According to the different laser generators, there are three types of metal cutting laser cutting machines on the market: fiber laser cutting machines, CO2 laser cutting machines, and YAG laser cutting machines.
The first category, fiber laser cutting machine
Because fiber laser cutting machine can transmit through optical fiber, the degree of flexibility is unprecedentedly improved, there are few failure points, easy maintenance, and fast speed. Therefore, the fiber laser cutting machine has great advantages when cutting thin plates within 25mm. The photoelectric conversion rate of fiber laser As high as 25%, fiber laser has obvious advantages in terms of electricity consumption and supporting cooling system.
Fiber laser Cutting Machine’s Mainly advantages: high photoelectric conversion rate, low power consumption, can cut stainless steel plates and carbon steel plates within 25MM, is the fastest laser cutting machine for cutting thin plates among these three machines, small slits, good spot quality, and can be used for fine Cutting.
Fiber laser Cutting Machine’s Mainly disadvantages: The wavelength of the fiber laser cutting machine is 1.06um, which is not easily absorbed by non-metals, so it cannot cut non-metal materials. The short wavelength of fiber laser is very harmful to the human body and eyes. For safety reasons, it is recommended to choose a fully enclosed equipment for fiber laser processing.
Main market positioning: cutting below 25mm, especially high-precision processing of thin plates, mainly for manufacturers that require extremely high precision and efficiency. It is estimated that with the emergence of lasers of 10000W and above, fiber laser cutting machines will eventually replace CO2 high-power lasers Most markets for cutting machines.
The second category, CO2 laser cutting machine
The CO2 laser cutting machine can stably cut carbon steel within 20mm, stainless steel within 10mm, and aluminum alloy within 8mm. The CO2 laser has a wavelength of 10.6um, which is relatively easy to be absorbed by non-metals and can cut high-quality non-metal materials such as wood, acrylic, PP, and organic glass.
CO2 laser Main advantages: high power, general power is between 2000-4000W, can cut full-size stainless steel, carbon steel and other conventional materials within 25 mm, as well as aluminum panels within 4 mm and acrylic panels within 60 mm, wood material panels, and PVC panels , And the speed is very fast when cutting thin plates. In addition, because the CO2 laser outputs a continuous laser, it has the smoothest and best cutting section effect among the three laser cutting machines when cutting.
CO2 laser Main disadvantages: The photoelectric conversion rate of CO2 laser is only about 10%. For CO2 gas laser, the discharge stability of high-power laser must be solved. Since most of the core and key technologies of CO2 lasers are in the hands of European and American manufacturers, most of the machines are expensive, more than 2 million yuan, and related maintenance costs such as accessories and consumables are extremely high. In addition, the operating cost in actual use is very high, and cutting It consumes a lot of air.
CO2 Laser Main market positioning: 6-25mm thick plate cutting processing, mainly for large and medium-sized enterprises and some laser cutting processing enterprises that are purely external processing. However, due to the large maintenance loss of their lasers, the large power consumption of the host and other insurmountable factors, in recent years Its market has been greatly impacted by solid laser cutting machines and fiber laser cutting machines, and the market is in a state of apparent shrinking.
The third category, YAG solid laser cutting machine
YAG solid-state laser cutting machine has the characteristics of low price and good stability, but the energy efficiency is generally <3%. At present, the output power of products is mostly below 800W. Due to the low output energy, it is mainly used for punching and cutting of thin plates. Its green laser beam can be applied under pulse or continuous wave conditions. It has short wavelength and good light concentration. It is suitable for precision machining, especially hole machining under pulse. It can also be used for cutting, welding and lithography.
Yag laser Main advantages: It can cut aluminum, copper and most non-ferrous metal materials. The machine purchase price is cheap, the use cost is low, and the maintenance is simple. Most of the key technologies have been mastered by domestic companies. The cost of accessories and maintenance is low, and the machine is easy to operate and maintain. , The requirements for the quality of workers are not high.
Yag laser main disadvantages: can only cut materials below 8mm, and the cutting efficiency is quite low
Yag laser Main market positioning: cutting below 8mm, mainly for self-use small and medium-sized enterprises and most users in sheet metal manufacturing, home appliance manufacturing, kitchenware manufacturing, decoration and decoration, advertising and other industries whose processing requirements are not particularly high. Due to the decline in the price of fiber lasers, fiber optics The laser cutting machine has basically replaced the YAG laser cutting machine.
In general, fiber laser cutting machine, with its many advantages such as high processing efficiency, high processing accuracy, good cutting section quality, and three-dimensional cutting processing, has gradually replaced traditional metal sheet processing methods such as plasma cutting, water cutting, flame cutting, and CNC punching. After nearly 20 years of continuous development, laser cutting technology and laser cutting machine equipment are being familiar and used by the majority of sheet metal processing enterprises