In the 1986 film "Top Gun," Tom Cruise uttered the now iconic phrase, "I feel the need - the need for speed." Fabricators and job shops are also feeling the need for speed when it comes to using ultra-high-power fiber lasers to cut thicker materials faster and better.

Able to cut four times faster than a high-power plasma machine using air-assist gas, UHP lasers are "changing the way steel is cut by replacing nitrogen and oxygen cutting processes with the air-assist process for high-quality and high-speed econimical cutting."

In the last six years, "the highest powers available for cutting applications have increased seven times," says David Fisher, senior director of global marketing for IPG Photonics. The Oxford, Massachusetts manufacturer builds high-performance fiber lasers and provides laser automation solutions that continue to disrupt traditional technologies.

Lynn Stanley, Senior Editor

December 2022 FF Journal

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