CUTTING 2 laser cutting A
s a manufacturer of CO2 laser cutting machines from 2.2 kW
laser machines from 2 kW to 4 kW,
As there is often some confusion in the market place, David Larcombe, Managing Director of Bystronic UK, outlines below the pros and cons of the two technologies. He commented, “This topic is so much on customers’ minds that we made CO2 and presentations and live tests a key topic in presentations at our last two open houses in Coventry, which created lively debate.”It occurred to me during one discussion with a customer that, rather than just explain the theory, it would be interesting to analyse the results and experiences of our customers over the last three years, during which time we have sold in the UK alone.”
by banks of diodes. The light is collimated or straightened and then focused by a lens onto the material to be cut. Not only is creation of than via a traditional CO2 laser, but delivery is also far simpler, with no expensive optical mirrors. The focusing lens is, unlike on a conventional CO2 laser machine, sealed in the cutting head and thus not a consumable item.
Fiber laser in the UK in 2010 as a 2kW machine, which was swiftly followed by a 3kW and then a 4kW machine. Interestingly, 3 kW remains most popular, with 60 per cent of UK machines delivered being of this power. If one
24 IMT December 2013/January 2014
examines the price to performance higher power 4 kW laser is in mid- range materials from 6 to 8mm in thickness capacity when cutting non-ferrous materials, typically an increase of one gauge of material. cut a lot of material in the 6 to 8mm range or who wish to cover all eventualities, as it is their only laser cutting machine.
source include:
1. No moving parts or mirrors in the light-generating source, unlike a conventional CO2 resonator or disk laser. This has a distinct advantage in terms of reducing maintenance requirements and operating costs.
resulting in considerably lower running costs. A 3kW Fiber machine uses one third of the power of a 4kW CO2 machine of average across-the-board performance. 3. Higher speeds when cutting thin material. Again, compared with the same 4 kW CO2 machine, the Fiber is three times quicker in a straight line cutting 1 mm mild, galvanised or stainless steel and twice as fast when cutting 2 mm.
materials without fear of back This allows copper, brass and aluminium to be cut without problems.
5. 50 per cent longer servicing intervals and 50 per cent lower servicing costs.
compared with CO2 mainly relate to
the cutting speed when processing thicker materials, typically above 5mm, where the CO2 machine is faster in a straight line and also has much faster piercing times at the start of the cut. There are also advantages of a smoother surface cutting thicker materials. So what can be deduced from the statistics and experiences of our UK customers which have bought our Fiber machines so far? 1. Over 70 per cent of Fiber laser customers are sub-contractors, the remainder being OEMs. This is surprising, as one would expect machine, where the advantages and disadvantages vary greatly, depending on the products to be cut. Sub-contractors can never be sure what the next job will be and what material thicknesses will need to be processed, so theoretically the versatility of a CO2 machine would be more attractive. 2. Of the sub-contractors, only 31 per cent had a single laser cutting machine after purchasing the Fiber, whereas 69 per cent were multiple laser users and could decide which machine to put work onto, CO2 or
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3. The over-riding reason for purchasing a Fiber was the speed of cutting thin (1 to 2 mm and up to 3 mm) materials.
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