In case of water jet cutting, a water ray with small diameter and high
pressure goes towards the target object with an extreme speed. It
carries several millions of small particles in its stream, at 2.5 times the
speed of sound. These grains are special, for this purpose produced,
very solid rock pieces that are mixed into the water stream by a dosage
system. In the course of their impact they forward energy to such an
extent to the material, as if many tens of thousands small canons were
bombing the object to be cut. Since the ray is well focused (there are
evenjets with 0.1 mm diameter), it only has a cutting effect along a precise line. Because of the distribution density and the small size of the particles an extremely uniform and accurate material disposal happens in this line. This is the cutting-edge.

In case of appropriate densification relation and feed motion a surface quality can be achieved
that is almost commensurable to whetting. During water jet cutting there is no burr formation and
the heating of the work piece is minimal (25-40 °C).

It is important to mention that this is a type of fast cutting technology that does not change the inner structure of the material along the cutting-edges. The easy explanation of this is that there is no considerable heating, because the cutter edge itself is at the same time the coolant. Especially the special alloys benefit from this and the precision machine parts, because there is no need for a posterior roughing, which removes the burnt in (annealed) parts, furthermore the object also preserves its static and dynamic load coefficients calculated beforehand. Like this it is possible to make stronger, more longlasting and more accurate machine parts on the field of several industries.

A great advantage of water jet cutting in contrast to laser is that it can be applied to almost any materials, regardless of their construction; furthermore the maximal cutting thickness is extremely high. The system is able to cut through even a 150mm thick metal or stone board! A laser system of such efficiency does not exist yet, but there is not much effort to its development, because its operation would be uneconomical..

The term "LASER" is an acronym:
it comes from the first letters of the words of the definition
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

The laser radiation arises in a way that a laser medium is subjected to concentrated energy. The laser medium can be a crystal (Nd:YAG, ND:YLF, etc.) or a gas mixture (CO2, Helium-Neon, etc.) that is inducted or "pumped" in order to make it spontaneously emit light. For the induction such an energy source is needed that is able to emit concentrated energy, like for example a great intensity lamp, electronic discharge, or another e.g. diode laser. The laser medium is placed between two mirrors that creates a so-called resonance chamber. Here the originating light is constantly getting stronger and a laser light with a given wave-length evolves. One of the mirrors is partially permeable and it lets the laser light that reached the given wave-length out of the laser unit. After this the laser beam goes through the focusing lens and passes into a beam of rays with great energy.

The benefit of laser beams: thanks to its unique dynamics and especially large energy density, it is also possible to use the laser cluster for material processing. Different material processing methods can be used by changing the characteristics of the laser, but the most common usage is the evaporation or smelting materials. With the help of mirrors it is possible to get the laser beam to far distances without a remarkable reduction of their efficiency. The mirrors can be moved either by accurate X-Y plotter mechanics, or by a high speed galvanometric system (GALVO laser). Typically, Trotec builds in closed pipe CO2 gas lasers or diode pumped solid-state Nd:YAG lasers in its machines, because these types guarantee the most equal and trustworthy laser efficiency. The laser beam is a versatile, contactless and never wear-free "instrument" of material processing, that is easy to install and economic to operate. Laser is ideal for engraving, signing, milling, etching and cutting of tasks. There is an appropriate type and efficient laser for the processing of almost any material!

The cutting procedures are not able to process for example solid granulous rocks, glass or bubble plastic, since it is not possible to whet the geometrical edges of the milling machines, because it would be uneconomical and technically difficult to carry out. Furthermore the rotational moment comes forward that takes effect parallel to the cut surface, and cuts out anomalous pieces from many materials with non-metallic girder structure. Of this nature is for example marble, garnet, polystyrene, sponge-rubbers, rubber and other bubble plastics.

The aforementioned materials are practically unprocessable by the traditional cutting machines. In case of a few materials from the ones above, unequal burning procedures causing thermogenesis, reflecting characteristics or the release of poison-gases cause an unsolvable problem for laser cutting machines. In contrast to this, the water jet cutting machine easily copes with all the material types mentioned above.

The result of laser processing depends on the given material, the extent of absorption of the given wavelength of the laser
and the chosen technique. Trotec offers several different wave-length lasers so that all of today' s more and more diverse
types of materials should be processable. By changing the characteristics of the laser the following techniques can be applied:

A classical industrial application is laser cutting. Punching is practically cutting with frequent stops, that is repetitive punching along a given line. Scratching cutting through the upper layer of double layer materials, besides leaving the lower one (e.g. stick-on labels). The cutting typically needs a great laser energy. The more heat-conducting the material is, the stronger the laser needed for its cutting. The energy should also be increased when the depth of the disk to be cut increases. In case of most cuttings it is necessary to blow in a protecting and/or assistant gas. These gases that are blown in at different pressure raise the efficiency of the laser, improve the cutting quality and protect the optical system from the splattering melts. In order to help the cutting oxygen is used, in order to hinder it nitrogen or CO2. The cutting gap depends on the diameter and shape of the laser beam, as well as the focus distance of the applied lenses. The wider the laser beam is in front of the lens and the shorter the focus distance of the lens is, the smaller diameter laser spot we get in the focus point, but the shorter time the laser beam keeps its power below and above the focus point. These are the high resolution lenses, with which it is possible to make very fine and detailed engravings and cutting with small material waste (e.g. 1,5" - 3,81 cm focus distance lens). By increasing the focus distance of the lens that distance from the focus point can be provided where the laser loses little from its power. With such lenses it is easier to cut through thick materials (e.g. 2,5" - 6,35 cm or 5,0" - 12,7 cm focus distance). Like this on the other hand the spot diameter increases and together with this the cutting gap, that is the width of the material stripe of the materials that are evaporating, dissolving, turning into ashes and dust. All these distances and widths change between a fraction of a millimetre or a few times as much proportional to the lens types.

The machine CNC cutting, which is nowadays also one of the most common material shaping
method, counts already as traditional, but still essential technology.

In the theory not a lot has changed since the middle of the 20th century. Rather the
controlling electronics, the mechanical formations, the number of work axles, the forming,
the quality and the endurance of the tools has developed at a significant rate.

Our company owns machines that have the option of an automatic tool change, and through
the developed graphic surface of these there is a constant communication with the machine
operator. Most of the processes are completely automated, so that there are rarely faults
caused by human default.

Because our new controllers work in a closed loop system, the desired sizes can be tracked
during each working process. A constant feedback guarantees that the processing is at the
proper size and optimal even in mass production.

We deal with metal and plastic cutting, according to this we use the tool sets of the most
famous producers made for especially these kinds of tasks. There is a possibility to perform
multi-stage processings as well in a wide range of tool diameter (0.1 - 100mm).