Why High Power Laser Cutting Machine?

Discover why you need a high-power fiber laser cutting machine in your fabrication operations.

When you flip through any of the fabrication magazines, you will see advertisements and press releases all mentioning high power lasers. Why is it that the industry wants these higher power levels for laser-cutting?

Increased cutting range

A common assumption is that high power means cutting thicker material, which is true. Across the board for all material types, there is an increase in cutting range with higher power.

While this increased range of materials is great, another asset that high power allows for is an increased range of cutting using nitrogen and high pressure compressed air. Nitrogen and air cutting not only provide faster cutting speeds but also offer clean parts that are ready to paint and require no secondary cleaning processes.Fiber cutting with high power is also giving major improvements in cut quality. But having a larger cutting range is just one aspect of the advantage of high power laser-cutting.

High power converts to high yields

There are a variety of productivity and quality benefits that are realized when using higher power levels for laser-cutting. These advancements include an increased cutting range, increased cutting speed, increased piercing speed along with improved part edge quality.

Improved edge quality

Since the introduction of fiber laser technology, improving edge quality has continued to be a focus. Fabricators became accustomed to CO2 laser machines offering a fantastic edge quality, to follow suit, solid state laser technology has been striving to achieve the same.

As you progress to higher power levels with fiber lasers, the part edge quality is visibly smoother and cleaner, now more similar to CO2 laser-cut parts. This combination of high power and high speed creates a scenario that dross issues can go away, making the parts edge smoother and cleaner. The improved edge quality with high power is being seen throughout the entire cutting range.

Now which laser-cutting applications see these high power laser benefits most?

Increased cutting speed and piercing speed

Another gain of high power fiber lasers are the faster cut speeds which increase throughput. High power’s cutting speed is most impactful in mid-range material using air or nitrogen, specifically 1/8” to ½”.

While a single part speed is impressive, a more relatable reference is running a full nest to show the true overall improvement. Nest times include piercing, fine power ramping on corners, and additional movements that affect the overall cut time of a full sheet.

Ideal applications

Since high power allows for faster cut speeds in mid-range material, an increased cut range and improved part quality, high power fiber laser machines are ideal for high volume OEM applications and performance job shops.

Applications with longer run times will take advantage of the faster cut rates achieved with higher power lasers. This includes applications where the parts have numerous holes or if the parts are very detailed which requires a great deal of piercing.

Another application that is ideal for high power laser-cutting is thicker aluminum parts. When high power laser-cutting and compressed air are combined to cut aluminum, it offers a superior, smoother edge quality with significantly less dross.

LXSHOW LASER LX3015PT is a high power laser cutting machine. It has stronger cutting ability and higher cutting precision. Do you want to know more about it? Specific applications situations can be further discussed with LXSHOW Laser Equipment.

Conclusion

Overall, high power lasers offer an increased cutting range, the ability to cut thicker with nitrogen and compressed air, higher speed cutting, faster piercing times, and improved part edge quality. All these high power advantages increase laser-cutting throughput and reduce the cost-per-part.

Now the question is, why not high power?