There are three types of laser cutting machines: moving material, flying optics, and hybrid. Different types of lasers can be used. Moving material is slow but keeps the laser aperture and material surface at a constant distance. Flying optics is the fastest but has a constantly changing beam length. Hybrid combines both and has a more constant laser stream. CO2 lasers are the most popular and can cut a wide variety of materials.
There are three main types of laser cutting machines used in the manufacturing industry. They include moving material machines, flying optics machines, and hybrid configuration machines. Different types of lasers can be used with one of these types. Laser cutting machines are generally used to tear apart flat sheet material or piping material used in many industrial projects.
Moving material is a configuration of the machine used in laser cutting. In machines with moving material, the laser beam remains stationary while the material is moved using an automatically moving surface located under the laser. The advantage of using this type of machine is that the laser aperture and the material surface are kept at a constant distance. While this camera uses fewer optics, it’s also among the slowest options.
A flying optics machine setup is the fastest option. This type of machine is characterized by a moving laser beam coupled to stationary material. The laser beam is able to move along both x and y axes of the material, which contributes to the quick turnaround time of the machine. A disadvantage of the flying optics option is that the constant mobility of the laser head leads to a constantly changing beam length. This can be adjusted by aligning the optics or using specially designed tools to keep the distance between the laser aperture and the material constant.
The hybrid configuration, another standard configuration of laser cutting machines, combines the characteristics of both machines with moving material and flying optics. In hybrids, a table moves along the x-axis of motion while the laser head moves along the y-axis. This combination of motion leads to a more constant laser stream than flying optical machines can provide. The hybrid also results in lower power loss and higher energy efficiency than flying optics.
In addition to these three main machine configurations, laser cutting machines are equipped with different types of lasers. The three main types of lasers are the neodymium laser, the yttrium-aluminum-garnet neodymium laser and the CO2 laser. The neodymium laser is suitable for high energy and less frequent drilling situations. The yttrium-aluminum-garnet neodymium laser is best suited for drilling, trimming and engraving jobs that require a large amount of energy.
The CO2 laser is the most popular and can handle drilling, cutting and engraving of materials. There are many variations of this type of laser depending on the type of industrial work being done. CO2 laser cutting machines are used to cut a wide variety of materials including stainless steel, titanium, fabric and plastics.
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