It is common that laser cutting is used widely in the automotive, aerospace, and medical industries. The automatic laser cutting improves precision. It doesn’t need additional surface finishing and decreases mechanical friction, causing tool wear. Laser cutting makes a more flexible and efficient solution. How thick are the laser cut parts? Let’s find out in the following.

Thickness

The laser beam cuts metal sheet with a wide range of thicknesses. There are factors of material, machine performance, and tolerance to influence the thickness. Usually the thinner the material, the shorter the pulse duration and the higher the pulse frequency. So how thick is the laser that can cut metal sheets? For example:
Laser cutting with 6,000 watts maximum thickness is 2.75inch/70mm
Laser cutting with 4,000 watts maximum thickness is 1inch/25mm
Laser cutting with 100 watts maximum thickness is 0.03inch/0.8mm

It is common that material cutting and part production generate tolerance. The following is the standard for different thicknesses
Steel thickness＜ 1mm, the tolerance is +/- 0.12mm
1mm＜steel thickness＜3mm, the tolerance is +/- 0.15 mm
3mm＜steel thickness＜6mm, the tolerance is +/- 0.20 mm
6mm＜steel thickness＜15mm, the tolerance is +/- 0.25 mm
15mm＜steel thickness＜20mm, the tolerance is +/- 0.75 mm

Consideration when cutting

Experienced laser cutting technician considers more factors to ensure precise thickness cutting. The laser is most accurate where the laser beam through into the metal sheet. After the laser penetration, the edge of the material hardens which is caused by high light temperature. Each shrinkage and deformation lead to a variation in precision.