Performance and efficiency of an industrial direct diode source with an extremely low BPP in laser cutting of Fe-based and reflective alloys

The performance and efficiency of a 2kW industrial direct diode laser source with an extremely low BPP are investigated when carbon and stainless steels as well as aluminium and brass sheetsare laser cut. The results confirm the industrial feasibility and robustness of the direct diode laser source as tool for laser processes. In particular in the oxidation laser cutting of iron-based alloys the low BPP together with relative larger transport fiber diameter allows quality and cutting speed equivalentto the active fiber and disk laser sources in a very large range of thickness (up to 15 mm). When higher power densities are required, because inert laser fusion cutting of structural steel is carried out or because high reflective alloys need to be cut, the low BPP and the shorter wavelength are favorable figures and produce comparable performances with the mentioned laser sources.