutting of steel, stainless steel, and aluminum sheet and plate, with excellent edge quality and minimal heat-affected zone compared to plasma or oxy-fuel cutting.

Fiber lasers—in which the laser medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth elements (typically ytterbium)—have become the dominant technology, largely replacing CO2 lasers for metal cutting. Fiber lasers convert electrical power to laser light at efficiencies of 30–40% (vs. 10–15% for CO2), have very low maintenance requirements (no mirrors to align, no laser gas to refill), and produce a beam wavelength (1.07 µm) that is absorbed much more efficiently by metals than the CO2 wavelength (10.6 µm). This allows fiber lasers to cut reflective metals (aluminum, copper, brass) that CO2 lasers cannot.

Assist gas is directed coaxially with the laser beam to blow molten material from the kerf and protect the focusing optics. For mild steel, oxygen assist gas supports combustion of iron at the cut front, increasing cutting speed significantly (similar to oxy-fuel, the reaction is partly exothermic). However, the oxidized edge has a thin oxide layer and some heat tinting. Nitrogen assist gas (high pressure, 10–25 bar) is used for stainless steel and aluminum to produce oxide-free, bright-silver cut edges suitable for visible applications or direct painting. It also prevents stainless steel from losing corrosion resistance at the cut edge.

Key cutting parameters: laser power (kW), cutting speed (m/min or IPM), focus position (relative to top surface—varied for different thicknesses), assist gas type and pressure, and nozzle standoff distance. Thin material (under 3 mm) is cut at high speed with lower power; thick plate requires higher power, slower speed, and careful focus control.

Laser cutting advantages include: excellent dimensional accuracy (±0.1 mm or better), narrow kerf (0.1–0.3 mm), minimal distortion from low heat input, and no tooling wear. Limitations include: maximum thickness (practical limits around 25 mm for steel with current fiber lasers), high equipment cost, and inability to cut highly reflective pure copper at standard power levels.
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version = "0.0.1"
