Laser cutting machines use a laser beam as a heat source to melt metal. This beam is intensified by a lens system that concentrates the energy on a specific point on the metal sheet, where it is absorbed, causing the temperature to rise. This leads to the melting and vaporisation of the material, which is then ejected.

For this process to be effective, the power of the beam must overcome the material’s thermal dispersion, which can occur through conduction or radiation. In fact, the higher the reflectivity of the metal, the more difficult it is to cut; similarly, a high thermal conductivity makes it more complex to obtain clean and precise cutting edges.