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Oct 24, 2015/ Off Comments / in Laser Cutting / by

The versatility of pulsed nanosecond (ns) infrared fiber lasers is well known, as they are the laser of choice for the majority of industrial marking and engraving applications. Having typically less than a few millijoules in pulse energy and up to 100W of average power, they pack an impressive punch, with high pulse repetition rates and continuous-wave (CW) and modulated quasi-CW (QCW) modes. More recently, they have begun to be used for a variety of micromachining and surface texturing applications and even for remote microcutting applications. The vast majority of these applications involve material removal. Based on this premise, considering this beam source for material joining is counterintuitive. To consider that the same source can join material as well as remove, ablate, engrave, cut, and mark is truly impressive

To a laser user, the benefits are significant, offering access to a laser source that can multi-task as well as be packaged in a compact, often air-cooled form factor, making integration seamless. Conventional wisdom suggests that long millisecond-type pulses with large pulse energies are needed to create welds and joints—well, evidently not! The capability of this genre of laser for materials joining is less well known, but their ability to join thin section materials is remarkable.

Read more: Cleveland Ohio Laser Cutting: Laser has uses in several material processing tasks – Pulsed nanosecond fiber lasers can weld, too!