Laser VS plasma cutting, what is the difference

Since the introduction of plasma and laser cutting into manufacturing, many processes across the industry have changed dramatically, but when it comes to cutting materials, which of the two should you choose? It has also caused troubles for many people, so let's understand the difference between them.

The difference in principle

Laser cutting is the use of enlarged laser beams to cut materials. It uses optical devices to focus the laser on a small point, and relies on high temperature melting or gasification of parts of the workpiece to achieve cutting.

Plasma cutting is realized by emitting superheated ionized gas at high speed, that is, plasma, and then forming an arc in the gas, using high-temperature and high-speed plasma arc as the heat source, melting and gasifying the conductive metal workpiece locally, and blowing away the molten metal with high-speed airflow at the same time. cut.

Therefore, plasma cutting and laser cutting are different in principle. Plasma cutting uses plasma, while laser cutting uses amplified laser.

application

The ion cutting machine is suitable for cutting, cutting holes and chamfering of various metal materials. It is mainly used for cutting metal plates of medium thickness, and is widely used in industries such as automobiles, pressure vessels, nuclear industry, engineering machinery and ships.

Laser cutting has a wider range of applications than plasma cutting. In addition to cutting a variety of metal materials, it can also cut non-metallic materials such as wood, acrylic, ceramics, glass, rubber and textiles. However, laser cutting is not suitable for cutting highly reflective materials for a long time , such as aluminum, copper, etc., and is more suitable for cutting medium and thin plates, but with higher precision, it is widely used in automobile manufacturing, aerospace, power oil equipment manufacturing, decoration, advertising, lighting and sheet metal processing and other industries.

pros and cons

Plasma cutting is a low-cost cutting method with fast cutting speed and small heat-affected area. Plasma cutting is not limited by the reflective properties of materials and can cut highly reflective metal materials; however, the plasma cutting groove is large and the cutting surface is not smooth enough. The cutting accuracy is low, the verticality of the cutting surface is poor and there are many chips, and there are also disadvantages such as harmful gas and arc light.

Laser cutting has the advantages of non-contact, no damage to the material surface, high cutting quality, smooth cutting surface and edges, no need for post-processing, and a wide range of cutting materials. However, the laser cutting speed will decrease with the increase of material thickness, and the cutting cost will also decrease. higher.

Plasma cutting and laser cutting are both very effective cutting methods, and while the two cutting methods can be used interchangeably, the choice becomes more professional when you know the real difference between the two cutting methods.