Laser Hypo Tube Cutting

From surgical instruments for cutting and biopsy, to needles with unusual tips and sidewall openings, or jigsaw chains for flexible endoscopes, laser tube cutting offers greater precision, quality and speed than other cutting methods.

Tube Material - Laser cutting is ideal for many materials commonly used in medical applications, including stainless steel (300 and 400 series, 17-4, 17-7), MP35N (cobalt-chromium steel alloy), and Nitinol. Other materials, such as titanium for implants and platinum-iridium (Pt-Ir) typically for electrodes, can also be laser cut, but may require more setup time.

Thickness - The 100W laser can easily cut stainless steel up to 0.03" thick by varying the pulse width and frequency. For example, the thinner the material, the shorter the pulse duration and the higher the pulse frequency required for cutting. For example, for a 0.008 inch thick material, a pulse width of 50 microseconds and a frequency of 3000 Hz is a good starting point. Thicker materials can be cut with higher laser power.

Geometries - Laser cutting offers great flexibility and is suitable for complex geometries. Unique cutting capabilities, such as off-axis cutting, enable product functional design without compromising manufacturability, but that's not to say laser cutting capabilities aren't limitless. For example, some arthroscopic surgical razor blades require cutting angles of up to 70 degrees with the distal portion of the tube. This is not possible when using a laser because the thickness increase due to the angle is large, plus the focus becomes elliptical on inclined surfaces, significantly reducing the concentration of the laser power and disturbing the cutting process.

Speed - Laser cutting is an efficient process because very little material is removed, with a typical cut width of less than 0.0015" for 0.015" thick material. The laser cuts one part at a time, but the overall cycle time is still competitive compared to a Wire EDM that stacks cut parts, and of course part loading/unloading happens more frequently. Laser cutting does outperform EDM when it comes to cutting single-sided tube features, where laser cutting can be 2-3 times faster.

Please contact us if you need: zhang@sz-manners.com