Laser-assisted shearing: New application for high-power diode lasers

Due to the growing ranges of applications for stamped parts in the electrical and electronics industry (e.g. switch cabinet cladding and transformer plates) as well as in the automotive industry (e.g. stamp, bent and drawn components), flexible sheet metal forming has become a more important process. The inner and outer contours as well as the forming operations needed to reinforce metal sheets can be carried out by punching machines without re-clamping the metal sheet. In contrast, the potential of conventional punching machines is now exhausted in terms of the material spectrum that can be processed, the tool life and the quality of the machined product. Particularly in view of the machining quality of the sheared edges, the achievable clear-cut surface rates are limited due to the limited plasticity of the sheet materials. When cracks form between the grain boundaries of the sheet material during the conventional shearing process, the cutting edge is divided into a c lear-cut surface zone (approx. 30% of the plate thickness when shearing stainless steel plates: 1.4301) and a shearing zone with crack formation. This shearing zone can not be used as a functional surface. The shearing process is divided into the four phases (DIN 8588) "warping", "clear-cutting", "fracture" and "ejection of the piece punched out"