The duty cycle of the laser cutting machine is an important technical parameter, which refers to the percentage of time that the pulse laser stays on in a cycle, that is, the ratio of the pulse duration to the pulse period. Duty cycle directly affects the efficiency and quality of laser cutting, and is one of the key parameters to adjust and optimize the laser cutting process.

Specifically, the level of duty cycle will affect the time and intensity of the laser beam on the material. When the duty cycle is high, the operation time of the laser beam on the material is longer, and the energy input is larger, which may lead to faster cutting speed, but at the same time, it may also increase the roughness of the heat affected zone and the cutting surface. On the contrary, when the duty cycle is low, the laser beam has a shorter action time on the material and a smaller energy input, which may reduce the cutting speed, but helps to reduce the heat affected zone and improve the quality of the cutting surface.

In practical applications, the duty cycle of the laser cutting machine needs to be adjusted according to the specific processing material, thickness, cutting requirements and other factors. For example, when cutting thick stainless steel plates, the selection of duty cycle needs to take into account factors such as the quality of the cutting surface, the cutting speed and the size of the heat affected zone. Generally speaking, there is a reasonable range of duty cycle, beyond this range may lead to poor cutting effect or equipment damage.

In addition, the duty cycle is also related to the type of laser. For a continuous laser, the duty cycle can be regarded as 100%, because the laser beam is continuously output. For pulsed lasers, the duty cycle is adjustable, and the output characteristics of the laser beam can be controlled by adjusting the pulse width and pulse period.