Difficulties and solutions in using laser cutting for large-scale fabric production

At present, large-scale fabric processing is mainly completed by knife cutting or laser cutting, and there are the following difficulties in the processing process:

Soft deformation: The biggest characteristic of fabric is its softness and easy deformation, which makes it difficult to fix during cutting, resulting in difficulty in ensuring cutting accuracy and uneven cutting edges. Moreover, deformed fabric can cause the laser beam to not accurately cut along the predetermined path, affecting the cutting quality and effect.

Thermal sensitivity: Fabric is a type of heat sensitive material that may shrink, discolor, or harden when heated. The thermal sensitivity of different fabrics varies, for example, natural fiber fabrics such as cotton and linen are prone to shrink and harden when heated; Some synthetic fiber fabrics may melt, adhere, or produce odors when heated excessively.

At present, there are several solutions in the industry for processing fabrics based on their characteristics, including the following:
Visual recognition: Visual recognition technology is one of the best solutions to solve the problem of fabric softness. Before processing, the degree of change of the current processing object is determined through a visual recognition system, and then the processing method is automatically adjusted through the algorithm of the control system. This ensures a high processing effect, but the drawback is that the deployment cost of the visual recognition system is relatively high.

Using auxiliary fixtures: Using auxiliary fixtures can fix the position of the fabric and make it smoother through stretching, avoiding bending and deformation problems. The cost of fixtures is relatively low, but loading the fixture is more complicated and requires manual assistance, making it difficult to achieve automated processing and inefficient.

Adjusting processing parameters: In response to the thermal sensitivity of the fabric, it is important to pay attention to the setting of processing parameters such as power and speed during laser cutting. Power and speed are integrated, and power represents the heat applied by the laser to the material per unit time. The higher the power, the faster the speed should be, and vice versa.

Overall, it is difficult to successfully complete large-scale fabric laser cutting, and it requires hardware and software support. Enterprises should choose a suitable method based on their own conditions.