Laser Cutting Machine Types And Selection Guide

Laser Cutting uses high energy density energy generated by laser focusing to complete sheet processing. Compared with traditional plate processing methods, laser cutting has the advantages of high cutting quality, fast cutting speed, and wide material adaptability. Currently, laser cutting technology is widely used in the manufacturing of metal and non-metal materials, which can greatly shorten manufacturing time, reduce manufacturing costs, and improve workpiece quality.

According to the type of laser, laser cutting machines can be divided into three types: YAG laser cutting machines, CO2 laser cutting machines and fiber laser cutting machines are cutting tools that replace manual labor.

Fiber Laser Cutting Machine
Working Principle
Fiber laser cutting machine is a laser cutting machine that uses fiber laser as the light source. It works by generating a laser beam that is guided and expanded through optical fibers. The beam is then focused on the workpiece, creating a burning or melting point that is blown away by the high-pressure gas to achieve the cut. Fiber laser is a high-power density laser beam produced by a new type of fiber laser in the world. It moves the spot irradiation position through a CNC system for automatic cutting.

Suitable Materials
Fiber laser cutting machines can be widely used to cut various metal materials, such as stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum and copper alloys. Although it can cut non-metallic materials, it is primarily designed for cutting metallic materials.

Advantages and Limitations
Compared with bulky gas lasers and solid-state lasers, fiber lasers have significant advantages and are becoming indispensable equipment in fields such as high-precision manufacturing, lidar systems, space technology, and laser medicine.

Advantage
High accuracy and fast speed:
Fiber laser cutting machines are fast and precise when cutting thin plates. It mainly adopts gantry structure. It has high photoelectric conversion rate, low power consumption and no working gas required. Therefore, fiber laser cutting machines can cut material faster than CO2 lasers at the same power level.
Efficient:
Fiber lasers can also reduce the use of lenses, significantly reduce maintenance costs, and improve production efficiency.

Limit
Cutting thickness:
This fiber laser is great for cutting thinner materials, so it may not cut as well with thicker materials. It is very hard to cut high-transparency raw materials such as aluminum alloy profiles and copper.
Cost: The initial investment in the machine may be higher than other types of laser cutters.

Basic Components
Fiber laser source:
The fiber laser source is the core of the fiber laser cutting machine, which can generate and amplify the laser beam inside the glass fiber. It usually ranges from 500 watts to 12 000 watts depending on the output power.

Cutting head:
The cutting head has a focusing lens that focuses the laser beam onto the material surface. It typically includes capacitive sensing to maintain the proper focus distance from the material surface.

CNC Controller:
The CNC system is the brain of the fiber laser cutting machine, which controls the machine's movement, laser power and pulse frequency.

Bed and Gantry:
The bed is used to support the material to be cut. The gantry is the frame that moves the cutting head over the material.

Maintain
One of the advantages of fiber laser cutting machines is that they require very little maintenance. It requires no calibration mirrors or laser gases. However, it's also important to keep the machine clean, the lens clear of debris, and regularly check the condition of the fiber optic cables.

Future Expectations
The future of fiber laser cutting machines is promising, making them ideal for many industries due to their efficiency, speed and accuracy. It even provides a powerful and efficient solution for cutting a variety of materials and will be popular in many areas.

CO2 Laser Cutting Machine

Working Principle
CO2 laser cutting machines use high-power laser beams to guide the laser beam through optical devices to the surface of the material to be cut. The combination of CNC systems and laser optics ensures precise illumination of the beam on the material. A focused laser beam shines on the material, causing it to melt, burn, vaporize or be blown away by powerful airflow, ultimately creating cuts with a high-quality edge surface finish.

Suitable Materials
The CO2 laser cutting machine can cut carbon steel within 20 mm, stainless steel within 10 mm, and aluminum alloy within 8 mm. The CO2 laser wavelength is 10.6 UM, which is easily absorbed by non-metals and can be used to cut non-metallic materials such as wood, acrylic, PP, and organic glass. high quality.

Advantages and Limitations
Advantage
Because the laser beam does not wear out during processing, the machine's accuracy is higher. Since the thermal shock zone of the laser system is smaller, the likelihood of deformation of the material being cut is also reduced. At the same time, the CO2 laser cutting machine facilitates clamping of workpieces and reduces workpiece contamination. According to the International Safety Regulations, laser hazards are divided into four levels, and CO2 lasers are the least hazardous.
Limit:
The cost of CO2 laser cutting machines is the highest among the three laser cutting machines.

Basic Components
CO2 laser
The CO2 laser is the heart of the machine and produces the laser beam used to cut materials
Cutting head:
The cutting head contains a focusing lens that focuses the beam onto the material surface. Additionally, it comes with a capacitive sensing system for maintaining proper focus.
CNC controller:
The CNC controller is the brain of the laser cutting machine and can control the machine's movement, laser power and pulse frequency.
Bed and Gantry:
The bed is used to support the material to be cut. The gantry is the frame used to move the cutting head.
Auxiliary equipment storage system:
This system has two functions, one is to clean the cutting area. The auxiliary cutting gas blows molten and oxidized material away from the cutting area, helping to keep the cutting area clean and reducing the formation of a second thermal shock zone. The other is combustion support: In some applications, such as when cutting carbon steel, the cutting auxiliary gas (usually oxygen) can also participate in the cutting reaction to provide additional heat. Therefore, cutting speed and efficiency can be improved.
Cooling system:
During the laser cutting process, a large amount of heat can be generated, and cooling systems are used to keep the temperature of the laser and other important components stable. The laser and external optical components, including the focusing lens, require cooling. Depending on the size and setup of the system, waste heat can be transported or converted directly into air. Water is a common coolant that is often circulated through a cooler or heat transfer system.

Maintain
Maintaining a CO2 laser cutting machine includes keeping the optical equipment clean and positioned, ensuring the cooling system is operating properly, and checking the gas mixture (carbon dioxide, helium, and nitrogen) in the laser.

Future Expectations
With the advancement of technology, CO2 laser cutting machines will be more efficient and practical, and will strive to improve consumption and efficiency.

YAG Laser Cutting Machine
Although YAG laser cutting machines are low-cost and stable, their energy efficiency is typically less than 3%. Currently, its output power is below 800W. Due to its small output energy, it is mainly used for drilling and cutting thin plates.

Its green laser beam can be used in both pulsed and constant wave conditions. It is characterized by short wavelength and good focusing performance. It is ideal for precision machining, especially drilling under pulsed conditions, and can also be used for cutting, welding and photolithography. The wavelength of YAG solid-state laser cutting machine is not easily absorbed by non-metallic materials, so it is not suitable for cutting non-metallic materials. The current task of YAG laser cutting machines is to improve the stability and service life of the power supply, that is, to develop high-capacity, long-life optical pump excitation light sources. Energy efficiency can be significantly improved if semiconductor optical pumps are used.

These different types of laser cutters have dramatically changed sheet metal processing and other mechanical projects. They enable high-precision cutting of complex shapes, increasing work efficiency, reducing waste and streamlining production processes. Despite the challenges, laser cutters have a bright future due to their indispensable features. Therefore, knowing more about the types of laser cutting machines is not only beneficial, but also essential for companies looking to optimize operations, reduce waste, and increase productivity.

JTBYShield laser cutting machines include single workbench fiber laser cutting machines, dual workbench fiber laser cutting machines, dual-purpose fiber laser cutting machines, pipe laser cutting machines and precision laser cutting machines. You can browse our products to choose the right machine or consult our sales for detailed information.

Contact information:

If you have any ideas, feel free to talk to us. No matter where our customers are and what our requirements are, we will follow our goal to provide our customers with high quality, low prices, and the best service.