It removes, melts, or thermally modifies a material by focusing a coherent beam of monochromatic light on the workpiece. The LBM process does not involve mass material removal, but does provide rapid material removal with an easily controlled, non-contact, nonwearing tool. The LBM process also places minimal demands on workpiece fixturing in cutting operations and performs a variety of other metal processing functions such as drilling, welding, marking, and heat treating. The effectiveness of LBM in a particular application depends on the pulsing and focusing of the beam and on the reflectivity, absorption coefficient, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and heat of vaporization of the workpiece. The greatest use of lasers is in metal cutting, primarily two-axis profiling of sheet goods that might otherwise have been blanked out by punch press or fabricated by hand after laborious layout of the pattern. Currently, most metal cutting falls within 9.5 mm (0.375 in.) and thinner, although CO 2 lasers are now competitive with plasma arc cutting for metal thicknesses of 13 mm (0.500 in.) and greater. The principal factor in the use of laser metal cutting is manufacturing methodology. Laser cutting is ideal for batch processes, just-in-time, or low-to-medium volume production. Most laser-cutting work is performed on generic or multipurpose material handling systems, as opposed to dedicated automation controlled systems. Generally, there is a clear-cut reason for using one type of laser over another.
Carbon dioxide lasers are capable of delivering much higher average power than Nd:YAG lasers. As such, CO2 lasers can cut faster and produce deeper weld penetration than Nd:YAG lasers. Pulsed Nd:YAG lasers develop a high pulse energy that allows percussion drilling and the cutting of metals at angles and thicknesses not possible with CO2 lasers. There are some applications—spot welding and hole cutting, for example—where either laser type can provide acceptable results at comparable speeds. Capabilities and operating ranges for CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers are shown in Tables and . Laser welding is becoming increasingly used in both low-volume specialty production and high-volume assembly operations. Laser welding operations are typically more dependent on lengthy process development than are cutting applications. Often parts are specifically designed to be laser welded. Laser welding generally requires more precise part fit-up than arc welding processes. While most laser welding is autogenous, that is, without added filler metal, it is becoming apparent that the addition of filler metal to bridge gaps or to act as a buffer when joining metals has great potential.
