What are the differences of laser cutting compared with water jet cutting?

Laser cutting is to use the focused high-power density laser beam to irradiate the workpiece, so that the irradiated material can quickly melt, vaporize, ablate or reach the ignition point. At the same time, with the help of the high-speed air flow coaxial with the beam, the molten material can be blown away, so as to cut the workpiece. Laser cutting can be divided into four categories: laser vaporization cutting, laser melting cutting, laser oxygen cutting and laser scribing and fracture control.

Water jet cutting, also known as water knife, that is, high-pressure water jet cutting technology, is a machine that uses high-pressure water flow to cut. Under the control of the computer, the workpiece can be carved arbitrarily, and it is less affected by the material texture. Because of its low cost, easy operation and high yield, water cutting is gradually becoming the mainstream cutting method in industrial cutting technology. Water cutting is divided into pure waterjet cutting and abrasive waterjet cutting.

So, what are the differences and advantages of laser cutting compared with water jet cutting?

1. Application range of laser cutting compared with water jet cutting:

Laser cutting machine has a wide range of applications. It can cut both metal and non-metal. CO2 laser cutting machine can be used to cut non-metal, such as cloth and leather. Optical fiber laser cutting machine can be used to cut metal, and the deformation of plate is small.

Water jet cutting belongs to cold cutting, with no thermal deformation and good cutting surface quality. It does not need secondary processing, and it is easy to carry out secondary processing if necessary. Water jet cutting can punch and cut holes in any material (including reflective materials, composites, sensitive materials, etc., such as stones, alloys, etc., which cannot or is difficult to cut by laser). It has fast cutting speed and flexible processing size.

2. Speed and surface quality of laser cutting compared with water jet cutting:

Advantages of  laser cutting: fast cutting speed, which can be used for mass production; High machining precision, good repeatability and no damage to the material surface; It can cut the whole board with large format without opening the mold, which is economical and time-saving; Not limited to cutting pattern, automatic typesetting saves materials, smooth incision and low processing cost.

3.Disadvantages of water jetcutting: the speed is quite slow, which is not suitable for mass production.

 The surface roughness of laser cutting is not as good as that of water jet cutting. The thicker the material, the more obvious it is. Water jet cutting 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).