DP GROUP, founded in 2016, offer professional laser solutions and sheet metal fabrication machinery. Headquartered in Hong Kong, we operate three factories in mainland China:
DPMach (Dongguan): Specializes in laser cutting, welding, and marking.
DGDY (Dongguan): Focuses on press brake machines with advanced Panel Bender technology.
DPQG (Foshan): Manufactures large tube laser cutting machines for pipes up to 800mm in diameter and 30 meters lenth.

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Can a fiber laser cut wood? The new fiber laser can!

Views: 1     Author: hu     Publish Time: 2021-09-04      Origin: dapeng

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At present, wood cutting is mostly carried out in the form of traditional saw blade cutting, but it will produce a lot of pollution such as sawdust and noise. Using laser to cut wood can not only reduce noise, but also reduce the generation of sawdust particles and reduce the harm to the human body. The section quality of laser cut wood is also better than that of traditional cutting. The cut surface is rough, torn or fluffy wood grain is not obvious, but is covered with a thin carbonized layer.


The mechanism of laser cutting wood


There are two different basic methods of laser cutting wood: instantaneous vaporization and burning. The way of laser cutting wood depends on the power density absorbed by the wood during laser cutting. Instant gasification is an ideal wood cutting method. The wood gasifies under the irradiation of a focused laser beam to form slits. The characteristics of gasification cutting are: fast cutting speed, no heat transfer to the uncut substrate, no carbonization of the profile, only slight darkening and glaze. The burning method of cutting is mainly due to the low beam power density, which is characterized by slower cutting speed, wider cutting seam, large cutting thickness, and smoke and burnt smell when cutting. The burning method consumes more energy to cut a unit material than the gasification method, and there is carbonization in the cutting edge. However, in the actual process of cutting wood, gasification is basically accompanied by combustion. This is because although the gasification method has the advantages of high efficiency, it requires a higher power density to achieve. In the actual laser irradiation process, due to the influence of the laser output power and beam mode, the beam power density in some areas of the material irradiated surface is always lower than the power density required for gasification, so a small amount of burning occurs. In addition, laser cutting wood also requires auxiliary airflow coaxial with the beam, generally low-pressure inert gas or air.


What type of laser can cut wood


Generally, CO2 laser is used for laser cutting wood, and its wavelength is 10.6μm. However, the photoelectric conversion rate of CO2 laser is low (only 5%-10%), and the energy consumption is relatively large; the laser needs frequent air exchange, and the maintenance cost is high; the external optical path is complicated, and the installation, debugging and maintenance are difficult. Therefore, CO2 lasers have great limitations in actual industrial production applications, and their applications are becoming less and less.


Fiber lasers (with a wavelength of 1μm) are already very common in the market for cutting metal sheets. Can this fiber laser be used to cut wood? If it is a 1μm wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser to cut wood, the answer is: more difficult. This is because wood has a relatively low absorption rate of laser light with a wavelength of 1 μm, and it is difficult to form slits.


In response to application requirements, Fibo Laser has developed a thulium-doped continuous fiber laser, such as the following TDFL-180-CW-SM laser, the laser gain fiber is doped with thulium, and the emitted laser wavelength is 2μm. Compared with common lasers with a wavelength of 1μm, wood (especially the moisture in wood) has a higher absorption rate.

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Fibo Laser TDFL-180-CW-SM laser


Fibo 2μm wavelength thulium-doped fiber laser cutting wood test


Use this laser to cut wooden boards, the cutting parameters are as follows:

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No defects such as roughness, tearing and fluffy wood grain were found on the cut surface, but a certain degree of carbonization appeared on the cut end surface. As mentioned above, the carbonization phenomenon is mainly due to insufficient laser power. In the case that the quality of the cut surface is not high, a certain degree of carbonization can be allowed on the surface. If the surface is not carbonized, it is necessary to increase the laser power or change the collimation and focus ratio of the cutting head.

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Laser cutting 8mm plywood samples

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Laser cut 18mm plywood sample


The photoelectric conversion rate of this series of 2μm wavelength Thulium-doped continuous fiber lasers developed by Feibo Laser can reach more than 20%, which is more energy-efficient than CO2 lasers. Coupled with the characteristics of simple structure, good beam quality, easy integration, easy operation and maintenance-free of thulium-doped fiber laser, it is expected that it will show its talents in the wood cutting field in the future and gradually replace CO2 lasers.


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DP GROUP, founded in 2016, offer professional laser solutions and sheet metal fabrication machinery. Headquartered in Hong Kong, we operate three factories in mainland China:
DPMach (Dongguan): Specializes in laser cutting, welding, and marking.
DGDY (Dongguan): Focuses on press brake machines with advanced Panel Bender technology.
DPQG (Foshan): Manufactures large tube laser cutting machines for pipes up to 800mm in diameter and 30 meters lenth.
We offer comprehensive OEM/ODM services and spare parts for diverse industries. Our R&D team of over 50 experts ensures cutting-edge innovations, while our international support team of 21 professionals provides global service.

 

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