What are the difference betwwen laser cutting and water cutting?

What are the difference betwwen laser cutting and water cutting?

Laser cutting is to use high power density laser beam to irradiate the material to be cut, make the material heated to vaporization temperature and evaporate to form holes. As the light beam moves towards the material, the hole continuously forms a slit with a very narrow width (about 0.1 mm, for example) to complete the cutting of the material.

Water cutting and water knife, is a high-pressure water jet cutting technology, is the use of high-pressure water cutting machine. Under the control of the computer, the workpiece can be carved at will, and the material texture has little influence. Because of its low cost, simple operation and high output, water cutting has gradually become the mainstream cutting method in industrial cutting technology.

1、 Advantages of water cutting:

(1) It can cut any material (including reflective material, composite material, sensitive material, etc.) that cannot or is difficult to cut with laser, such as stone, alloy, etc.
(2) The cutting thickness can be very thick, for example, 100 mm or even thicker.
(3) Cutting will not produce thermal deformation, high cutting accuracy.
(4) It will not change the texture of the material around the cutting seam (laser belongs to thermal cutting, which will change the texture around the cutting area).

2、 Disadvantages of water cutting:

The speed is slow, not suitable for mass production.

3、 Advantages of laser:

(1) The cutting speed is fast and can be used for mass production;
(2) High machining accuracy, good repeatability, no damage to the material surface;
(3) The whole board with large width can be cut without mold opening, which is economical and time-saving;
(4) Not limited by cutting pattern, automatic typesetting, saving material, cutting flow field, low processing cost.

4、 Disadvantages of laser:

(1) The industrial application of laser cutting carbon steel is generally less than 20 mm, and the cutting capacity is generally less than 40 mm. The industrial application of stainless steel is generally less than 20 mm, and the cutting capacity is generally less than 25 mm.
(2) Laser can cut most materials, but it has some disadvantages compared with water cutting, such as high reflection materials, marble and so on.
(3) The surface roughness of cutting is not as good as that of water cutting, and the thicker the material is, the more obvious it is.