Quality aspects in remote laser cutting

The new single-mode fibre lasers have made it possible to work with long working distances and high power densities in new ways. This enables a process called remote laser cutting, which is still quite new a process in the field of laser cutting but is now already proven to be a successful process for cutting various materials and forms. Process parameters of remote laser cutting differ from those of traditional laser cutting because of differences in basic process principles. Process parameters and performance also vary significantly between different materials and equipment. Parameters have to be optimized for each system in order to achieve the best cut quality. This study focuses on defining the possible quality of the remote laser-cut edge and its comparison to that of conventional CO2 laser cutting with equivalent materials. In this study, various metals were cut with the remote laser cutting process. The quality of the cut kerfs was measured by kerf surface roughness and perpendicularity, kerf width, 90° inner corner cut edge sharpness and burr height. When applicable, the comparison was carried out according to the quality standard for thermal cutting.