Comparison and performance characteristics of four laser cutting machines

Fiber laser cutting machine, the principle of fiber laser cutting is through the transmission of optical fiber, the flexibility of laser has been significantly improved, and there are fewer fault points, fast speed and convenient maintenance. It has amazing performance when cutting thin plates of about 3mm, and has great advantages. However, due to the influence of solid laser wavelength, its quality performance when cutting thicker plates is unsatisfactory. Generally speaking, the laser wavelength of fiber laser cutting machine is 1.06um, which is not easily absorbed by metal and cannot cut non-metallic materials. The photoelectric conversion rate of fiber laser is above 25%, and the advantages of fiber laser in electricity consumption, supporting cooling system and other aspects are quite obvious.

YAG solid laser cutting machine, the output power of YAG solid laser cutting machine is generally below 1000W, with good stability and obvious price advantage. The output energy of YAG solid laser is relatively small, and it is generally used for cutting, punching and welding of thin metal plates. Its green laser beam can be used in pulse or continuous wavelength, with a short wavelength, suitable for precision processing, especially in pulse hole processing, and can also be used for cutting, welding and punching. The wavelength of YAG solid laser is easily absorbed by metal, and it is a pulse laser with instantaneous power, which can cut non-ferrous metal materials such as copper and aluminum. The wavelength of YAG solid laser cutting machine is 1.06um, which is not easily absorbed by non-metallic materials.

CO2 laser cutting machine, CO2 laser cutting machine can stably cut carbon steel within 20mm, stainless steel within 10mm and aluminum alloy below 8mm. The wavelength of CO2 laser is 10.6um, but non-metals can easily absorb it.

Although the light conversion rate of CO2 laser is only about 10%, it can cut non-metal materials such as wood, acrylic, PP, and plexiglass. The CO2 laser is equipped with oxygen injection, compressed air or inert gas N2 nozzle at the beam exit to increase the cutting speed and the flatness of the cutting mouth. In order to improve the stability and service life of the power supply, the CO2 gas laser should solve the discharge stability problem of high-power lasers. To target thick plates, the cost of use is higher than other plates.

Ultraviolet laser cutting machine, Ultraviolet (UV) laser cutting machine has a wavelength of 355nm and adopts third-order intracavity frequency doubling technology. Compared with infrared laser, 355 ultraviolet light has the advantages of extremely small focusing spot, which can greatly reduce the mechanical deformation of the material and small processing heat affected zone. It is the preferred choice for fine processing and is mainly used for ultra-fine marking, engraving and micro-cutting. It is particularly suitable for marking food and pharmaceutical packaging materials, drilling microholes in circuit boards, marking/scribing glass materials, and complex micro-cutting of silicon wafers.