In recent years, laser technology has become increasingly important in industrial production. The manufacturing industry's move toward smart, cutting-edge transformation processes has made it difficult for traditional processing technology to meet market demands for greater efficiency and precision in product production.
Laser technology, with its high efficiency, low consumption, minimal material deformation and adaptability to the processing object, has increased its penetration rate into all aspects of industrial production and has become an indispensable tool in high-quality manufacturing.
The laser industry has had rapid development in recent years, with greater stability and higher power. The launch of 10,000-watt fiber lasers and processing equipment products has become a common occurrence, with similar news being released once or twice a month.
We can't help but wonder why everyone is pushing for fiber lasers over 10,000 watts and whether higher power is always better for fiber lasers. We also questioned the size of the high-power fiber laser market and the technical solutions available.
To better understand the market, we conducted interviews with companies representative of the fiber laser industry chain, including those that have already launched 10,000-watt fiber lasers, those that plan to do so, and fiber laser manufacturers and downstream equipment manufacturers . Our goal was to be comprehensive and objective.
During our month-long research, we visited several fiber laser manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, technical experts in the fiber laser industry, and market experts. Our findings indicate that the current state of high-power fiber lasers still has a long way to go.
Note: In this article, high-power fiber lasers refer to those with a power of more than 10,000 watts unless otherwise specified.
The current situation of the laser cutting market
The laser cutting market dominates among many industrial applications and fiber lasers have become increasingly popular. With the growing demand for processing medium-thickness sheets, high-power laser cutting machines with clear advantages are becoming the market's new favorites.
Compared with small and medium power laser cutting machines, high power laser cutting machines are more efficient for processing boards of the same thickness. The significant increase in power also led to a revolutionary upgrade in the cutting process, reducing processing costs for users and solving important problems such as “unstable production of thick carbon steel plates”.
In 2017, major laser equipment manufacturers such as Hans'laser launched 12KW laser cutting equipment and carried out small-scale shipments. In 2018, 12KW laser cutting machines became prominent in major exhibitions, and after Hans'laser launched 15KW laser cutting equipment, other manufacturers followed suit and launched their own 15KW products. In 2019, Hans'laser updated the power limit again, launching a 20KW fiber laser cutting machine for the end market.
Fiber lasers have also gradually surpassed the power limit, with the highest power 30KW fiber lasers now available on the market. Power has increased from 12KW to 20KW, 25KW and beyond.
How difficult is the 10,000+ watt equipment ?
Functional components have become the main limitation. Despite the rapid development of high-power laser applications, the stability of functional components is hindering the development of ultra-high-power laser cutting equipment. The growth of cutting head power has lagged behind the growth of laser and laser cutting machine power.
The main components of the laser cutting head are nozzles, focusing lenses and focus tracking systems.
Nozzles
Nozzles are the most commonly used consumables in fiber laser cutting machine tools, and there are three main types: parallel, convergent, and conical. The quality of the cut is closely related to the shape and size of the beak.
Focusing Lens
The focusing lens is the main component of the cutting head. The beam of light emitted by the laser is focused by the lens to form a point of high energy density.
With the increasing market demand for high-power lasers, the focal depth and focal point of traditional lenses are limited. Increasing the focal depth will result in an expansion of the focal spot size, which in many cases does not meet the requirements of laser processing. As a result, there is an increasing demand for focusing lenses with long focal depth and high resolution.
Both the focal length and the focusing position of the focusing lens affect the quality of the laser cutting. Short focal length lenses are suitable for high-speed cutting of thin materials, while long focal length lenses are suitable for cutting thick parts.
Focus tracking system
The focus tracking system of a laser cutting machine is generally composed of a focus cutting head and a tracking sensor system. During laser cutting machine processing, the tracking system prevents collisions and uneven cutting, processes graphics quickly, and reduces the rate of defective products.
Currently, there are two main types of tracking systems: a capacitive sensor tracking system, also known as a contactless tracking system, and an inductive sensor tracking system, also known as a contact tracking system.
Precitec currently dominates the national market for high-power cutting heads. Most laser cutting machines with power greater than 10,000 watts are equipped with Precitec cutting heads. In light of this, some Chinese laser and equipment manufacturers have made efforts to catch up and have increased their R&D investment in cutting heads for the stability of their high-power laser equipment. They have achieved certain results, with some companies launching cutting heads that can support ultra-high power of 15 kW and achieving mass production. Technology for 30 kW cutting heads has also made a breakthrough.
How difficult is the high power cutting head?
According to a senior researcher with extensive experience in fiber laser research, to obtain a larger fiber laser output, such as a 10,000-watt fiber laser, combining several medium-power fiber lasers is an effective method. The key component in this process is the fiber combiner.
Therefore, the beam combiner, the thermal management technology in the beam combiner, and the quality of the output beam after the beam combiner are crucial for high-quality, high-power fiber lasers in the industry today. Most new applications involving high-power fiber lasers require high beam quality. These three perspectives can be compared to determine the stability, reliability, and technological advancement of a given high-power fiber laser.
In the military field, fiber lasers mainly use the combination of spectral beams to achieve high power, but in the industrial field, there has been no technological innovation in China and the beam combination is still mainly achieved through the use of multiple single fiber modules. For example, several 2000W and 3000W modules are used for beam combining to obtain a 10,000W fiber laser.
The high power of the combined beam converges at the projector, and if the projector is not capable of carrying such high power, it will be prone to burning out. The high-power combiner is mainly imported from abroad, and only a few domestic manufacturers can produce it. In addition to the technical gap between domestic and foreign fiber lasers, high-power fiber laser products supporting the laser cutting head also have higher requirements.
For example, when using a fiber laser as a light source for a laser cutting machine, the laser must match the cutting head. However, there are few domestic manufacturers of high-power laser cutting heads, which require high overall equipment stability and represent the highest level in the industry. According to industry experts, domestic cutting heads are mainly used for low-power matching cutting heads, while foreign cutting heads are mainly used for high-power lasers above 6000W.
For high-power laser cutting, the stability of the cutting head is a big problem. Difficulties in the cutting head are mainly reflected in lens coating techniques, optical path design, cooling system and motor positioning.
Lens Coating Techniques
The biggest challenge for high-powered cutting heads is the lens. As the laser power increases, so does the power density of the lens. To ensure the stability of high-power cutting heads, the lens is the biggest difficulty.
Some companies have overcome this challenge by making advances in lens coating technology. Currently, the shaving heads on the market can stably support a power of 15 kW.
Optical path design
After the lenses, another big challenge is the optical design. The zoom mode of the high-power cutting head mainly consists of lens zoom collimation, which is different from the traditional low-power cutting head that uses focus lens zoom. For high power laser heads, if the collimator gets closer to the fiber, the power density will increase.
Refrigeration system
In addition to the lens coating process and optical path design, cooling systems and precision control of the cutting head motor are also challenging problems in high-power cutting heads. During sheet cutting, the increase in laser power brings more energy and increases the probability of temperature increase in the lens and cutting nozzle. Cooling must be ensured through water cooling or other refrigeration methods.
Engine positioning
In terms of motor control, feedback methods are implemented in the motor to correct its position through feedback, ensuring more accurate positioning and faster response speed on focus.
The higher the power, the better?
High power fiber lasers are mainly used for laser cutting and welding in the industrial field. The belief that the higher the power the better is prevalent among many laser companies we interviewed, who have introduced the concept of “threshold power.” They believe that for laser cutting applications, there is a limit to the power of the cutting process, beyond which the cutting quality and speed will no longer improve. In some cases, switching to other lasers, such as excimer or CO2 lasers, may be more cost-effective.
These companies generally believe that for the industrial market, 6 kW can meet more than 95% of the cutting demand, and fiber lasers over 6 kW are a small market in the cutting area. The introduction of 12 kW, 20 kW and 30 kW fiber laser cutting equipment only demonstrates the demand for high power laser equipment in the market, but this is a specific requirement for a small range and there is no need for large applications scale. Consequently, high-power fiber lasers are considered a development direction until fiber lasers have not exceeded 10,000 watts.
However, in the processing of special materials that are difficult to cut, low-power lasers are slow and the cutting effect is poor. Highly reflective materials also require higher power to meet processing needs, where 10,000 watt lasers are used. Laser equipment manufacturers reported that high-power lasers are mainly used in the processing market, and the demand from enterprise customers in the processing market is mainly for lasers with power between 6000-8000 W. The capacity of the entire market is closely linked to the national macroeconomy.
Stainless steel cutting – efficiency up to 400%
Carbon steel cutting –h high-speed cutting of medium and thin sheets with air instead of oxygen
According to the figure above, the limiting cutting power of the bright surface of carbon steel is determined by the thickness of the plate. If the actual power is less than the limiting power, the cutting speed will increase as the power increases. However, if the actual power is greater than the limiting power, the cutting speed will remain unchanged and will not improve even with the increase in power. The cutting effect will also not change.
Most laser manufacturers still see 3,000-8,000 W as the main area of market competition, despite having the technology and prototypes for 10,000 watt lasers. This is based on the limited power of industrial processing.
However, there is another perspective where the greater the power, whether instantaneous or average, the better the processing capacity of the laser as a tool and heat source in laser processing. This has been proven through the application of 15 kW/20 kW fiber laser products in ultra-high power processing and heat treatment effects, which perform better compared to 6000 W fiber lasers.
Current products with a capacity of 10,000 W can effectively cut medium to thick sheets such as carbon steel, eliminating the need for additional grinding processes.
As the capabilities and production of high-power lasers continue to improve, users will likely switch to these lasers when the benefits outweigh the costs.
The melting limit for metals is set at one million watts per square centimeter, while the limit for modifying metal surfaces is 10,000 watts per square centimeter.
Based on these two basic data, it is likely that laser power with a capacity of 100,000 watts or even a million watts will become more common in the future.
High-power lasers have a wide range of potential applications, including rail transportation, aerospace, shipbuilding and military applications.
In the field of marine welding, high-power lasers are suitable, although they have not yet been implemented in China.
What about the cost?
The advantage of laser technology is its high quality and efficiency, due to the quality of optical fiber transmission and the efficiency of photoelectric conversion. The higher the power, the deeper the processing and the faster the welding speed.
However, these advantages and disadvantages are interdependent. For high-tech companies, investment in technology and product R&D is the first category of costs, requiring investment in corresponding talent, funds and time. Some key components cannot be purchased in-house and raw materials such as optical fiber, pumping source, combiner, grid and loop control systems must be purchased, sometimes accounting for up to 70% of the total cost.
So why do companies adopt high-power lasers despite high investment costs? The answer is driven by profit.
Industry experts say that although China's low-power market is dominated by domestic fiber laser brands, these products have won a continuous victory over imported products. However, too many companies are entering the market, causing prices to fall sharply and leading to fierce competition and low profit margins, such as in the 1000-3000W fiber laser market.
On the other hand, the total market demand for lasers with higher power, such as 3000-6000W, 10 kW, is small, but they offer opportunities for differentiated competition.
The high added value of high-power laser products and relatively large profit margins make them a new market opportunity for companies to enter.
Furthermore, demonstrating technical strength is also a significant factor. For example, IPG Photonics publicly advertises that it can sell custom industrial-grade, all-fiber, 500,000-watt lasers, even though we are not aware of any industry currently using these products. The fact that a company is able to develop such high-power lasers is a testament to its R&D capabilities and product quality, making it a key promotional point.
From the perspective of equipment manufacturers, industry experts say that only a few manufacturers of 10,000-watt products can meet their quality and stability requirements. Other laser suppliers still need to go through a promotional and feedback process.
As more fiber laser companies enter the market, equipment manufacturers will have more options and the purchase price ratio will naturally increase.
Whether higher power fiber lasers are “better” is not a question with a definitive answer. Advances in technology, localization of key components, improvement of supporting equipment, market demand and development of application areas will drive the growth of fiber lasers and the transformation and upgrade of manufacturing.
High-power fiber lasers still have a long way to go.
