Views: 19 Author: Leapion Publish Time: 07-26-2022 Origin: Leapion
Leaping machinery has been engaged in the application field of high-power laser technology. At present, the laser cutting machines used for material cutting can be roughly divided into two types: fiber laser cutting machines and CO2 laser cutting machines. As the mainstream traditional laser cutting and welding equipment --the CO2 laser source can stably cut carbon steel within 20mm, stainless steel within 10mm, and aluminum alloy under 8mm. However, fiber laser sources are rapidly replacing the CO2 laser source market in recent years. The following describes the differences between the two devices to reveal the reasons for this phenomenon.
The CO2 laser is generated by exciting nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas in the cavity and then transmits the beam through the mirror. The mirrors must be arranged within a certain distance, so the working format of the CO2 metal cutting machine is limited and cannot be processed in a large working area.
Fiber lasers generate laser light through diode pumping and use flexible fiber optic cables to transmit the laser beam. Fiber laser systems generate a laser beam by pumping multiple diodes. It then travels through a flexible fiber-optic cable through a mirror to the laser cutting head. The working area of fiber laser cutting machines is not limited, even a fiber laser source can be installed next to the plasma cutting head of the plasma cutting table.
In addition, at the same power, fiber laser sources are more compact and occupy a smaller footprint than CO2 laser sources.
CO2 laser cutting
The fiber laser cutting system has a solid-state digital module and a single-design fiber laser cutting system, and a single design uses a fiber laser to complete the solid-state digital module and fiber laser cutting system. The actual utilization is about 8% to 10% for each power unit of the CO2 cutting system. For fiber laser cutting systems, users can expect higher power efficiency, 25% to 30%. In other words, fiber cutting systems consume approximately three to five times the energy of CO2 cutting systems, increasing the energy efficiency by over 86%.
The best fiber laser cutters have short-wave characteristics and can cut materials like brass and aluminum reflective. The wavelength of the fiber laser is 1.06μm, and the wavelength of the CO2 laser is 9.3μm~10.6μm, so the focusing spot of the fiber laser is smaller than that of the CO2 laser. The more concentrated the beam, the smaller the focus and the thicker the penetration depth, so the fiber laser cutting machine Thinner and medium thickness materials can be cut more efficiently. When cutting material up to 6mm, the cutting speed of the 1500w fiber laser cutting machine corresponds to that of the 3kW CO2 metal laser cutting machine. The increase in output and the reduction in commercial costs are important reasons for attracting customers to choose fiber laser cutting machines.
The fiber laser cutting machine is more environmentally and the machine is easy to maintain. For example, CO2 laser systems require regular maintenance; mirrors require maintenance and calibration, and resonators require regular maintenance. However, fiber laser cutting machines require little maintenance. CO2 laser cutting systems require carbon dioxide as the laser gas. Therefore, due to the purity of the carbon dioxide gas, it should be cleaned regularly and the cavity is contaminated. For a 1000W CO2 system, the project requires at least $20,000 per year. Additionally, many CO2 cuts require high-speed axial turbines to supply the laser gas, which requires maintenance and refurbishment.
Fiber laser cutting
There are two main conditions applicable to CO2 laser cutting machine products. On the one hand, this is a unique component that requires uniform cutting, including non-metallic materials of 3mm, 3mm, and 20mm, used in service industries such as advertising and decoration, as well as complex cut profiles. Few workpieces. And for cost saving and circular manufacturing of molds.
Fiber laser tube cutting machine has high processing accuracy and is widely used in aerospace, electronics, electrical, precision parts, automobile, machinery manufacturing, craft gifts, tool processing, decoration, advertising, metal processing, kitchen processing, and other manufacturing and processing industries.
So, fiber lasers have so many advantages, isn't it obvious how to choose? Existence is reasonable, and CO2 laser also has its advantages.
Different cutting materials have different light absorption rates for different wavelengths. Non-metallic materials such as wood, cloth, plastic, acrylic, etc. have very low absorption rates for fiber lasers, while CO2 lasers have high absorption rates for metal materials or non-metal materials. , so fiber lasers are only suitable for cutting metal materials, while CO2 lasers can be used for cutting metal materials as well as non-metal materials. And the cutting surface of the CO2 laser has good smoothness and high verticality, which is more suitable for material cutting with high precision requirements.
Therefore, in the metal sheet processing industry, people generally choose fiber laser cutting machines, while in the non-metallic material processing industry, especially in precision processing and advanced handicraft processing, people still choose to use CO2 laser cutting machines.
That said, they all have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on the processing object. From the application fields of modern laser cutting, welding machines, and the technical requirements put forward by users, the future development direction undoubtedly is high power, large format, high efficiency, one-time molding, and high intelligence.
