Due to the different wavelength, there are big difference between CO2 and fiber laser on cutting.
From above picture, the output power is all 4kW. We can see that when thickness is below 4.0mm, cutting speed of fiber laser is 2-3 times faster than CO2 laser.
Because of the different physical properties of substances, the absorption rate of light energy is also different at different wavelengths of light. For example, the absorption rate of stainless steel for CO2 laser is about 12%, fiber laser is about 35%, a difference is about 3 times. The high absorption rate means that after the laser is irradiated to the metal material, the time of melting metal material is very short after the light energy is converted into heat energy, so the cutting process is faster.
Also the energy of the CO2 laser beam is distributed over a larger area and limited by the absorption rate of the material.
In contrast, fiber lasers have a more concentrated laser beam due to the shorter wavelengths. This allows for rapid heating of the material on the focus area and allows for higher cutting speeds.
But when thickness is beyond 6mm, both lasers the similar cutting speed.
However, high power of CO2 lasers (above 6kW) are not as common as higher power of fiber lasers. This means that for high-power machines, fiber lasers can achieve faster cutting speeds for all sheet thicknesses.
Below is one of the experimental data after Newlaz retrofitting CO2 to fiber laser cutting machine.
If you have an old CO2 laser cutting machine but still want to prolong its service life, we are glad to help you upgrade it with fiber laser and get maximum benefits.
