Titanium Laser Cutting
Cutting titanium on a laser is not hard. Cutting it with the wrong assist gas is, and the damage does not show on the cut edge — it shows later, when the part cracks during forming or fails a weld.
Titanium reacts with oxygen and nitrogen at cutting temperatures. An oxygen-assisted cut — the standard, cheaper setting used for mild steel — leaves a hard, brittle oxide and nitride layer along the kerf. That layer is alpha case. It is invisible on the surface, it does not polish out, and it has to be machined or pickled away before the blank can be formed or welded.
High-purity argon assist gas is what prevents it. The edge stays bright and ductile and goes straight to the next operation.
This is the first question worth asking any supplier who quotes you titanium laser cutting: what gas do you shield the cut with? If the answer is oxygen or nitrogen, the price difference has been taken out of your edge quality.
Grades and Formats
Laser cutting suits flat product — sheet and plate and thin titanium foil.
| Material | Common formats | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 / Grade 2 commercially pure | Foil and sheet | Chemical equipment parts, gaskets, plate heat-exchanger blanks, electrode and anode blanks |
| Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V) | Sheet and plate | Aerospace brackets, medical instrument blanks, high-strength structural profiles |
| Grade 7 / Grade 12 | Sheet | Corrosion-critical chemical and marine components |
If your drawing calls for a different grade, thickness or format, send it with the RFQ — cuttability, route and lead time are confirmed against the actual material lot rather than promised in advance.
What Gets Confirmed at Quotation
- Kerf and heat-affected zone. Fiber-laser cutting of titanium typically runs a kerf in the tenths of a millimetre with a narrow HAZ. Those are industry-typical values; the figures for your part depend on thickness and geometry and are confirmed per order, not quoted as a site-wide number.
- Edge condition. As-cut, deburred, or fully finished — matched to whether the blanks go on to forming, welding or CNC machining.
- Thickness fit. Foil and light-to-medium sheet are the laser’s natural range. Above that, a water jet is usually the better tool, and we will say so rather than quote a route that damages the part.
- Traceability. Blanks are cut from certified mill material and ship with the corresponding EN 10204 3.1 certificate, so incoming inspection can trace every part back to its heat and lot.
Choosing the Cutting Route
| Method | Best for | Edge character |
|---|---|---|
| Laser cutting | Foil, sheet, complex flat profiles, small holes, repeat batches | Narrow kerf, small HAZ, argon-shielded bright edge |
| Water-jet cutting | Thick plate, HAZ-sensitive parts, stacked cutting | Cold cut, zero HAZ, slight taper on thick sections |
| Band-saw cutting | Bar, billet, tube cut to length | Production cut-off, machining allowance retained |
See cut to length for the full comparison.
Common Questions
Does laser cutting embrittle titanium edges? Not when the cut is shielded correctly. With high-purity argon the edge stays ductile and weldable. Unshielded or oxygen-assisted cutting is what creates alpha case.
What thicknesses can be laser cut? Foil from a few hundredths of a millimetre up through light and medium sheet is the natural laser range; fiber-laser capability extends into low double-digit millimetre plate depending on machine power. Send the drawing — if laser is not the right tool for your thickness, we quote water jet or saw instead.
What files do you accept? DXF, DWG, STEP or PDF. For repeat production the cutting programs are kept on file so follow-up batches match the first article.
Is there a minimum order? No — see no minimum order quantity. Prototype quantities and single blanks are quoted the same day.
Ordering
Send the drawing or DXF, the grade and thickness, the quantity, the edge condition you need, and what happens to the blank next. That last item decides the edge specification and sometimes the cutting route itself.