According to the different laser generators, laser cutting machines currently on the market can be roughly divided into three types: CO2 laser cutting machines, YAG (solid) laser cutting machines, and fiber laser cutting machines.
1: CO2 laser cutting machine
CO2 laser cutting machine can stably cut carbon steel within 20mm, stainless steel within 10mm, and aluminum alloy within 8mm. The wavelength of CO2 laser is 10.6um, which is relatively easy to be absorbed by non-metal, and can cut wood, acrylic, PP, plexiglass and other non-metal materials with high quality, but the photoelectric conversion rate of CO2 laser is only about 10%. The CO2 laser cutting machine is equipped with a nozzle for blowing oxygen, compressed air or inert gas N2 at the beam exit to increase the cutting speed and smooth the cut. In order to improve the stability and life of the power supply, the discharge stability of high-power lasers must be solved for CO2 gas lasers. According to international safety standards, laser hazards are divided into 4 levels, and CO2 lasers are the least harmful.
Main advantages: high power, generally between 2000-4000W, capable of cutting full-size stainless steel, carbon steel and other conventional materials within 25 mm, as well as aluminum plates within 4 mm and acrylic plates within 60 mm, wood material plates, PVC plates , and the speed is very fast when cutting thin plates. In addition, since the output of the CO2 laser is a continuous laser, it has the smoothest and best cutting section effect among the three laser cutting machines.
Main market positioning: 6-25 mm medium and thick plate cutting processing, mainly for large and medium-sized enterprises and some laser cutting processing enterprises that purely externally process. Later, under the huge impact of fiber laser cutting machines, the market is in a state of obvious shrinkage.
2: 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 the products is mostly below 600W. Due to the small output energy, it is mainly used for drilling, spot welding and thin plates. cutting. Its green laser beam can be applied in the case of pulse or continuous wave. It has short wavelength and good light concentration. It is suitable for precision machining, especially for hole processing under pulse. It can also be used for cutting, welding and photolithography. . The wavelength of the YAG solid laser cutting machine laser is not easy to be absorbed by non-metal, so it cannot cut non-metal materials, and the YAG solid laser cutting machine needs to solve the problem of improving the stability and life of the power supply, that is, to develop a large-capacity, long-life optical pump. Exciting light sources, such as the use of semiconductor optical pumps, can greatly increase energy efficiency.
Main advantages: It can cut aluminum plates, copper plates and most non-ferrous metal materials that cannot be cut by other laser cutting machines. The purchase price of the machine is cheap, the cost of use is low, and the maintenance is simple. Most of the key technologies have been mastered by domestic enterprises. The price of accessories and maintenance The cost is low, and the operation and maintenance of the machine are simple, and the requirements for the quality of workers are not high.
Main market positioning: cutting below 8mm, mainly for self-use small and medium-sized enterprises and most of the sheet metal manufacturing, home appliance manufacturing, kitchen utensils manufacturing, decoration, advertising and other industry users who do not have particularly high processing requirements, and gradually replace wire cutting, CNC punching machines, Traditional processing equipment such as water cutting and low-power plasma.
3: fiber laser cutting machine for sale
Because fiber laser cutting machine can be transmitted through optical fiber, the degree of flexibility is unprecedentedly improved, there are few fault points, convenient maintenance, and the speed is extremely fast, so the fiber laser cutting machine has great advantages when cutting thin plates within 4mm, but it is limited by the wavelength of solid-state lasers. Affect it is of poor quality when cutting thick plates. The wavelength of the fiber laser laser cutting machine is 1.06um, which is not easily absorbed by non-metal, so it cannot cut non-metal materials. The photoelectric conversion rate of fiber laser is as high as 25%, and the advantages of fiber laser are quite obvious in terms of electricity consumption and supporting cooling system. According to international safety standards, the laser hazard level is divided into four levels. Fiber laser is the most harmful level because of its short wavelength, which is harmful to the human body and the eyes. For safety reasons, fiber laser processing requires a fully enclosed environment. As an emerging laser technology, fiber laser cutting machine is far less popular than CO2 laser cutting machine.
Main advantages: high photoelectric conversion rate, low power consumption, and can cut stainless steel plate and carbon steel plate within 12MM. It is the fastest laser cutting machine for cutting thin plates among these three machines.
