Getting Started with Laser Welding

Laser welding is a process to join together metals or thermoplastics using a laser beam to form a weld. It needs the high-intensity laser beam to form metals or thermoplastics. The laser weld formation takes place with intense laser light and heats the material rapidly.

It allows small size perfect welding with the help of amada parts and bystronic parts in small areas and is the new emerging technology with precision, high speed, flexibility, and less distortion.

Now, let’s understand the way laser welding operates:

Laser welding is the continuous process of pulsed laser beams. We can divide the laser welding principle in heat conduction welding and deep penetration laser welding. It combines with conventional welding processes and is useful in soldering.

When the power density is less than 10~105 W/cm 2, it is called a heat conduction welding. During this time the welding depth is shallow. You can easily join the thin parts like amada parts and bystronic parts and visible edges. The depth is normally below 2.5mm and maximum its ratio is 3:1.

When the power density is more than 105~107 W/cm2, the metal surfaces recess into a hole while heating, forming deep penetration welding. Deep penetration welding features provide fast welding speed and large depth to width ratio (D/W).

Usually, the D/W ratio of welding can be up to 12:1 and can go up to 51mm.

Going further, here are its types:

1. Heat conduction laser welding:

In heat conduction laser welding, the laser beam melts the mating parts along with common points. The molten materials flow and solidify to form the weld.

While following this method, the laser energy shifts to the workpieces solely via heat conduction. Heat conductivity of the workpiece limits maximum weld depth. Hence, the width of the weld is greater than its depth.

Usually, it is useful for applications which require an aesthetic welding or when particulates concerns such as certain battery sealing applications.

2. Deep Laser Penetration:

When the power density is big, the heat is not able to disperse it quickly. The workpiece is beyond melting and it just vaporizes.

The vaporizing material expands and creates a keyhole from the surface to the depth of the weld. The laser beam moves across the surface of the workpiece, this in turn helps the keyhole follow and create the deep and narrow weld.

3. Hybrid Laser Arc Welding:

Laser welding is useful in conjunction along arc welding to create a Hybrid Laser Arc Welding.

In hybrid laser arc welding, we can use any one of the arc welding processes like MIG, TIG, or SAW with deep penetration laser welding.

This results in having deep penetration joints and also improves tolerance. Other undesirable effects like cracking and internal porosity also reduces.

4. Weld Joint Configurations

Welding joints are the configuration of two pieces of metal or more which we weld together. This configuration is an important factor to determine whether a joint will withstand the load on it or not.

There are 5 basic joints which follow the American Welding Society (AWS) and many other standards.

Additionally, there are different types of welding joints like butt welding, tee welding, lap welding, corner welding, and edge welding and they require parts like amada parts,  bystronic parts and many others which are very famous.

The types of welding lasers:

There are numerous types of laser welding machines and each of them has unique advantages and features that are perfect for specific applications.

1. Fiber laser:

Fiber lasers are useful for applications like welding small parts together which are useful in engineering, medical, or electronic industries. Also welding thick materials in the automotive and aerospace industries. Fiber lasers are very versatile and a low-cost way of achieving high-quality spot welds.

2. Nd: YAG Laser:

Nd: YAG Pulsed Laser creates different pulses of controllable energy which we can shape to create perfect weld. This type of laser is suitable for producing large spot welds, as well as deep.

This type of Laser is suitable for producing large spot welds, as well as deep spot and seam welds.

3. Diode laser:

Diode lasers are perfect for high-speed welding and deep penetration welding. They produce high welds at very low heat input.

Why laser welders are perfect for beginners:

1. The laser welder does not need design software. They are easy to operate and one can learn to handle them easily within a few hours. While working with them you only have to focus on the area on which you want to weld and press the button and start welding.
2. The handheld laser welder replaces the previously fixed light path with a handheld type, this makes laser welding possible not only in the long-distance outdoor operation but also for small and hard to reach points.
3. It adopts a high power laser source and creates a firm and high-quality well in a short time.
4. The machine is compact and does not need installation, you just need to plug and play!

Final words:

Having laser welding is the first step for setting up your business. Working with laser welding machines can be easy and comfortable if you know which one is suitable for your use.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/06/26/Getting-Started-with-Laser-Welding

Benefits of Using Laser Marking in Beverage Industry

Laser marking today takes over the majority of the market. They are popular in different industries.

The Food and Beverage industry is one of them, successfully leveraging its applications. In this article, we are going to disclose how the laser marking industry is useful in the food and beverage industry.

Basics: What is laser marking?

It is a process in which a laser beam interacts with the materials and changes its properties as specified. There are four popular forms of laser marking in the packaging industry i.e. annealing, foaming, coloration, and carbon migration.

Each of them has a specific use in the food and beverage industry. According to the research, laser marking might be the most sustainable technology for beverage packaging in the near future. Additionally, there are predictions that it will soon replace papers with wood fibers and paper pulp.

Additionally, thanks to new government of USA regulations regarding the labels on the food, laser marking has become an important part of the food industry today.

Here are 10 major benefits of the Laser Marking industry.

1. Brand Protection:

If you are looking to leave a mark in the market or in your industry then you need to protect your brand. It is wise to have a competitor or have some local brands trying to copy your style and sell your products. Laser marking helps you achieve these things with parts like Prima spare parts, Fanuc replacement parts. You can use them and etch on your packages leaving the unique identification marks.

This makes it easy for your customers to find your brand easily. Today there are millions of deliveries taking place every day. You will not prefer that your customers feel cheated right? So, with the help of the laser machines, you can rely on technologies like smart coding and convert coding to protect your brand and for hassle-free delivery.

2. Innovative Solutions:

Innovation is everywhere in the food and beverage industry. Beverage producers are working hard to make not only their drinks exciting and fresh but their packaging as well. Today with the innovation in the bottle designs there is also innovation in labeling these bottles as well. It is important to use the good quality of the laser marking with quality parts like Prima spare parts, Fanuc replacement parts for labeling your products and make them stand out.

3. Reliability in Mass Manufacturing:

When the operation scales up to a large extent you need to ensure that your product labels are accurate and reliable. Traditional labeling methods don’t adapt by giving you the quality and assurance you need. Many large organizations are using laser marking to get rid of reliability issues. You need all your processes to move smoothly and cannot afford to slow down your supply.

Thus, when working with mass manufacturing laser marking can do a phenomenal job.

4. Laser Coding for permanent markings:

Many times, you might have faced a situation where your customers return you the products because of labeling issues either on your cans or bottles.

In such situations, laser marking can come to your rescue.

If you place things using laser marking on the beverage containers you don’t have to worry about whether it will stick or not. Laser coding is a permanent solution. You can use it for printing machines on glass, bottles, cardboard, and many more places. In short laser marking is versatile and can perform various operations with laser parts like Prima spare parts, Fanuc replacement parts.

5. Easy to Maintain:

One of the major advantages of using laser machines for your beverage labeling is the ease it provides to use and maintain. These machines don’t have maintenance costs and if anything breaks down then the warranty of the machine covers it. In fact, laser machines are more affordable compared to any other. There are multiple benefits of having laser marking machines in different industries depending on their usage.

Conclusion:

Laser marking today is a big hit in the packaging industry and is here to stay. They are widely useful for its advantages and benefits it brings along. With the passage of time passing people have started realizing the importance of using them in their day to day business and grow their customer base and business as well.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/06/20/Benefits-of-Using-Laser-Marking-in-Beverage-Industry

Factors that Affect the Quality of Laser Cutting Machine

While operating the metal laser cutting machine, one of the important aspects is the condition of the laser cutting machine. Using a good quality cutting machine is a must for a metal fabricator.

Hence, it is important to know the factors that can affect the cutting quality.

If that sounds helping, let’s understand them in detail:

The cutting speed of the machine is inversely proportional to the density and thickness of the material that we cut.

Perfect cutting speed ensures the smooth cutting lines, transitions, and no melting of the lower part of the workpiece.

Four reasons, why cutting speed matters:

1. It might cause cutting failures.
2. Not getting precise metal cuts.
3. In some metals cutting speed is rough.
4. The laser cutting section has the diagonal stripe path with excessive slag and generates the half price of the material.

Cons of having low cutting speed:

1. This leads to over melted sheet metal and rough cutting fracture surfaces.
2. The kerf will become wide which in turn gives you low cutting precision and small rounded corners or sharp corners which we can melt.
3. The low cutting efficiency impacts production capacity.

The output of sufficient laser cutter:

You can gauge the  speed of the laser machine from the cutting spark. This will diffuse  downwards in the normal cutting. When the speed is too high, it sparks, in this case, sparks do not diffuse but come together. This indicates that the feeding speed is too low.

Going a bit deeper, let’s understand the effects of Nozzle on the metal laser cutting quality:

The airflow condition might be different on the basis of different nozzle designs like precitec nozzle and trumpf replacement parts which may affect the cutting quality directly.

Let’s understand that different functions and roles of these nozzles:

1. They are useful for preventing the debris like melting material from rebounding them upwards and entering the prectic nozzle in the damaged lens.
2. They control the area and size of the gas diffusion; it plays a big role in controlling the quality of the cut.

Not, only this but even the height of the nozzle matters:

While cutting normally, the height of the nozzle should be 0.8mm to 1.2mm.

If the height of it is too high or low then it results in gas diffusion which may cause many residues at the cutting bottom surface.

If you want to assure the high-quality cuts during the use of the metal cutting machine, then the height of the cutting nozzle should be substantial to the surface of the workpiece.

Modern laser cutting machines equip the inductive or capacitive sensor feedback device and have parts like trumpf replacement parts, precitec nozzle. This automatically adjusts the distance between the two and makes them at the predetermined height range.

Not only the height, but nozzles affect the quality while cutting the metal laser as well. Let’s understand how :

The nozzle has a diameter of φ1.0 mm, φ1.5 mm, φ2.0 mm, φ2.5 mm, φ3.0 mm, and so on. Currently, the nozzle aperture is available in two sizes i.e. φ1.5 mm and φ2 mm.

Additionally, if the nozzle diameter is small then the gas velocity is high. The eliminating materials’ ability is strong and is suitable for thin plate cutting.

If the nozzle has a large aperture, it is useful to cut the thin sheet rapidly, then the residue produced spattered upwards, damages the protective lens.

Nozzle parts affect the metal deformation as well:

During the cutting process, the nozzle collides against the workpiece and easily deforms. This affects the concentration of the center of the nozzle with a laser beam. Prefer using laser machines which have trumpf replacement parts, precitec nozzle for better results.

There are different outcomes when the nozzle and the laser beam are working in different axes.

It affects things like the quality of the cutting section, sharp corners, and performance is unstable, and many more.

Final words:

These factors may affect the metal laser cutting. They have a larger and bigger impact than we think on these materials. Hence, as a fabricator, it is wise to take care of these things and avoid mistakes.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/06/19/Factors-that-Affect-the-Quality-of-Laser-Cutting-Machine

Laser Engraving Machines and 3D Printers: Different or Similar?

3D printer and laser engraving or cutting are currently the two most popular terms in the laser industry. They have lots of things in common and differences too. 

These machines are useful for large third-party houses to provide products to companies and individuals to meet their needs. They use parts like Fanuc parts and Fanuc spare parts in these machines for efficient results. The progress in technology and miniaturization helps to put both these tools together for everyone to easily make their own toys, engrave their objects, and use for business purposes.

These machines are computer-driven and run a program to create the type of project the user requires.

In 3D printing, the key is to mold the product and help users to create various types of objects, toys, devices, or projects. 

Whereas, in laser engraving, programming makes sure that the laser fires at the perfect place and follows the given directions. And machines having parts like Fanuc parts or Fanuc spare parts gives perfect results.

Initially, laser machines and 3D printers were costly and useful only if you are either rich or own a business that requires the use of these machines frequently. But, now there are inexpensive 3D printers in the market. Similarly, laser machines were too costly too but with time they became affordable.

Let's look at each of them in brief:

3D Printer:

In 3D printing, three-dimensional object creation happens through forming layers of materials on top of each other. You can create any size of object be it small or large using 3D printers and computer-aided software. They are also known as additive manufacturing. One of the major benefits of it is that you can create custom objects for different uses and it is also fast in manufacturing these objects.

The constant increase in the level of complexity and efficiency gave birth to different and exciting ways to create parts for various products. These printers are useful to create parts or objects at a cheap rate.

You can create almost anything using 3D printers. Adidas is using 3D printing to create custom soles for shoes to give consumers perfect and better fits.

The US Navy is using this to print a submersible hull for future military vehicles. Some organizations are using 3D printers to manufacture parts of aircraft or spacecraft. Whereas, some are using it in the healthcare sector to make prosthetics.

These are just some of the basic innovations that have surfaced with the rise of 3D printers.

Laser Engraving:

Laser engraving is the process in which the laser beam removes parts of a materials’ surface to create an image that we can see and feel. The laser, having Fanuc parts or Fanuc spare parts, emits high heat during the engraving process which causes the material to vaporize. You can use a laser beam to cut through different materials like wood, acrylic, leather, cork, etc.

Initially, laser engraving was used only by big businesses, for awards or trophy shops, for personalizing items for corporate use. But, today laser engraving is used by small businesses as well because of the rise in the maker spaces and ecommerce business. 

You can customize things like jewelry, craft supplies, pens, wallets, glassware, photos, phone covers, musical instruments, bottles, and many such things.

Mostly laser engraving is useful to personalize an object with the logo, brand, or some names. With the demand in personalization, there has been an increase in the use of laser engraving.

Lasers can cut through the materials and so there is a rise in popularity for creating prototypes, architectural models, and much more. 

It has also become a great market for industrial businesses that use the process for engraving serial numbers, time stamps, part numbers, barcode etching, etc. These industrial businesses are using laser engraving as an additional layer for securing devices, preventing fraud, and easily tracing the inventory.

The constant increase of the use of laser machines in the industries helped to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% over a period of five years. Different purposes require different types of laser engraving machines.

Final Words:

Using laser engraving machines or 3D printers depends on your requirements. But, it is essential to know the difference and similarities between them. They are here to stay and be an essential part of the industry.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/06/03/Laser-Engraving-Machines-and-3D-Printers-Different-or-Similar

How to Maximize Your Laser Productivity

One of the great things about laser engraving and cutting systems is the speed with which they can etch a pattern or cut even the most intricate designs. Even though lasers can help create something beautiful, the process is time-consuming. Hence, laser operators are always looking for ways to increase productivity.

As a laser operator, the first question you should ask is if you are running the laser efficiently or not. Does it have quality parts like Trumpf eco nozzle or prima optics?

So, here are a few tips and tricks you can use to ensure that you operate the laser machine efficiently.

1. Engraving multiple items in one batch:

Printing multiple times in one go reduces production time. Let’s say we have a project which requires engraving similar design on more than one item like plaques or coasters and then printing multiple pieces at once would be advisable.

According to research, engraving in batches helps users save their time by 37%. And if they have quality parts like Trumpf eco nozzle and prima optics, it makes your job easier and speedier. The number of batches you can engrave depends on the size of the table. To do this, you need to maximize the page size based on your laser machine table size in your graphic design program. You can fill up an entire table with a particular piece and engrave them all. Using a jig to space out items is very helpful and important.

2. Adjust the resolution:

If you wish to increase throughput, the resolution is a factor to definitely consider. The image is important in any engraving job the higher the DPI (dots per inch), the closer the DPI will be to engrave dots. This gives you a detailed engraved image but there are chances it might take a bit of a long engraving process. But, when you lower the engraving resolution a bit, you can increase your time savings by up to 33% or more.

To offset the low resolution, consider using different patterns found within the epilog print driver. Dithering takes the visual dot pattern that is visible with lower DPI and randomizes them. This helps them in hiding the low resolution as well. By getting the right combination of resolution and dithering pattern, it becomes easy for you to achieve a result that is perfect and takes less time.

3. Color Mapping:

You can use color mapping to save engraving time. For example – you have three columns each with 20 names. By default, the laser sees this as one image, and the laser head will travel over the white space between columns in order to engrave the entire graphic for printing. Using color mapping enables you to skip all the white space by assigning each column with a different color and associates engraving order. With the help of this method, the laser will engrave one column at a time, it passes over the white space between columns when it’s time to move to the set of names. This approach moves upwards at 43% but this rate also depends on the products you are engraving.

4. Pre-engrave items:

Customization is very popular and is a great business opportunity. But loading up the same designs, again and again, can be very difficult and boring as well. This also consumes lots of production time.

Hence, pre-engraving comes to your rescue. It helps you pre-engrave inventory before individual orders come in. You can easily pre-engrave the main graphics of the design on a batch of cutting boards. Pre-engraving is easier using laser machines having parts like Trumpf eco nozzle and prima optics.

You can pre-engrave any item be it on cutting boards, glasses, trays, etc. this will help you streamline your daily engraving tasks.

5. Use center engraving:

One more important thing is to use center engraving. It quickly sets up custom jobs on items like phone, awards, trophies, and many such which require center text or graphics. Center engraving makes it easy to work in different size items without the need to create a custom template for each of them. This feature allows users to move the laser from hand to the center of the object which they are engraving. They can also set the center point as the new home position and the laser will use the point to place the graphic. In comparison to setting up custom files and jigs, this method will help you to save a lot of time.

Final Words:

Being a fabricator and owning a laser engraving machine, you need to think wisely and think of the ways your business can grow. These tips and tricks will help you grow your business and enhance your skills by being more productive.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/06/01/Co2-Laser-Vs-Diode-Laser-Which-one-is-right-for-you