Introduction
Laser is known as the “fastest knife,” “most accurate ruler,” and “brightest light.” Due to its high precision, high efficiency, and other characteristics, its technological application has occupied an important position in the intelligent manufacturing process of the shipbuilding industry, such as the application of large format laser cutting machines, laser welding machines, etc. in the shipbuilding industry.
The application of laser cutting
Steel is a common material in the field of shipbuilding, and ship steel is inevitably cut according to the design of the hull. However, the cutting process for shipbuilding panels requires high requirements, and minor deviations, burrs, and other issues that may occur during panel cutting can lead to accidents on the entire ship.
At present, the main cutting processing methods in ship manufacturing technology include flame cutting, plasma cutting, shear processing, and laser cutting. Flame cutting is often applied to thick plate cutting, limited to carbon steel plates, and cannot perform precise cutting on plates below 4mm, with low cutting efficiency; Plasma cutting is suitable for cutting all metal sheets, but it also has problems such as high operating costs, easy slag sticking, and significant deformation during thin plate cutting. Therefore, large format laser cutting machines with no impact on raw materials, high accuracy, and high safety factors are gradually being widely used in cutting.
Equipped with a large format laser cutting workbench, it can customize processing formats of different lengths according to needs, and can cut special materials of ultra long and ultra large sizes, achieving overall processing of ultra long workpieces. Simultaneously optimizing cutting configuration, powerful cutting ability. Arbitrary cutting of medium and thick plates, intelligent cutting operation saves time and materials.
The application of laser welding
In the field of shipbuilding, due to the high requirements for welding quality in the sheet metal manufacturing process and the multiple indicators for weld seam detection; Traditional methods such as arc welding and submerged arc welding have certain limitations, while laser welding technology has obvious advantages in passing through many rigorous testing items.
Currently, European and American countries have extensively adopted laser welding equipment in the intelligent manufacturing process of civilian ships such as cruise ships, roll on/roll off ships, and special ships.
The application of laser welding has not only made new breakthroughs in shipbuilding technology, but also to some extent promoted the improvement of ship structure design. In addition, laser welding can flexibly combine the plates into the construction materials of various modular compartments, greatly reducing the construction time of the ship.
Summary
With the gradual increase in demand in the shipbuilding industry, the shipbuilding industry is experiencing vigorous development. The increasingly fierce competition has driven the market to improve its requirements for intelligent manufacturing processes, safety, reliability, and quality of shipbuilding materials. At the same time, higher requirements have been put forward for manufacturing technology. We need to make reasonable use of laser cutting and welding equipment in the shipbuilding industry.