Fiber Laser Selection for 3D Metal Printing

Industrial infrared fiber lasers have improved in performance and reliability over the last decade; however, they are not all created equal. One particular difference is in how the lasers react to light that reflects off of the melt pool and is coupled back into the fiber and to the laser source. These back reflections can damage the laser source, so most lasers include a monitor circuit that will shut down the laser if the back reflections exceed a certain threshold. This can spell trouble for Additive Manufacturing of copper and aluminum, as these materials reflect a high percentage of the incident IR power.

Solution

: Optomec offers IR lasers that have built-in back-reflection suppression that prevent the reflected light from directly coupling back to the source. This means that the same high power, high reliability fiber laser that you use for steels and nickel alloys can be used for copper and aluminum.

10/01/2023