Structural stainless steel is one of the finest and highly sustainable building materials utilized in various industry functions. It finds application in construction, oil and gas, manufacturing, infrastructure and many more industrial sectors. This versatile metal is the preferred building material for metal fabrication specialists and metal works industries across the world. It is cost-effective and offers great mechanical functionality. This quality of structural steel makes the building process swift and simpler. So, let’s take a quick look at why structural steel is considered as a preferred material for the fabrication process in shop floors.
Strength & Durability
Structural stainless steel is tensile i.e., it has a high strength to weight ratio. It also weighs less compared to other metals used for fabrication. It’s also stronger compared to other building materials, even concrete. These attributes make it easy to work with. Its strength also makes it reliable to withstand and resist any types of disasters such as fire or storms.
Another key attribute that helps steel take precedence over other building materials is its long lifespan. The final product fabricated from structural steel is strong and capable enough to withstand any external pressure. It is capable to withstand wear and tear of all kind of weather conditions. This significantly reduces the headache of maintenance of the buildings and equipment.
Flexibility
Steel can be bent or molded into an endless number of shapes, thanks to its malleable and ductile nature. This makes it an ideal material for preparing custom designs. Structural steel, being an alloy, can be adapted to give different properties Designers can work on various designs ranging from simple to complex with ease, making it a popular choice in the construction industry. It offers designers a flexibility to make changes in the planning stages without impacting the project cost.
Speed of Construction
Structures that are fabricated from structural steel can be erected speedily. This leads to reduced construction time that is often one of the main criteria of the industries during project planning. The short construction time can lead to savings in site preliminaries, reduced project costs and ultimately, improved ROI.
Stainless steel plays a huge role in improving the productivity of construction because of shop fabrication. It enables maintenance of tight construction tolerances. Structural Steel serves as a shop based technology enhancement, thereby offering significant productivity enhancement in construction.
Welding
Welding is one of the most important parts of the metal fabrication process. With the application of the right welding techniques, the strength of structural steel can be enhanced. This makes steel a perfect material for use in high-pressure applications such as columns and I-beams of commercial buildings.
Affordability
Apart from the attributes of strength and reliability that structural steel encompasses, clients also prefer structural steel because it’s cheap compared to other raw materials. Add to this, even the overall cost of the structural steel fabrication process is cost-effective. Its lightweight also contributes to reduced shipping cost. With higher cost-savings, usage of steel offers a higher probability of improved ROI to businesses than other building materials.
Environmentally Safe
As more and more businesses are now inclined towards ‘going green’, steel has gained more popularity among businesses thanks to its sustainable and flexible nature. Steel can be used over and over without compromising on quality. Steel has limited carbon content and is recyclable. Over the years, the process of producing stainless steel in Singapore has become environmentally safe with an increased focus on higher recycle rate and reduction of waste.
With the increased use of steel for structural frames and flooring, more forests can be preserved. It is also effective in blocking out environmental pollutants, resulting in a healthier workplace or commercial space. Modern-day steel plants are designed in a manner that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is energy-efficient. Even the water used during the manufacturing process of steel is recycled.
For more information on structural stainless steel fabrication in Singapore, get in touch with us at www.fmbtne.com.sg
We are Structural Steel Fabricators, offering metal works and stainless steel fabrication services to industries in Singapore.
Since people realized the precision and efficiency of laser cutting in the early 1960s, industrialists are looking for ways to implement this cutting-edge technology to their respective industries. That’s why, from clinical to aerospace use, laser cutting is ruling over metal integrity without raising any questionable eyebrows in case of profit. Laser cutting is usually the first step of the process before it continues down the line to undergo metal bending, metal rolling, and other types of metal fabrication in stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium.
But what is this Laser Cutting that everyone is talking about?
Laser cutting is a process to cut or engrave any material precisely, using a high-powered beam. Mostly, the entire process is based on computer-controlled parameters, directed by Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machine from a vector CAD file.
The Laser cutting technology is used for many industrial purposes. Specifically, to cut metal plates, like Aluminium, Stainless Steel, Mild Steel, etc. On these types of steel, laser cutting process is very precise compared to any other metal sheet cutting process. Besides, Laser cutting process has a very small heat afterzone and also a small kerf width. That’s why it’s possible to delicate shapes and tiny holes for production.
How Laser Cutting Technology Works
Laser is a fancy acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, which is the main participant in this process, is a beam of heavily intensified light. This beam of light is formed by a single wavelength or single color.
The Laser machines use amplification and stimulation technique to transform electric energy into high density beam of light. The stimulation process happens as the electrons are excited via an external source, mostly an electric arc or a flash lamp.
The amplification process occurs within the optical resonator in the cavity, which is set between 2 mirrors. One of them is partially transmissive and the other one is reflective. The glasses allow beam’s energy to get back in the lasing medium and there it stimulates even more emissions. But if a photon isn’t aligned with machine’s resonator, the reflective and transmissive mirror do not redirect it. This ensures amplification of properly oriented photons only, thus creating a coherent beam.
The color or the wavelength of the laser that cuts through the metals depends on which type of laser is being used in the laser cutting process. But mostly, Carbon Di-oxide (CO2) gets to cut the metals which is a highly intensified beam of Infra-red part of the light spectrum.
This type of beam travels through the Laser resonator before going through metal sheet to give them shapes. But before the beam falls over the metal plates, the focused light beam undergoes the bore of a nozzle, just before it hits a surface.
But focusing the light beam is not so easy. The laser has to go through a specialized lens or any type of curved surface. This focusing part of the laser happens inside the laser-cutting tip. The focusing is crucial to this cutting process because if the beam is not focused concisely, the shape will not be as expected. The operators cross check the focus density and width many times before hitting the metal with it.
By focusing this huge beam into a single point-like area, the heat density is increased. Then the high-temperature beam, focused on a single point can cut through even the strongest of metals. This works like the magnifying glass. When the solar rays fall on the magnifying glass, the curved surface gathers them into a single point, which consequently produces extreme heat in a small area and that’s why the dry leaf under the magnifying glass burns out.
The laser cutting process work on the same principle. It gathers lights into a small area that starts rapid heating, partial or complete meltdown and even vaporization of the material completely. This heat from laser beam is so extreme that it can start a typical Oxy fuel burning process when the laser beam is cutting mild steel.
And when the laser beam hits Aluminium and Stainless steel surface, it simply melts down the metal. Then the pressurized Nitrogen blows away molten Aluminium or Steel to finish the industrial-grade clear and precise cutting.
On the CNC laser cutters, cutting tip/head is moved on the metal surface to create the desired shape. For maintaining accurate distance between the plate and the nozzle end, usually a capacitive height control system is adopted.
Maintaining this distance in this case is crucial because the distance determines where the focal area is relative to the surface of the metal plate. The precision of cutting can be diverted by lowering or raising the focal point from the surface.
Types of Laser in Laser Cutting Technology
Basically, there are 3 different types of lasers used in laser cutting process. Most common one is CO2 laser, which is suited for engraving, boring, and cutting. Then there is Neodymium (Nd) and the Neodymium Yttrium-Aluminium-Garnet or Nd:YAG for short. Nd and Nd:YAG is identical in style but have few dissimilarities in application. Where Nd is used for boring that required high energy but low repetition, Nd:YAG is used for both engraving and boring with high power.
All 3 types can be used for welding purpose.
Besides, laser cutting technology comes in 2 different formats. Gantry and the Galvanometer system. Where in Gantry system, position of laser is perpendicular to the surface and the machine directs the beam over the surface, in galvanometer system, the laser beams are repositioned by using mirrored angles.
This is the reason why gantry is comparatively slower and manufacturers usually adapt this format for prototyping. But galvanometer system is way faster. In this format, the machine can pierce through 100 feet of steel in a minute. That’s why Galvanometer system is more commonly used for full-on production work.
Designing for Laser Cutting
For automatic cutting, laser machines require CAD Vector files. These files are prepared in soft wares like InkScape, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCad, etc. These CAD (Computer Aided Design) files are exported as .eps, .pdf, .dff, and .aj formats.
Why use Laser Cutting Technology over any other process?
Laser cutting technology can be useful for both mass production and start-up order. Here’s why industrialist and entrepreneurs believe in laser cutting more than anything:
Cost efficiency
The cost efficiency of Laser cutting is something that is much rare in other metal curving technologies. In mass production, Laser cutting technology is very efficient in cutting a good chunk of manual engineering jobs, which helps you keep minimal production cost.
Time Saver
By sparing some really costly and time consuming engineering job for the laser machine, you can balance your production cost as well as save some precious time.
Precise Cutting
With laser cutting, you get even more precision in shaping your metals. The cutting technology is more efficient than plasma cutting, which is a compliment on its own. From getting exact replica of your design to smooth and clear finish, laser cutting does that for you with maximum precision.
Energy Efficiency
Apart from cutting a slack from the production cost, this cutting edge technology is also efficient in saving energy consumption while shaping the metals. While a traditional metal cutting machine will require around 40-50 KW of power, with laser cutting, you can get it done with 10 KW. That’s a lot of saving if it is being used for full-on production.
Reduced Contamination of Workpiece
Compared to other traditional metal cutting techniques, laser cutting technology is far more efficient in utilizing the most of your workpiece without wasting it while engraving, or cutting rounded edges.
Easy and Delicate Boring
Not only does it gives precise and clear-cut edges, but also, laser cutting technology is embraced when piercing through metal bodies with very small diameter. Even with such small width, you get precise holes. That’s why it’s best suited for delicate works in the factory.
Cuts almost anything in almost any shape
If you can design it, laser cutting technology can make that happen and that’s why industrialists are depending on laser machines for making prototypes for their product.
Conclusion
It’s no mystery why manufacturers constantly choose laser cutting for their prototype and their final production over any other traditional metal engraving process. With its precise cutting, smooth edge, cost and energy efficiency as well as many other profitable advantages, it seems like the use of laser cutting in different sectors and industries is not likely to decrease in next decade or so. And it is indeed a wise decision to shift from traditional expensive metal cutting technologies to this efficient process of shaping ideas. Click here to return to the main page.
