Laser cutting

The laser department at Hosta Industries A/S offers:

• large stock of sheet in different steel qualities;
• short delivery times;
• clean cutting edges;
• precision cutting; 
• optimal sheet use;
• single and batch production on customer request;
• cutting in regular as well as stainless steel;
• subsequent processing, including assembly and packaging;
• special materials;
• high quality and  reliable delivery;
• DS/EN ISO 9001-certified;
• DS/EN ISO 14001-certified.

Laser cutting is a very flexible process, and the results are impressive.

With laser cutting it is possible to produce workpieces with 0.1 mm precision, with sharp corners and minimal heat exposure, which means the tems can be used directly in subsequent processing.

 Workpieces are cut based on customer files or on the basis of files prepared by the laser department at Hosta Industries A/S.

Hosta Industries A/S has three laser cutters.

Facts about laser-cutting at Hosta Industries A/S

Laser-cutting is a thermal cutting process, which can produce cuts of a high quality and cutting edges in materials from 0,5mm to 20mm.  

When cutting with a laser, one cuts with rectified light which is intensified through a lens. This creates such an intense energy that the evaporates. The cutting gasses used are either nitrogen or oxygen, depending on the material that is cut.  

The focused laser beam melts a narrow cut in the base material, and the molten mass is blown from a cutting gas, which leaves a clean cut that is free of slag.

Laser cutting offers technical advantages when compared to traditional cutting methods. These include:

• Cutting in several different materials, both metal and non-metals;
• Precision cutting at high speed;
• minimal heat formation and  deformation;
• high quality cutting edges that can be reproduced;
• a very narrow cut;
• cutting very complicated shapes is possible;
• the qualities and properties listed above also lead to a number of economic advantages.   

Contact the laser department at Hosta Industries A/S for high productivity, 

Increased flexibility, great precision on workpieces and sort delivery times.

Choosing Hosta Industries A/S  as your sub-supplier means you will get a collaboration partner with 10 years experience within industrial use of laser cutting. We can also assist with development project and design consultancy.

We can work with files in several formats as well as 3-D files. Hosta Industries A/S can handle anything in sheet metal working – from concept to completed product.

Laser cutting can be used for productions where high productivity and flexibility is needed without compromising on quality. The high and uniform quality and low heat generation of the laser-cutting process also makes it useful for several applications where minimal deformation is required.

Examples of industrial uses of laser include the machine and manufacturing industry, tray washing machines, for steel funiture, bogies, and within the shipping and atomobile industry.

The laser cutters used at Hosta Industries A/S are supplied by Bystronic. The 
Bystronic laser machine’s tool is the laser beam. The actual laser is attached. The laser beam is aimed at the piece through mirrors, in orccordance with the principle of “mobile optics”.

The deflection mirrors are all affixed on the machine’s axes. As such, the beam’s path from the resonator to the processing head is clearly defined. This guarantees that, in case of command error, the laser beam cannot slip out into surrounding areas.  The machine is accessible from three sides, thus making it significantly easier to place sheets.

• high dynamics, thanks to a CNC start-up and control principle;
• multiple uses, due to a modular concept replacement table, plate supply, loading and unloading system);
• low operating costs because of the use of modern turbo;
• drect current resonators;
• simple programming;
• free access to current area for pre-processing of flat metal sheets.

Oxygen and nitrogen are often used as process gasses in laser cutting. For cutting more exotic materials such as titanium, argon is used as a process gas.

The unique characteristics of laser-cutting mean that this processing method has taken over quite a bit of work from, for example, the traditional punching, flame and plasma cutting machines.

Laser cutting, in relation to the thermal cutting processes such as flame cutting and plasma cutting, is characterized by the fact that the effect on material is far more local and concentrated.

This results in much smaller cutting seams and minimal impact on the material in general. Moreover, laser-cutting has a very high degree of precision, and it can be carried out without deforming the item.

The cutting speed is generally higher with laser-cutting compared to other processes, and today the process allows for cutting material up to 20 mm.

Laser cutting can be used for many different materials and can often be the key to increased productivity and flexibility. The choice of cutting gas depends on the material that needs to be cut.
 
Laser cutting with oxygen
Oxygen is the dominant gas when cutting carbon steel using laser. The gas reacts exothermally with the material, and because of the extra energy generated from the reaction, a very high cutting speed is achieved.

The cutting pressure is often around 5 bar when thin plates (1-3 mm) are cut. For cutting larger items, the pressure is much lower and can be under 1 bar for coarse materials.

Laser cutting with nitrogen
Nitrogen shows very little reactivity and is therefore the dominant gas for laser cutting high alloyed/stainless steel. The cutting speed is much lower than with oxygen cutting, because the exothermal reaction with oxygen is not present.

The advantage of nitrogen is that it produces clean oxide-free cuts, which are essential for maintaining corrosion resistance in the laser-cut details.

The gas pressure is high when cutting with nitrogen. To achieve high-quality burr-free cuts, the cutting pressure with nitrogen must be over 10 bars.

The thicker the material, the higher nitrogen pressure is needed. Cutting 10 mm stainless steel often requires cutting pressure in the area of 15-25 bars in order to obtain burr-free cuts.

The pressure is measured in the cutting nozzle, and the pressure in the gascontainers or gastank must be higher due to pressure loss in the supply system and in the laser.

It is important to note that when  cutting with oxygen, an oxidized membrane forms on the cutting surface, which result in it peeling off on subsequent painting. Holes made in sheets cannot normally have a diameter less than the plate thickness, e.g. for 6 mm thickness, holes must be > 6 mm in diameter.