CO ₂ laser cutting is the most widely used laser processing technology in shipbuilding production. However, in addition to Japan, the actual application of laser cutting machines in shipyards is not ideal.

The main reasons are as follows: (1) For medium-thick plates that are widely used by shipyards, the cutting speed of the commonly used 5-6kW CO2 laser generator is much slower than that of plasma, which cannot meet the current speed and efficiency priority under the shipbuilding situation. Claim. 2 The initial investment cost is large, the operation and maintenance costs of the equipment are high, and the return on investment is small, which makes the shipbuilding industry with very low profit margin unbearable for a while.

Despite the above obstacles in the application of laser cutting in the shipbuilding industry, in recent years, there have been some new developments in the technology and process of laser cutting sources and related cutting processing equipment structures in this field, making it closer to shipbuilding production than ever before. The actual situation. A typical example is the push-fit laser cutting machine. The main feature is that the compact and high-performance CO2 laser generator is directly loaded onto the lateral moving block of the cutting machine. This way of fixing the optical path is not only shortened. The beam transmission path maintains the constant characteristics of the laser beam, and also greatly expands the working range of the machine, enhances the cutting processing capability of large-scale plates for ships, and can realize the cutting operation requirements of multi-station and continuous work of the shipyard; This new machine has a small footprint, simple structure and good maintenance performance. With the open working area design, the loading of the plates and the downloading process of parts and scraps are as easy as the traditional CNC cutting machine.

Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding Base Japan KOIKE CNC Mounted Laser Cutting Machine Configuration German TRUMPF TLF5000 (5kW) Laser Generator

Compared with the advanced shipbuilding companies in Japan and Europe (the countries with the most laser technology in the shipbuilding industry in the world), first of all, there is still a huge gap in the awareness of Chinese shipyards in understanding and promoting the application of CO2 laser cutting technology. Secondly, compared with developed countries, China's shipbuilding industry used low-tech and low-tech experience in the past, but on the contrary, it has a comparative advantage in labor costs. Therefore, high-tech and high-investment laser cutting machines are used in equipment. Both the applicability and the return on investment will face certain risks, which also causes the current lack of subjective motive force for CO2 laser cutting technology in domestic shipyards. Therefore, based on the technical and economic conditions of the current shipyards in China, combined with the types of ships under construction to consider.

For the shipbuilding industry in China, the CNC laser cutting machine cannot be fully regarded as a suitable technology for the time being. At least at this stage, it has a very limited effect on improving China's shipbuilding competitiveness. Even so, we are full of expectations: First, we hope that scholars, experts and related equipment manufacturers in the relevant fields will do more positive publicity and promotion of the role that CO2 laser cutting technology should play in the future modernization of China's shipbuilding industry. So that the industry can reach a consensus on this; secondly, after all, domestic shipyards such as Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding Base have introduced the most advanced CNC-mounted laser cutting machines in the world, so they have provided us with the experience of success and failure, and witnessed It has the opportunity to bring demonstration effects to Chinese shipbuilding; in the end, it is expected that in a relatively short period of time, with the continuous advancement of laser technology, the cost of laser cutting operations can be greatly reduced, so that it can be combined with numerical control plasma in terms of comprehensive economic benefits. Cutting and forming competition, and thus gradually recognized and accepted by China's shipbuilding industry, let us wait and see.