Laser cutting can only produce a clean edge if you use an assist gas to blow away molten material. Traditionally, oxygen has been the gas used, but nitrogen offers many advantages for cutting steel.
For more information, please visit our website.
Explore the benefits of nitrogen cutting when working with mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
Nitrogen is an inert gas. It does not react with the molten metal, even when the laser heats the surface to high temperatures. Its purpose in laser cutting is to exclude oxygen from the cutting zone, preventing the metal from oxidizing or discoloring. The result is a clean edge that does not require any cleaning up after the cutting is complete.
Oxygen performs a very different role in laser cutting. Whereas nitrogen ensures no reaction takes place at the cutting site, oxygen reacts with the metal in an exothermic reaction. That means more heat is produced around the cutting site, speeding up the cutting process.
The downside is that oxidation causes damage to the cut edge, which means a further clean-up process is required. You can use manual grinding, chemical removal, or other methods to finish the edge. In contrast, nitrogen cutting produces a clean edge.
Nitrogen-assisted laser cutting is suitable for a wide range of applications. Here are some situations in which you can use laser cutting with a nitrogen generator, such as GENERON’s compact nitrogen generators.
Many manufacturers prefer to use plasma cutting with nitrogen when working with stainless steel. This is because when it comes to laser cutting, nitrogen produces a much cleaner edge than oxygen. As a result, nitrogen cutting can help you save money on finishing processes, which can require machinery that is expensive to purchase and maintain.
Nitrogen laser cutting is suitable for shaping mild steel, although other factors affect the decision. Using nitrogen provides the most benefit when you are cutting very thin material. If the steel is thicker than 1/8 in, cutting speed is similar for both nitrogen and oxygen.
Depending on the gas delivery method used, nitrogen cutting can be more expensive per hour than oxygen, so you might find it more cost-effective to use oxygen if you are cutting very thick steel.
Using nitrogen can produce excellent edge quality when cutting aluminum. By reducing oxidation by using nitrogen when cutting aluminum, you can reduce the costs of processes the metal after cutting to improve edge quality. Take a look at nitrogen generators for metal-working applications from GENERON to take your aluminum cutting to the next level.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Naen.
Using a nitrogen generator for laser cutting is an excellent way to reduce costs. Regularly ordering nitrogen containers is not only inconvenient, but also expensive. For convenient and efficient laser cutting with nitrogen, check out GENERON’s selection of wall-mounted nitrogen generators.
Plasma cutters can be used with a manual hand torch or fitted to a CNC cutting table often know as a profile or plate cutter.
However, you must know which gases are suitable to guarantee optimum performance and high-quality results. But, depending on the metal which you’re cutting, you’ll require different types of gases or a special combination. So, we’ve put together a complete breakdown of the plasma cutter recommended gases showing what metals they’re fit to cut.
Compressed air is a highly versatile plasma gas which produces top quality cuts on mild and stainless steel as well as aluminium. But, it’s also suitable for plasma extraction on carbon steel. It’s also a low-cost gas as you won’t need to purchase it. However, you still must clean it to remove any particles, moisture or oil mist. You can use compressed air to cut metals with a thickness of up to 1 inch. However, you’ll achieve an oxidized cut area which could affect the weldability of the cut’s edge.
Oxygen has become popular for cutting through mild steel thanks to the clean cuts and fast cutting speeds provided. It’s not recommended for cutting aluminium or stainless steel plates. In contact with carbon steel, oxygen plasma gas products a fine spray of melted metal and each drop has a low surface tension but which is easy to eject from the kerf. The downside of oxygen is the expensive price and the short life of the consumables. However, high-end plasma cutting systems use nitrogen with oxygen plasma to achieve the same results.
Nitrogen is typically used for high current plasma machines and to cut metals with a thickness of up to 3 inches including mild and stainless steel or aluminium. You’ll achieve an excellent quality cut and enduring parts life. However, for thicker metals, you should use a mix such as argon-nitrogen. In general, air is the best secondary gas when you’re using nitrogen plasma. But, you can also use carbon dioxide which improves the cut’s finish and increases the cutting speed.
The argon-hydrogen mix is usually suitable to cut through stainless steel or aluminium. The standard combination of the mix is 65% argon and 35% hydrogen. It offers the maximum cutting capacities and it’s the hottest plasma burning gas. You’ll achieve an excellent and clean cut. The argon-hydrogen mix is required for mechanical cutting of any type of materials which exceed a 3 inches thickness. But, it’s also suitable for plasma gouging on any materials.
We recommend with any new plasma cutting equipment purchased you call your local Gas Experts to give you the best advice for efficient production.
Hypertherm is one of the leading plasma cutting equipment manufacturers in the world. We trust their systems and advice and are proud to be a Hypertherm Agent. You will find lots of tips and tricks to get the best out of your manual or CNC plasma cutter on Hypertherm’s website Blog
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Oxygen Plasma Cleaner.