Fiber laser or solid-state laser which one is more suitable for you

Fiber laser or solid-state laser which one is more suitable for you

Classification of lasers

There are many types of lasers with different classification standards, but the most common classification is based on gain medium, operating mode, pumping method and output wavelength.

Depending on the gain medium, lasers can be classified into solid, gas, and liquid lasers. From these types, the performance characteristics of different lasers are different, but the advantages of solid-state lasers are more significant. Solid-state lasers have good stability, high power, low maintenance costs, and are widely used in a wide range of applications. Liquid lasers have a wide adjustable range of laser wavelengths, but low power upper limit and high maintenance costs limit their large-scale applications; gas lasers are difficult to achieve high power output, and the application space is difficult to expand continuously.

The main difference between fiber lasers and solid-state lasers

Solid-state lasers can be divided into solid-state, optical fiber, semiconductor, hybrid lasers, etc. Usually what we call "solid-state lasers" generally refers to "solid-state lasers" in this category.

Solid state laser

The gain medium of solid-state lasers is laser crystal or doped glass. It is the earliest type of laser. Since the birth of the first ruby laser in 1960, more than 60 years have passed, and the technology has basically matured today. And its wavelength coverage is wide, from ultraviolet to infrared basically full coverage.

Thanks to the wide range of wavelength selection of solid-state lasers, and the advantages of narrow pulse width and high peak power, they are widely used in the field of micro-nano processing (the processing accuracy can reach micron and nanometer levels). However, domestic solid-state lasers started relatively late, and due to factors such as technological development, there are relatively few large-scale applications, and most of them are used for cutting-edge scientific research in the fields of environment, medical care, and military.

fiber-optic laser

Fiber lasers use doped fiber as the gain medium. It has many advantages, such as good beam quality, high output power, good heat dissipation, excellent stability, small weight and volume, simple structure and easy industrial production. The optimal solution is mainly used in the field of macro processing (generally, processing at a scale above the millimeter level).

Main application areas of fiber lasers

The various advantages of fiber lasers have brought them a wide range of downstream applications. They have been widely used in industrial fields such as marking, cutting, and welding, and are now gradually replacing other lasers.

auto industry

In the automotive industry, laser technology is mainly used for body welding, welding and part welding. Laser tailor welding is in the design and manufacture of car body, according to the different design and performance requirements of the car body, select steel plates of different specifications, and complete the manufacture of a certain part of the car body through laser cutting and assembly technology, such as front windshield frame, door inner panel , body floor, center pillar, etc. Tailored laser welding has the benefits of reducing the number of parts and molds, reducing the number of spot welds, optimizing material usage, reducing part weight, reducing costs, and improving dimensional accuracy, and has been adopted by many large automakers and parts suppliers. Laser welding is mainly used for the welding of body frame structures, such as the welding of roof and side body, and the traditional welding method of resistance spot welding has been gradually replaced by laser welding. Using laser welding technology, the width of the joint surface between the workpiece connections can be reduced, which not only reduces the amount of sheet metal used, but also increases the rigidity of the car body. Laser welding parts, the welding parts of the parts have almost no deformation, the welding speed is fast, and no post-weld heat treatment is required.

Aerospace

In the manufacture of aerospace equipment, the shell is made of special metal materials with high strength, high hardness and high temperature resistance. It is difficult to complete the processing of materials by ordinary cutting methods. Laser cutting is an efficient processing method, which can be processed by laser cutting. Aircraft skin, honeycomb structure, frame, wing bin, tail shield, helicopter main rotor, engine casing and flame tube, etc. Because laser cutting has the characteristics of high precision, fast processing speed, small thermal effect, and no mechanical effect, it has applications in many aspects of aero-engine manufacturing, from the intake port to the exhaust nozzle of the current aero-engine. Applied to the current laser cutting technology. The use of current laser cutting technology has solved many problems such as cutting difficult-to-machine materials for aero-engines, efficient processing of large-scale thin-walled group holes, high-precision cutting of blade-shaped holes of parts, processing of special surface parts, etc., which has effectively promoted the current aviation vehicles. , to develop in the direction of high performance, light weight, long life, short cycle, low cost, etc., which has added a lot of impetus to the development of the aviation industry. For a long time, the connection between aircraft structural parts has been using the backward riveting process. The main reason is that the aluminum alloy material used in the aircraft structure is heat treatment strengthened aluminum alloy (ie, high-strength aluminum alloy). Once welded, the heat treatment strengthening effect will be lost. , and intergranular cracks are unavoidable. The adoption of laser welding technology overcomes such problems and greatly simplifies the manufacturing process of the aircraft fuselage, greatly reducing the weight and cost of the aircraft fuselage. Laser welding technology is a technological revolution in the aircraft manufacturing industry.

Sheet metal processing

The sheet metal industry is one of the most important application markets for laser processing, and the transformation of processing technology is inevitable, which provides a broad space for the application of laser equipment such as laser cutting machines, laser welding machines, and laser marking machines in the sheet metal industry. In most manufacturing industries, sheet metal processing is involved, such as machinery, electrical, instrumentation, kitchen and bathroom. Therefore, fiber lasers play an important role in the sheet metal industry. Laser cutting machine is a technological revolution in sheet metal processing, and it is one of the common methods of sheet metal processing. At present, most of the processing in the field of medium and thin plates on the market uses fiber laser cutting machines. The high efficiency and high precision make it widely respected, and even the thick plate field has replaced some of the plasma and flame markets. With the increasing requirements for welding strength and appearance of sheet metal welding, especially for parts with high added value and high welding quality requirements, traditional welding methods will inevitably lead to deformation of the workpiece due to large heat input, etc. The problem, requires a lot of grinding and shaping methods, resulting in increased costs. Laser welding has a very high energy density and a very low heat affected zone, which not only significantly improves welding efficiency, but also improves quality and reduces post-processing time. Therefore, the application of laser welding in modern sheet metal manufacturing is becoming more and more popular.