As we all know, fiber laser cutter is ideal for processing metal materials while CO2 laser cutter is suitable for cutting non-metal materials. But other than that, how much do you know about their differences? Today, we are going to go deep about it.
First, laser generator and the laser beam transfer is different. In CO2 laser cutter, CO2 as a kind of gas is the medium that generates laser beam. For fiber laser cutter, the laser beam is generated by multiple diode laser pumps and then transferred by flexible fiber-optic cable to the laser cut head instead of being transferred by reflector. This kind of laser beam transfer has many advantages. For example, the laser cutting table size can be more flexible. In CO2 laser cutter, its reflector needs to be installed within certain distance. But for fiber laser cutter, it doesn’t have this kind of limitation. Meanwhile, comparing with CO2 laser cutter of the same power, fiber laser cutter can be more compact because of the fiber’s ability of being curved.
Second, the electro-optical conversion efficiency is different. With complete solid-state digital module, simplified design, fiber laser cutter has higher electro-optical conversion efficiency than CO2 laser cutter. For CO2 laser cutter, the actual efficiency rate is around 8%-10%. As for fiber laser cutter, the actual efficiency rate is around 25%-30%.
Third, the wavelength is different. Fiber laser cutter has short wavelength, so materials can better absorb the laser beam, especially metal materials. That’s why fiber laser cutter can cut brass and copper and non-conductive materials. With smaller focal point and deeper focal depth, fiber laser is capable of cutting thin materials and medium-thickness materials very efficiently. When cutting 6mm thickness material, 1.5KW fiber laser cutter can have the same cutting speed of 3KW CO2 laser cutter. For CO2 laser cutter, the wavelength is around 10.6μm. This kind of wavelength makes it very ideal for cutting non-metal materials, for these materials can better absorb CO2 laser light beam.
Fourth, maintenance frequency is different. CO2 laser cutter needs regular maintenance, including reflector, resonator and other components. And since CO2 laser cutter needs CO2 as the laser generator, the resonator can easily be polluted because of the purity of the CO2. Therefore, cleaning in the resonator is also needed periodically. As for fiber laser cutter, it hardly needs any maintenance.
Although fiber laser cutter and CO2 laser cutter have so many difference, they share one thing in common. And they both need laser cooling, for they inevitably generate heat in the operation. By laser cooling, we often mean adding an efficient
laser water chiller.
S&A Teyu is a reliable laser chiller manufacturer in China and has been an expert in laser cooling for 19 years. The CWFL series and CW series laser water chillers are specifically designed for cooling fiber laser and CO2 laser respectively. It is quite easy to size a water chiller for your laser cutter, for the main selection guide depends on the laser power. If you are not sure which laser water chiller is suitable for your laser cutter, you can just e-mail to [email protected] and our sales colleague will help you decide.
