CO2 Versus Fibre Laser Cutting Machine

Evolution of Fiber Laser Cutting Technology

Fiber laser cutting has been one of the most “disruptive” technologies introduced to the metalworking market since CO2 lasers were first introduced for cutting sheet metal back in the 1980s. Fiber laser cutting technology is considered a disruptive and “revolutionary” change because it has impacted the entire status quo in sheet metal fabrication. And the opportunities are easy to realize.

Over a relatively short period of time we have seen exponential advances in Fiber laser cutting technology used for cutting flat metal sheets and plate. In just five years, Fiber lasers achieved the 4 kW cutting threshold that took CO2 lasers approximately four times as long to reach. After ten years, Fiber lasers have achieved the 10 kW to 12 kW range for which CO2 laser cutting never did. In all fairness, Fiber lasers – some exceeding 20 kW – have been used by other industries for many years in applications other than sheet metal cutting.

Advantages of Fiber Laser Cutting Technology

The primary advantages of cutting flat sheet metal with Fiber laser technology are derived from its monolithic, Fiber-to-Fiber, compact solid state design configuration that is maintenance free and provides a lower cost of operation than can be achieved with comparable CO2 lasers.

Fiber laser beam characteristics also provide for much faster cutting speeds than CO2 lasers as we will explore below.

The focused beam of even a 2 kW Fiber laser demonstrates a 5X greater power density at the focal point when compared with a 4 kW CO2 laser. It also possesses a 2.5X greater absorption characteristic due to the shorter wavelength of the Fiber laser. (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).

The higher absorption of the Fiber wavelength and the higher power density created by the focused beam combine to achieve up to a five time increase in cutting speeds in materials that are less than 1/4 inch thick.

Fiber laser cutting systems can certainly cut up to one-inch thick with higher Fiber laser powers and even cut faster when utilizing nitrogen as the assist gas, but the “sweet spot” where the most significant benefits are realized is in the 5/16 inch and under range for steel when making comparisons with CO2 systems. For certain, if you are processing stainless, aluminum, brass or copper materials, Fiber laser technology is the fastest and most economical regardless of thickness.

There are many aspects of operating a CO2 laser cutter that do not exist with operating a Fiber laser cutter:

• A high power Fiber laser  cutter is capable of cutting up to 5 times faster than a conventional CO2 laser and utilizes half the operating costs.

• Fiber laser cutters do not need any warm-up time – typically about 10 minutes per start-up for a CO2 laser.

• The Fiber laser cutter has no beam path maintenance such as mirror or lens cleaning, bellows checks and beam alignments. This can consume another 4 or 5 hours per week for a CO2 laser.

• Fiber lasers have a fully sealed Fiber optic beam path both at the power source and at the Fiber delivery to the cutting head. The beam is not subjected to beam path contaminates as is the case with CO2 lasers.

• Fiber optic beam paths maintain consistent nozzle beam centering.

  
  

Because the integrity of the Fiber beam remains consistent from day to day, so do the cutting parameters, requiring far less adjustments than a CO2 laser.