The advantages and disadvantages of the three longest laser cutting machines on the market.
Release time：2018-09-19
source：广东意达数控科技有限公司
Laser cutting machine is a new type of sheet metal processing equipment at the end of this century and the beginning of this century. With the continuous technological renovation and technological development of more than 20 years at home and abroad, laser cutting technology and laser cutting machine equipment are being familiar with and accepted by the vast number of sheet metal processing enterprises, and have gradually replaced plasma cutting with its advantages of high processing efficiency, high processing accuracy, good cutting section quality and three-dimensional cutting processing. Water cutting, flame cutting, CNC punching machine and other traditional plate processing methods.
According to the different laser generators, there are three kinds of laser cutting machines on the market: CO2 laser cutting machine, solid state (YAG) laser cutting machine, fiber laser cutting machine.
Xiaobian often receives calls from customers asking what are the differences between the three laser cutting machines and what are their advantages and disadvantages. Today we will briefly introduce the characteristics of the three laser cutting machines.
The first kind of YAG solid laser cutting machine
YAG solid-state laser cutting machine has the characteristics of low price and good stability, but its energy efficiency is generally lower than 3%. At present, the output power of the product is mostly below 800W. Because of its small output energy, it is mainly used for punching and cutting thin plate. Its green laser beam can be used in the case of pulse or continuous wave. It has the advantages of short wavelength, good focusing and suitable for precision machining, especially for hole machining under pulse. It can also be used in cutting, welding and lithography. YAG solid-state laser cutting machine laser wavelength is not easy to be absorbed by non-metallic, so can not cut non-metallic materials, and YAG solid-state laser cutting machine needs to solve is to improve the stability and life of the power supply, that is, to develop a large capacity, long life optical pump excitation light source, such as the use of semiconductor optical pump can greatly increase energy efficiency. Long.
The main advantages: can cut other laser cutting machine can not cut aluminum, copper and most non-ferrous metal materials, machine procurement price is cheap, low use cost, simple maintenance, most of the key technologies have been grasped by domestic enterprises, spare parts prices and maintenance costs are low, and machine operation and maintenance is simple, for workers. Personnel quality requirements are not high.
Main disadvantages and disadvantages: only cutting materials below 8mm, and cutting efficiency is very low.
Major market positioning: cutting below 8mm, mainly for self-use SMEs and processing requirements are not particularly high most of the sheet metal manufacturing, household appliances manufacturing, kitchenware manufacturing, decoration, advertising and other industries, gradually replace wire cutting, CNC punch, water cutting, low-power plasma and other traditional processing equipment.
Second kinds of fiber laser cutting machines
Optical fiber laser cutting machine can be transmitted by optical fiber, the degree of flexibility is unprecedentedly improved, the fault point is less, maintenance is convenient, and speed is fast. Therefore, optical fiber cutting machine has great advantages in cutting thin plate within 4mm, but the quality of cutting thick plate is poor because of the influence of solid laser wavelength. The wavelength of fiber laser cutting machine is 1.06um, it is not easy to be absorbed by non-metallic materials, so it can not cut non-metallic materials. The optoelectronic conversion rate of fiber laser is as high as 25%. The advantages of fiber laser in power consumption and cooling system are obvious. According to international safety standards, laser hazards are classified into four levels. Fiber laser is the most harmful level because of its short wavelength, which is harmful to human eyes.
The main advantages: high photoelectric conversion rate, less power consumption, can cut stainless steel plate within 12MM, carbon steel plate, is the fastest laser cutting machine cutting thin plate in the three machines, slit small, good spot quality, can be used for fine cutting.
Main Disadvantages and Disadvantages: At present, most of the key technologies of fiber lasers are in the hands of one or two manufacturers in Europe and the United States, so most of the machines are expensive. Most of the machines are more than 1.5 million yuan in price, and the low-power ones are about 500,000 yuan. When cutting the fiber, the gas consumption is enormous due to the very thin slit of the fiber. In addition, it is difficult or even impossible for fiber laser cutting machine to cut high reflective materials such as aluminum plate and copper plate, and the cutting speed is very slow when cutting thick plate.
Major Market Position: Cutting below 12mm, especially high-precision processing of sheet metal, is mainly aimed at manufacturers with extremely high precision and efficiency requirements. It is estimated that with the advent of 5000W and more lasers, fiber laser cutting machine will eventually replace most of the CO2 high-power laser cutting machine market.
The third kind of CO2 laser cutting machine
CO2 laser cutting machine can stably cut carbon steel within 20 mm, stainless steel within 10 mm, aluminum alloy below 8 mm. The wavelength of CO2 laser is 10.6um, which is easy to be absorbed by non-metallic materials. It can cut wood, acrylic, PP, plexiglass and other non-metallic materials with high quality. However, the photoelectric conversion of CO2 laser is only about 10%. The CO2 laser cutting machine is equipped with a nozzle which injects oxygen, compressed air or inert gas N2 at the beam exit to improve cutting speed and smooth cutting. In order to improve the stability and lifetime of power supply, the discharge stability of high power laser should be solved for CO2 gas laser. According to international safety standards, laser hazard grade is divided into 4 levels, and CO2 laser is the least harmful one.
Main advantages: high power, general power in 2000-4000W, can cut 25 mm within the full-scale stainless steel, carbon steel and other conventional materials, as well as 4 mm within the aluminum plate and 60 mm within the acrylic plate, wood material board, PVC board, and cutting speed in thin plate per hour.
The main advantages: high power, general power in 2000-4000W, can cut 25 mm within the full-scale stainless steel, carbon steel and other conventional materials, as well as 4 mm within the aluminum plate and 60 mm within the acrylic plate, wood material board, PVC board, and cutting sheet very fast. In addition, because CO2 laser output is continuous laser, its cutting in the three laser cutting machine, cutting section effect is the smoothest best.
Main Disadvantages and Disadvantages: Because most of the key technologies of CO2 laser are in the hands of European and American manufacturers, most of the machines are expensive, most of them are more than 2 million yuan in price, and the related maintenance costs such as spare parts and consumables are very high. In addition, the operating costs in practical use are very high, and the cutting time consumes a lot of gas.
Major market positioning: 6-25mm plate cutting and processing, mainly for large and medium-sized enterprises and some laser cutting and processing enterprises purely external processing, but because of its laser maintenance loss, mainframe power consumption and other insurmountable factors, its market in recent years by solid-state laser cutting machine and fiber laser cutting machine giant. It is estimated that CO2 laser cutting machine will be replaced by fiber laser cutting machine after further development of future laser.
In the process of evaluating laser cutting machine, customers should choose different cutting equipment according to their own needs and cutting purposes.
